This review focuses on the south exit of Shinjuku Station.
There is a ticket gate in the station building built directly above the railroad tracks, and National Route 20 (Koshu Kaido) runs right in front of it. The station building is sandwiched between shopping buildings LUMINE 1 and 2 on the left and right sides.
On the south exit side, there are five ticket gates: the south ticket gate, the Koshu Kaido ticket gate, the new south ticket gate, the Miraina Tower ticket gate, and the southeast ticket gate. If you are going for the first time, I think it will be easier to get your bearings if you go to the ground from the south ticket gate.
●Nearby facilities ・[Busta Shinjuku] Highway bus stop ・[Takashimaya Times Square] Facilities with Shinjuku Takashimaya/Hands, etc. ・[LUMINE 1/2] Shopping Building ・[Don Quijote Shinjuku Southeast Exit Store] ・[Winds Shinjuku] Off-track horse racing ticket office
This is a convenient entrance and exit when going to the above.
●Transfer ・Toei Oedo Line ・Toei Shinjuku Line (Keio New Line Shinjuku Station) ・Keio Line ・Odakyu Line ・Highway bus/Airport bus This exit is also convenient for transferring to the above transportation facilities.
●Other facilities In addition to the ticket office, the south exit ticket gate also has a green window and an information center.
[Note] Regarding taxi use
The wide road in front of you after exiting the ticket gate is National Route 20 (Koshu Kaido), but this area is a no-parking area all day long, so you cannot get on or off the taxi. Even if you raise your hand, the taxi will not stop because you will be charged a traffic violation. If you would like to take a taxi, cross the crosswalk in front of the south exit ticket gate, and there is a taxi stand on the second floor of the Busta, where the express bus stop is located. Please note that even if you want to get off the taxi in front of the south exit ticket gate of Shinjuku Station, you will be taken to the second floor of the [busta].
Shinjuku Station is a very large facility and has a complicated structure, so it can be easy to get lost if you are using it for the first time, but there is free Wi-Fi everywhere, so you can use your smartphone's MAP to get around quickly without...
Read moreWHEW. I cannot begin to say how terribly lost we were. We must be an awful common sight. We feel so lost the whole time we navigated that giant maze of a hub. It's a miracle we find our way still. Something about underground, if not street level, it's hard to trace or place our locations on the google map. Kind japanese whose job was to help utterly lost tourists gave instructions (maybe for the thousand times to all kinds of tourists), japanese who have jobs to do in there were kind enough and gave us conflicting (and yet correct) directions. Or I was just so desperate that I approach and ask anyone. What I like to highlight is the TOKYO METRO PASS OFFICE. I cannot find it on this map. The sole purpose is for us to buy the metro pass (unlimited rides for 24 hours or 48 hours or 72 - for subways) Maybe we should have just bought one on KLOOK. LOL facepalm* because I thought this was easy to find. How we got here is by asking on those places that sells pasmo or train tickets, asking tourist informations center. THE CROWD IS SOMETHING BUT NEVER WAS I AFRAID TO BUMP INTO RUSHING PEOPLE, it's like they instinctively and smoothly carry themselves like they must have some body sensors and just carry on walking to their destinations not bothered by tourists. I got bumped only by some utterly looking lost tourist,...
Read moreBought a JR ticket to Kyoto from the counter this morning. The guy was rushing to give me a ticket for a train that was to arrive in 8 minutes. Asked if I can tap my phone to pay and he said yes, then after it didn’t work he said tap physical card only. Then I had to pay cash coz I didn’t want to use an overseas card. I asked for a ticket in the best carriage and double checked with him and he kept saying yes. I was confused coz he gave me my tickets and said free seating( ?!) I took tickets and hurried to get the train which was arriving any minute now. When I got on the train, I took an empty seat and no…. I was in someone else’s seat! Had to lug luggage from one end of the train to the other and it was seriously irritating. Halfway through I saw train crew and asked if I could just pay to top up and sit in a reserved seat. She said yes, an extra ¥1000 or so. Great! So done that. But no meal. I could have bought a bento box if the counter guy didn’t rush me onto the next train with no lunch. Oh and I also asked for a ticket with my Fuji view and he nodded and said yes also. Overall, my once in a lifetime experience ruined....
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