NEON & GARDENS

Shinjuku

Shinjuku is Tokyo at its most dynamic — and, unexpectedly, at its calmest. Shinjuku Gyoen's English, French and Japanese gardens sit minutes from the free 45th-floor view at the Metropolitan Government Building and the neon of Kabukicho and the Godzilla Head. Then the hidden Showa-era side: yakitori smoke in Omoide Yokocho, hundreds of tiny bars in Golden Gai, Hanazono Shrine's red torii beside the nightlife, and Isetan's secret rooftop garden.