Shinjuku and the west - The Rough Guide to Tokyo - page 119

anti-violence it's impossible not to admire the incredible decorative detail on the
blades, handles and sheaths of the lethal weapons displayed.

Seiji Tōgō Memorial Sompo Japan Museum of Art
ଛอδϟύϯ౦ڷ੨ࣇඒज़ؗ , Sompo Japan Tōgō Seiji Bijutsukan • 42F Sompo Japan Building, 1-26-1 Nishi-shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku •
Tues-Sun 10am-5.30pm • ¥1000 • W www.sompo-japan.co.jp/museum • Shinjuku, Nishi-shinjuku or Shinjuku-nishiguchi stations
On the 42nd floor of the Sompo Japan Building you'll find the Seiji Tōgō Memorial
Sompo Japan Museum of Art , home to one in the series of Sunflowers paintings by
Vincent van Gogh as well as other top-draw Impressionist pieces by Cézanne and
Gauguin. The Sunflowers canvas, dating from 1888, was bought for the astronomical
sum of ¥5 billion during the height of Japan's “bubble economy” years. More interesting
and unusual is the collection of over two hundred pieces by Tōgō Seiji, a popular
Japanese artist best known for his soft, contoured depictions of women.
The dazzling 50-storey crosshatched structure next to the Sompo Japan Building is
known as Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower , home to a fashion and computer studies college.

11

Omoide Yokochō
ࢥ͍ग़ԣஸ
Squashed up against the train tracks running north from the Odakyū department
store is Omoide Yokochō , commonly known as Memories Alley. Lit by hundreds
of akachochin (red lanterns), it's also known as Shomben Yokochō ( ͠ΐΜ΂Μԣஸ ,
Piss Alley), a reference to the time when patrons of the area's many cramped yakitori
joints and bars relieved themselves in the street, for want of other facilities. Don't be
put off: the alley remains a cheap and atmospheric place to eat and drink (and there
are toilets these days). Enjoy it while you can, too, as there's talk of redeveloping
the area. A pedestrian tunnel at the southern end of the alleys, just to the right of
the cheap clothes outlets, provides a short cut to the east side of Shinjuku Station.

Higashi-Shinjuku
Some days it seems as if all of Tokyo is waiting at Shinjuku's favourite meeting spot,
beneath the huge TV screen on the Studio Alta building on the east side of the JR station.
To the southeast of here is Shinjuku-dōri , along which you'll find the classy department
store Isetan (see p.192), which has an excellent food hall in its basement. This area and

THE BIG BUSINESS OF PACHINKO
Japan's economy may have been going through tough times for a couple of decades, but one
industry that continues to rake it in - to the tune of ¥23 trillion (£150bn; US $235bn) a year - is
pachinko . This pinball game with an element of gambling is one of Japan's top pastimes and
Tokyo has thousands of pachinko parlours, plenty of them in Shinjuku. They're easy to spot
since they look like mini Las Vegas casinos on steroids, all flashing lights and big neon signs.
Inside, the atmosphere is no less in-your-face, and the inevitable smoke considerably more so.
The noise of thousands of steel balls clattering through the upright electronic bagatelles is
deafening, yet rows of players sit mesmerized as they control the speed with which balls fall
through the machine - though the game requires a fair amount of luck and only limited skill.
The aim is to make the balls drop into the right holes so that more balls can be won. These
are traded in for prizes such as cigarette lighters and calculators, and although it's illegal for
the parlours to pay out cash, there's always a cubby-hole close by where prizes can be
exchanged for money, a charade that the authorities have long turned a blind eye to. The
initial cost of indulging in this mechanized mayhem can be as little as ¥100 for 25 ball bearings
- just remember to take your earplugs too.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT TOKYO METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT BUILDING, SHINJUKU P.120 ; PACHINKO PLAYERS;
RECONSTRUCTION OF AN ANIMATOR'S ROOM, GHIBLI MUSEUM P.125 >