Hotel New Shoei

Where the neon lights are pretty...

by bpacker

"Shinjuku, filming site for Lost in Translation"

....Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city
Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty
How can you lose?.......
......The lights are much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares and go.....

( Petula Clark, Downtown )

Ok, so Shinjuku isn't really downtown Tokyo, but I can't help thinking of this song when I was there. Shinjuku is the place where people never sleeps. Even when this picture was taken at about 8pm, the busy Tokyoites still thronged the streets. You can literally feel the electric atmosphere, the buzz, just by walking around that place .

The pretty neon lights also captivated the Oscar -winning Ms Coppola. "Lost in translation" was filmed almost entirely in Shinjuku Park Hyatt Hotel and there are some scenes where you'll see Bill Murray sprinting down the streets of Shinjuku with Scarlett Johanssan.

Well, other than the neon lights, there's also other pockets of life in Shinjuku. There's a pretty park, smack right in the centre of Shinjuku, that's really worth checking out, especially during Spring.

"Shinjuku Gyoen Park"

Somehow in the midst of the city, there lies a spot of greenery and vermillion in the city park. Check out the lovely red maple leaves in the dead of winter. For a haiku on this,click here

"Shinjuku Gyoen Park"

Within the park, lies a mini temple. Funny to find tradition in the midst of modernization. These are prayer tablets found by the temple