Tokyo after dark

We meet at Shinjuku Station in the late afternoon, as the commuter crowds thin and the lanterns start going on in the lanes behind it.

We start two hundred metres above the street on the free observation deck at sunset, with Shinjuku's towers below and, on a clear night, the silhouette of Mount Fuji on the horizon.

Memory Lane, a corridor of smoke and charcoal under the tracks. We take stools at a counter and eat grilled skewers straight off the grill — chicken thigh, leek, mushroom — the way office workers have done here since the 1940s.

A walk through Tokyo's loudest few blocks — screens, signage and the Godzilla head above the cinema. I explain what the district is, what it is not, and which streets are worth your attention.

Something playful between the bars: inside Round1 Stadium in Kabukicho we buy tokens and swing at the pitching machines, from gentle lobs to real game speed. It is how Tokyo releases steam after work, and it is genuinely fun even if you have never held a bat.

A quiet pause beside the neon streets. We visit Hanazono, Shinjuku's Shinto shrine near Golden Gai, and talk about the torii gates, the fox guardians and how people pay their respects.

Two hundred tiny bars in six alleys, each with its own theme and its own regulars. We sit down in one where visitors are welcome, and I translate both the menu and the conversation.

The main meal of the evening at a proper izakaya: sashimi, grilled fish, tempura and seasonal small plates shared across the table, with sake chosen to match. This is how Japanese friends actually eat out, and where our evening ends.