JR Shinjuku Station

In my mind a great feat of engineering; over 200 entrance/​exits, every imaginable train and subway in Tokyo coming through here, 50 + platforms, must be over 500 feet deep underground in some areas, good shopping of anything you want, great food, you can live down here and never see the light of day. It’s Massive!
Insanely busy with over 3 million people a day coming through here, you’ve never seen anything like it. In the Guiness book of world records. It’s a dizzying mass of humanity funneling like a swollen river through a never ending gorge.
Yet little me, within a few days of being in Tokyo, was asked by some lost travelers how to get from A to B and guess what? I had the answer and sent them on their happy way. Every city I land in people invariably ask me how to get somewhere and I always have the answer. It’s a gift, folks.
Whatever you do, make a stop at Shinjuku station and have an unforgettable experience.

It is a bit too crowded and too big a station for me. Having said that, it has so many shopping malls housing cutting-​edge brands and cafes. A new addition is NeWoman, another wing of Lumine.
When it comes to restaurants, it is a place to look for drinking places, rather than having a proper ‘dinner.’

If you can navigate this train station, you can handle most of the transportation locations in Japan. There is a lot going here with many places to shop and shop. Their are like 6 or 7 different malls you can access directly from the station and another 4 or 5 within 5 minutes. The subway, JR, and Toei lines all meet here. FYI, all require a different ticket. The bus station is across the street where the tourist info center is. They have free Wi-​Fi. JR offers free Wi-​Fi inside but you almost have to be inside the station to get some sort of reception. It is undergoing construction but the signs are sort of easy to follow but the staff is really friendly.

One of the biggest and craziest train stations in the world. This station is mega confusing to navigate so be careful and study closely where you are heading. It’s multiple levels, a bunch of shopping malls attached plus multiple train lines coming in and going make for a complete cluster and an extremely busy place. I’d declare the foot traffic much higher than Grand Central Station in NYC. Be careful if you are a foreigner (not the band) as there are lines for express trains and regular trains. Don’t be shy to ask for help. You can get some English help at certain areas. This station is a major commuter point for many people in Tokyo. Avoid at all cost during rush hours. If you come in a group with kids (hold on tight) or friends not familiar don’t lose each other as it can be an absolute sea of black hair and dark suits coming and going from the trains.
An interesting Sociological study if you want to see how people herd in and out of trains as a mode of transport inTokyo. Like ants coming and going from the ant hill!

This station is awesome. It’s also very very very big. I spent 40 minutes walking around the station one time when I got out of the wrong exit. A lot of shopping to be done in and around the station as well from food to clothes to almost anything.
It’s also near Kubukicho (Kubukicho exit) where a lot of the entertainment is in Shinjuku. On the other side, there’s a lot of stuff too. Giant department stores, etc. During Christmas, there are lots of Christmas lights on the opposite exit.
It’s big, it’s quite a sight, and it’s a good hub that will take you to most places. The bad things, it’s gets crowded and there’s no free wifi. So crowded that the amount of people that pass through the station each day is more than the population in some cities. haha.

JR SHINJUKU STATION
From my understanding, Shinjuku station is one of the busiest train stations in the world. Makes sense as I believe Shinjuku is kind of like their financial district. And apparently red light district as well, but I’m not sure how much that affects the crowds during transit.
We were never at Shinjuku station during high commute hours, but we used this station a bunch of times to transfer or just check out Shinjuku for food, a show, etc. There was one time where it was packed, but not so much that they had to push everyone onto the train. If you are claustrophobic, I’d avoid this station during busy hours. You will get up close and personal with the people around you.
A major hub with numerous platforms. Good area to stay in if you wanna visit a bunch of different districts in Tokyo as I believe most lines come through this station.

Yes the train station is f***ing insane here. You’ll get lost at first but eventually learn your way around. Getting lost is the fun part! One thing is no matter what station you end up, you’ll never get hungry. There’s food everywhere! So cheap! Only thing is that no one’s speaks English! People is japan don’t talk to each other. They’re like robots. Everyone mind their own business get where they need to like they all programmed. Everyone is very friendly and only talk when spoken to. Everyone on the train is so quite and consumed by their phones. Overall Tokyo is a great place to visit. Friendly people, cheap food, and everywhere is clean! Even the public restrooms are very clean!

Oh shinjuku station, why do I love you?!? First of all, it’s massive! Now add all the people that use it and it’s a synchronized chaos. Yeah, I don’t know how else to describe it. Since this station was our hub during our trip in Tokyo, we got lost here a few times! Yeah, I guess that’s part of the adventure. We were here on different times of the day and I must say, I enjoyed people watching and navigating the station during rush hour. I don’t know why, but being in that crowd, it’s just pure excitement! I must be crazy! Of Course, the bf hated it–

Why 5-​star for a train station? Well, if you want to challenge yourself in navigating one of the most crowded train station in the world, then you can survive Tokyo: D
Shinjuku station is CRAZY INSANE!!!
Bus terminal, shopping malls, local and express train station. If you mistakenly take the wrong exit, you’re done (just kidding).
When I meet friends here, I always point out what exit of which line to meet or we will waste hours trying to find each other. It’s probably much faster to meet in the final destination rather than in this station.
Although, since almost everything is within 5 – 10 walk from the Station it’s actually convenient.

Shinjuku Station is INSANE. There is so many people passing through this station. I think it’s more of a sight than the Shibuya Crossing made famous by Lost In Translation. It’s the perfect definition of organized chaos. The amount of people passing through the station is insane. Per Rocket News, it is estimated that Shinjuku station has 1,260,000,000 passengers a year versus Shibuya’s 1,090,000,000 passengers. That’s F*CKING crazy. Lastly, Shinjuku station is definitely a must stop when in Tokyo. It’s a great but extremely busy area. As busy as it was, the train station, sidewalk and area’s traffic flowed extremely well for having close to 3.5M people passing through it a day.

Free Wifi! Fast train service (they pass about every couple minutes), and very clean!

Everyday, entire population of Uruguay goes through.

One of my favorite things about Japan is the JR system and its railway stations. Shinjuku is the busiest station in Japan. This just means that you either need to be sure of where you are going or step out of the way to avoid near-​trampling. Once you do that, you can enjoy the features of this enormous site. There are many local and express trains, as well as busses that depart from here. But, you can come here just to shop, eat, or walk. Basically, you can spend hours here even if you aren’t traveling. I ate my first meal in Japan at a sushi bar here (standing only!). The food was delicious, and inexpensive. There are convenience stores, department stores, gourmet and fast food restaurants, currency exchanges, travel agencies, and boutiques here.
As other Unilocalers have described, it is a maze. I got lost here many times (as I did all over Japan). Still, the signs are in Japanese as well as English, so eventually I found my way home.

Not exactly sure how one is supposed to rate Shinjuku station … is it a train station? is it a bus terminal? is it a mall? is it a dining precinct? is it a maze? is it a all of the above? At the end of the day, it is some sort of hub — probably big enough to be a suburb and one of the busiest places in the world. A few million people pass through this station each day and yet it still manages to function seamlessly and remain very clean.
With a few hundred entrances and exits, it’s no wonder people get lost in there but once you work out what train line you need to catch and whether you need to be on the West or East side when you exit — it really isn’t all that bad given the enormity of the place. The majority of tourists stick to the JR Yamanote Line and the subway lines and possibly the Odakyu line for sight seeing trips out to the Hakone area.
There are plenty of food options to cater to whatever you need at the time and it would take quite a period of time to sample everything on offer that is connected to Shinjuku station.
TIP: make sure you get a Suica (or Pasmo) card to easily navigate between all the different train lines at Shinjuku station. These cards are usable throughout most of Japan!

There’s nothing pleasant about this station. It’s total clusterfuck and I want to avoid here at all cost. This station is far busier than Tokyo station. In fact, it was voted as the world’s busiest train station in Japan.
Thank god, it’s not on my commute route…

This is by far the best way to get around and sight see around Tokyo. It can be a little daunting at first because the posted maps in the station are all in kanji and pretty confusing. Grab a map, figure out where you want to go, color coordinate the letters of the stations and the colors of the railway route to your destination and you’re on your way. Tokyo’s subway network is operated by 2 companies, the Tokyo Metro and the Toei Subway, each of which operate different routes although they connect at several points. If you buy a day pass you’ll need a combo pass that covers both lines, it’ll run you about ¥1500 or roughly $ 12 per person, well worth it.
Tokyo’s subway system is clean, efficient, prompt, and easy to navigate once you get your bearings. It does get pretty crowded during rush hour but it’s the most economical and convenient way to get around Tokyo as a tourist. Taxi’s are expensive and if we had to try and take the bus system we’d probably end up in the East China Sea. Again keep a subway map in your pocket at all times, it’ll save your life. Subway hopping and getting lost in Tokyo is so much fun, each stop is so unique and has so much to see and do. Keep in mind the trains stop running at 1:30 am so don’t get stranded wherever you end up.

This train station is the busiest one in the world. They said there are over 200 exits and 36 platforms. From this main hub, you can transfer to many different train lines. There are also many different shops at this station ranging from food to gifts. No matter what time of the day you are there, it is a very busy station and the line up for any train is long. Luckily the trains come every 1 minute or so during rush hour so you never have to wait long to get on a train. Depending on which train you want to catch, it could be a long walk to transfer from one train to the next train because the station is so huge. So be prepare to do a lot of walking at this station.

This place is insane.
It’s one of the biggest and busiest train stations on earth for a reason.
If you come here during rush hour, you’ll be killed if you’re not used to it. Even during off-​peak hours the crush of human traffic in the area can be daunting for folks not used to the station.
It is also one of the best symbols of Japanese train insanity. The sheer number of trains that stop here is daunting for most tourists and it can be a real task to figure things out. However this is also a great nexus for getting around Tokyo and also quickly getting to a station that takes you out of the city. For instance, grabbing a train from here to Tokyo station is a snap. It’s also rather easy to hit up the Yamanote line to connect to Shinagawa if you’re looking for another shinkansen station to grab a bullet train.
Travelers just be wary — this place can be a maze and it’s easy to get lost. At least there’s plenty of shopping and food options in the area. Make sure you pay attention to signs as it can be easy to get lost even going from one side of the station to the next.
Either way — it may be crazy here, but it’s also one of the most convenient train stations in the world if you’re looking to get around one of the biggest cities on earth.

«I usually don’t get lost in a train station. But when I do, it’s because I’m lost in world’s busiest train station– Shinjuku Train Station».
I went here for a Unilocal Happy hour event last month and scratched my head in confusion. Which exit to take me to the right side of the station. The GPS wouldn’t work. Seems like a video game and everyone is walking towards you at every direction. Must avoid bumping people while trying to find your exit. When I found an exit I ended up at the wrong side of the station and took a cab to the event. Then I read the reviews and looked Shinjuku station online. I don’t feel so bad at all. I got lost at the busiest train station in the world.
Lots of places to eat within the station and outside. The bar, Abbot’s choice, was a 10min walk or 5 min taxi. Try the Robot Restaurant.
Enjoy Shinjuku and be patient while in the station. Also if you’re new/​visiting Tokyo, get a Suica/​PASMO card. Purchasing tickets– «Ain’t nobody got time for that».

Der Bahnhof Shinjuku hat alle wichtigen Bahnlinien als Verbindungen enthalten. Allerdings geht es immer sehr hektisch in diesem Bahnhof zu und es wimmelt nur so von vielen Leuten. Ausserdem hat er 4 verschiedene Ausgänge was das Ganze nicht erleichtert! Wenn man den Bahnhof zum ersten Mal besucht und seinen Ausgang nicht kennt ist das schon nicht so toll das Ganze. Ansonsten alles einfach zu finden, falls nicht einfach die JR Arbeiter ansprechen die helfen einem immer weiter und nennen das Gleis, zu dem man gehen muss, um zum Ziel zu kommen.

I miss the crowd.
I miss the trains.
I miss the music of the trains approaching.
I miss the lady’s voice inside the train.
D: I miss Japan!

Pour moi, c’est une des gares la plus compliquées sur Tokyo et je me suis perdue pas mal de fois. Sinon, je faisais quelques bêtises; quand j’avais un rendez-​vous à la sortie sud et je suis sortie par faute de la sortie ouest, je devais stupidement marcher longtemps pour y arriver… Le plus horrible, c’est que j’avais oublié une fois mon portable à la maison lorsque je devais voir une amie à la sortie sud de la gare… c’était une erreur fatale ! car sans portable, c’est trop difficile de trouver quelqu’un dans la foule. Miraculeusement, on a pu se voir après 20 minutes de recherché, mais j’ai vraiment senti l’importance de portable en ce moment là… Plus jamais dans ma vie, Shinjuku sans portable !