You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in Japanese. (March 2022)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
View a machine-translated version of the Japanese article.
Machine translation, likeDeepL orGoogle Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
Consideradding a topic to this template: there are already 1,378 articles in themain category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
Youmust providecopyright attribution in theedit summary accompanying your translation by providing aninterlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary isContent in this edit is translated from the existing Japanese Wikipedia article at [[:ja:新宿区]]; see its history for attribution.
You may also add the template{{Translated|ja|新宿区}} to thetalk page.
Shinjuku (Japanese:新宿区,Hepburn:Shinjuku-ku;IPA:[ɕiɲdʑɯkɯ]ⓘ), officially calledShinjuku City, is one of the 23special wards ofTokyo. It is located to the west of the Japanese capital.
As of 2025, the ward has an estimatedpopulation of 355,981,[4] living in a total area of18.23 km2.[5]
Since 2014, its mayor isKenichi Yoshizumi, who does not belong to theLiberal Democratic Party, but supports the values and policies of the ruling party, conservative and nationalist.
In 1634, during theEdo period, as the outer moat of theEdo Castle was built, a number of temples and shrines moved to the Yotsuya area on the western edge of Shinjuku. In 1698, Naitō-Shinjuku had developed as a new (shin) station (shuku or juku) on theKōshū Kaidō, one of the majorhighways of that era. Naitō was the family name of adaimyō whose mansion stood in the area; his land is now a public park, the Shinjuku Gyoen. In 1898, the Yodobashi Water Purification Plant, the city's first modern water treatment facility, was built in the area that is now between the park and the train station.[6]
In 1920, the town of Naitō-Shinjuku, which comprised large parts of present-day Shinjuku (the neighborhood, not the municipality), parts ofNishi-Shinjuku andKabukichō were integrated intoTokyo City. Shinjuku began to develop into its current form after theGreat Kantō Earthquake in 1923, since the seismically stable area largely escaped the devastation. Consequently, West Shinjuku is one of the few areas in Tokyo with manyskyscrapers.
TheTokyo air raids from May to August 1945 destroyed almost 90% of the buildings in the area in and around Shinjuku Station.[7] The pre-war form of Shinjuku and the rest of Tokyo was retained after the war because the roads and rails, damaged as they were, remained, and these formed the heart of Shinjuku in the post-war construction. Only in Kabuki-cho was a grand reconstruction plan put into action.[8]
The present ward was established on March 15, 1947 with the merger of the former wards of Yotsuya, Ushigome, and Yodobashi. It served as part of theathletics 50 km walk and marathon course during the1964 Summer Olympics.[9] In March 1965, the Yodobashi Water Purification Plant closed and was replaced by skyscrapers in the following years.[10]
In 1967, theArt Theatre Guild opened the Scorpio Theatre (Sasori-za) in the basement of itsArt Theatre Shinjuku Bunka cinema. The Scorpio Theatre quickly established itself as an influential underground venue[12] forangura theater, music, dance, and film. Its name, proposed by novelistYukio Mishima, was inspired byKenneth Anger's filmScorpio Rising (1963). It was at the Sasori-za that Mishima held the first screening of his filmPatriotism (1966).
In 1967, the Modern Art Theater was opened in Shinjuku. Dubbed the "sensational cave," it offered nude shows, avant-garde and entertainment theater, film screenings, and performances. The theater laboratory "Ceiling Pier", which hadTadanori Yokoo as a founding member, also performed there. After the underground boom, the venue was used for striptease performances.
It was in Shinjuku, in the Hanazono shrine, that the first performances of theRed Tent (Jokyo Gekijo), the company founded byJuro Kara, took place.[13]
In 1969, anti-war groupBeheiren organized folk concerts in Shinjuku station. A batch of Japanese anti-Vietnam War activists gathered and were termed "folk guerrillas".[16] In July, a fight with riot police led to the dispersal of the concerts and the arrests of musicians.
On October 21, 1969, an anti-war demonstration was violently suppressed,[17] so much so that the daily newspaperAsahi ran the following day's headline: "Guerrilla Warfare in the Heart of Shinjuku."
In 1991, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government moved from theMarunouchi district ofChiyoda to the current building in Shinjuku (theTokyo International Forum stands at the former site vacated by the government).
Most of Shinjuku is occupied by the Yodobashi Plateau, the most elevated portion of which extends through most of the Shinjuku Station area. The Kanda River runs through the Ochiai and Totsuka areas near sea level, but the Toshima Plateau also builds elevation in the northern extremities of Totsuka and Ochiai. The highest point in Shinjuku is Hakone-san in Toyama Park, 44.6 m above sea level.[18]
The current city of Shinjuku grew out of several separate towns and villages, which have retained some distinctions despite growing together as part of the Tokyo metropolis.
Nishi-Shinjuku: The area west of Shinjuku Station, historically known as Yodobashi, is home to Tokyo's largest concentration ofskyscrapers. Several of thetallest buildings in Tokyo are located in this area, including the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, KDDI Building andPark Tower.
Ōkubo: The area surroundingOkubo andShin-Okubo Station is best known as Tokyo's historic ethnic Korean neighborhood.
Shinanomachi : A district reputed to be the headquarters of a Buddhist organization, which owns many buildings there.
Totsuka: The northern portion of Shinjuku surroundingTakadanobaba Station andWaseda University, today commonly referred to as Nishi-Waseda. TheTakadanobaba area is a major residential and nightlife area for students, as well as a commuter hub.
Kagurazaka: A hill descending to theIidabashi Station area, once one of Tokyo's last remaininghanamachi orgeisha districts, and currently known for hosting a sizable French community.[20]
Yotsuya: An upscale residential and commercial district in the southeast corner of Shinjuku. The Arakichō area is well known for its many small restaurants, bars, andizakaya.
"Shinjuku" is often popularly understood to mean the entire area surroundingShinjuku Station, but the Shinjuku Southern Terrace complex and the areas to the west of the station and south ofKōshū Kaidō are part of theYoyogi andSendagaya districts of the special ward ofShibuya.
Northeastern Shinjuku has an active publishing industry and is home to the publishersShinchosha[34] andFutabasha.[35] The main store of theBooks Kinokuniya bookstore chain is also located in Shinjuku.
By 2012 people of Chinese citizenship became the most numerous foreign citizens in Shinjuku. Previously the most common citizenship was collectively those of North and South Korea.[37]
Shinjuku operates several public libraries, including the Central Library (with the Children's Library), the Yotsuya Library, the Tsurumaki Library, Tsunohazu Library, the Nishi-Ochiai Library, the Toyama Library, the Kita-Shinjuku Library, the Okubo Library, and the Nakamachi Library. In addition there is a branch library, Branch Library of Central Library in the City Office, located in the city office.[39]
Shinjuku is a major urban transit hub.Shinjuku Station sees an estimated 3.64 million passengers pass through each day, making it the busiest station in the world. It houses interchanges to three subway lines and three privately owned commuter lines, as well as several JR lines.
The southern half of this area surrounding the station and majority of the station are in fact located in the neighboringShibuya ward.
Hiroo Ichikawa "Reconstructing Tokyo: The Attempt to Transform a Metropolis" in C. Hein, J.M. Diefendorf, and I. Yorifusa (Eds.) (2003).Building Urban Japan after 1945. New York: Palgrave.
