Surrounding Shinjuku Station are department stores, specialist electronic and camera shops, cinemas, restaurants and bars. Many international hotels are located here.

As of 2008, the ward has an estimated population of 312,418 and a density of 17,140 persons per km². The total area is 18.23 km².

Shinjuku has the highest numbers of registered foreign nationals of any community in Tokyo. As of October 1, 2005, 29,353 non-Japanese with 107 different nationalities were registered in Shinjuku.fact: date=November 2008

Geography

Places in Shinjuku include

• Ichigaya: A commercial area in eastern Shinjuku, site of the Ministry of Defense.
• Golden Gai: An area of tiny shanty-style bars and clubs. Musicians, artists, actors and directors gather here, and the ramshackle walls of the bars are literally plastered with movie posters.
• Kabukichō: A district well-known for bars, restaurants and red-light district with street prostitutes, brothels, and other sexual commerce. Located northeast of Shinjuku Station.
• Nishi-shinjuku: Tokyo's largest skyscraper district. Several of the tallest buildings in Tokyo are located in this area, including the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, KDDI Building and Park Tower. Located west of Shinjuku Station.
• Ōkubo: Tokyo's best-known Korean district.
• Shinanomachi: On the southern edge of Shinjuku, close to the National (Olympic) Stadium, and Meiji-Jingu Stadium (where the Yakult Swallows baseball team plays).
• Shinjuku Gyoen is a large park, 58.3 hectares, 3.5 km in circumference, blending Japanese traditional, English Landscape and French Formal style gardens.
• Shinjuku ni-chōme: Tokyo's best-known gay district.
• Waseda: Surrounding Waseda University, one of the most prestigious private universities in Japan. Nearby Takadanobaba is a major student residential and nightlife area.

History

In 1634, during the Edo period, as the outer moat of the Edo Castle was built, a number of temples and shrines moved to the Yotsuya area on the western edge of Shinjuku. In 1698, Naitō Shinjuku had developed as a new (shin) station (shuku or juku) on the Kōshū Kaidō, one of the major highways of that era. Naitō was a daimyo whose mansion stood in the area; his land is now a public park, the Shinjuku Gyoen.

Shinjuku began to develop into its current form after the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923, since the seismically stable area largely escaped the devastation. Consequently, West Shinjuku is one of the few areas in Tokyo with many skyscrapers.