West Shinjuku is the area of skyscrapers and hotels (including what is basically Tokyo's City Hall), the taller and more concrete sibling to the grungier and more active East Shinjuku with JR Shinjuku Station acting as the intervening hub, an inspiration for City Pop artists, and it's the source of a JAL poster that had me falling in love with modern Japan. If Joe Friday ever gave one of his "This is the city..." intro speeches for a Japanese version of "Dragnet", he would start here.
The area is also one of my favourites in the megalopolis. I've taught in West Shinjuku, stayed at the Keio Plaza there, shopped and eaten in the area. One of the hotels had a weekly dessert buffet that didn't help my insulin levels, I've been up to the observation levels in one of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government buildings and I've rested in an open-air atrium. The only thing I would gripe about is that in the summers, the amount of concrete reflecting the heat and the light on you would be enough to melt the skin off of me.
It seems as if a 2024 single by First Love is Never Returned, "Black or White?", is all about West Shinjuku based on the lyrics and the music video. I first mentioned the Hokkaido-based FLiNR last month with their "Okachimachi Friday Night", and it looks like they shifted their attention to the relatively newer neighbourhood. Their message of exhorting the masses to hit the dance floor lest the working blues get to them is a nice one and I can imagine that the thousands who inhabit the tall buildings west of Shinjuku Station would be more than happy to oblige.
