Hanazono-Jinja Shrine

Shinjuku is a bustling commuter hub, filled with Tokyo's ubiquitous commercial outlets and neon blazing signs. However, it also includes some more interesting enclaves, like Kabukicho, the red light district, filled with sex shops and populated by Triad members and Nigerian criminal syndicates. There is also Shinjuku ni-chome, the city's gay district, which was disappointingly tame compared to the more raucous gay districts of NYC and Chicago. I decided to take a trip to the Hanazono-Jinja shrine, just a few blocks northeast of the train station. By day, merchants come here to pray for the success of their businesses. By night, well let's just say the area takes on a decidedly unsolemn character.

Approaching the temple, the pathway is marked by the distinctive gate of a Shinto shrine. Street vendors hawked goods on either side, and the crowds began to thicken.

This vendor was selling some type of curry or soup, with the fresh lobsters and conches to show for it.

Yakitori and other variations of meat on a stick were also omnipresent. Grease splattered from the grates and smoke billowed from charcoal grills. I kept thinking that there should be a way to capture and record smells, because there are no words to describe how delicious everything smelled.

I'm not entirely sure what this stall was selling; it seems to be some kind of fruit in an ice bath.

This is a goldfish scooping game, where you are given a scoop called a poi that is fragile and easily torn. You carefully scoop up as many goldfish as you can before your poi is completely torn, then you get to take the goldfish home in a plastic bag.

Takoyaki, or octopus balls, cooked in a pancake dough-like batter and doused with a sweet and sour okonomiyaki sauce. I bought half a dozen for ¥500.

The chocolate and candy dipped bananas here come with sprinkles and teddy bear cookies attached at the top. I was impressed at the tricolor ones in the back row.

Oh right, we were here to see a shrine! This is the long line of people waiting to get in. The police were directing people to form an orderly line and as is the usual case in Japan, everyone readily complied.

You can buy offerings from the dozens of vendors immediately adjacent. Each vendor is marked with a sign that explains what you are asking for, e.g. blessings for a rock or mining-related business, or a forestry-related business, or for success on university entrance exams.

Finally, there were a few men who seemed to be moving from stall to stall, striking wooden clappers in a rhythmic pattern whenever someone bought something. I wish I'd paid more attention in Shinto Sunday school...if anyone has a better idea of what's going on, feel free to correct. Apologies that the video is rotated 90 degrees, Youtube refuses to recognize my video as being vertical.