Where the name Shinjuku-sanchome comes from, what stood here before the station, and what you can still spot on a walk today. Then the events near the station that we have checked on the official pages.
Shinjuku literally means New Post Station. Its name comes from Naito-shinjuku, a stopping place established on the Koshu Kaido highway. Travelers leaving Nihonbashi faced a long journey before reaching the first existing post town at Takaido. To solve this problem, a local headman named Takamatsu Kiroku and others petitioned for a new station. Permission was granted in 1698. The site had belonged to the Naito family, lords of the Takato domain, and had been returned to the shogunate. This explains the original name Naito-shinjuku.
Stand at the Shinjuku-sanchome intersection outside Isetan Department Store. This was Shinjuku Oiwake, the historic junction where the Koshu Kaido and Ome Kaido highways separated. Walk east along Shinjuku-dori to follow the direction of the former post town. To the south lies Shinjuku Gyoen, developed from land associated with the Naito family's estate.
The post station was closed in 1718 but reopened in 1772. Inns and teahouses served travelers, merchants, and their horses. Over time, the busy highway settlement developed into a commercial district. Today's shopping streets still follow the logic of the old roads, while the name Shinjuku remembers a practical solution to a problem faced by Edo-period travelers.
→ Stand at the Shinjuku-sanchome intersection outside Isetan, the former Shinjuku Oiwake junction. Follow Shinjuku-dori east along the old highway, or head south toward the Shinjuku Gate of Shinjuku Gyoen. The modern street layout still helps explain the position of the historic post town.
Sources (in Japanese): 新宿区「区名の由来」, 国立国会図書館「錦絵と写真でめぐる日本の名所・新宿」
The intersection outside Isetan Shinjuku was once called Shinjuku Oiwake. In old Japan, an oiwake was a place where roads divided. Here, the Koshu Kaido and Ome Kaido highways separated, directing travelers and goods toward different regions west of Edo. Inns, teahouses, horses, and merchants filled the nearby Naito-shinjuku post town. The modern Shinjuku-dori follows part of that old route, while the Naito family's extensive estate lay to the south.
The district changed rapidly after the end of the feudal era. Shinjuku Station opened a short distance west in 1885, redirecting the movement of people and merchandise. Streetcars began running along Shinjuku-dori in 1903, and Keio Electric Railway extended its line to Shinjuku Oiwake in 1915. What had been a highway junction became a modern transit hub.
Shopping gradually replaced roadside inns and transport services. Isetan established its major Shinjuku store at this location in 1933, helping transform the district into one of Tokyo's leading retail centers. Today, subway lines meet beneath crowded department stores and restaurants. Above ground, however, the old geography remains understandable: east toward the post town, west toward the railway station, and south toward the former Naito estate, now Shinjuku Gyoen.
→ Begin at the Shinjuku-sanchome intersection beside Isetan's main building. Follow Shinjuku-dori east, imagining travelers, horses, and roadside inns. Turn south toward Shinjuku Gyoen to appreciate the scale of the former Naito estate. The crossroads still preserves the basic orientation of the historic highway junction.
Sources (in Japanese): 財務省「路線価でひもとく街の歴史 第47回 東京都新宿区」, 伊勢丹新宿店「新宿出店90周年～新宿の街とともに～」
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We list events we could confirm on the official page or official Instagram of the venue or organiser. Details can change, tickets sell out and venues close, so check the official page before you go. Distances are straight-line and travel times are rough estimates. Photos show the venue or its surroundings, not the event itself. Titles and descriptions are our own translations from Japanese. This site contains affiliate links (ads).