FOW TRAVELTOKYO / Shinjuku / SEE & DO / CONTENTS

Shinjuku / LENS

QUIET COUNTERPOINTS

Waterfalls in a free park, three garden styles, painted brushwork and the machinery of media art: choose between walking through space and staying with one object.

COMPARE · How you pause

Free ↔ PaidOutdoor ↔ Indoor
Outdoor · Free
The Shinjuku Chuo Park sign in front of its artificial waterfall
Shinjuku Chuo ParkFree · walk
Steps leading up to Hanazono Shrine’s main hall
Hanazono ShrineFree · worship
Outdoor · Partly free
Outdoor · Paid
Lawn and path in Shinjuku Gyoen with high-rises beyond
Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden¥500 · garden
Indoor · Free
Indoor · Partly free
Tokyo Opera City Tower and its podium
NTT InterCommunication Center [ICC]Partly free · media art
Indoor · Paid
Exterior of the SOMPO Museum of Art building
SOMPO Museum of ArtPaid · one painting
Ordinary admission; exhibitions and events differ.

LENS · Where the lens sits

Where are this lens’s places, and can one walk tie them together?

Spread apart · two quarters (West; East) · the farthest two about 35 min on foot

42This lens · 5 placesFree · walkChuo ParkPaid · one paintingSOMPO MuseumPartly free · media artICC¥500 · gardenShinjuku GyoenFree · worshipHanazono ShrineTochomaeShinjuku-nishiguchiHatsudaiWESTEAST500 mN42This lens · 5 placesFree · walkChuo ParkPaid · one paintingSOMPO MuseumPartly free · media artICC¥500 · gardenShinjuku GyoenFree · worshipHanazono ShrineTochomaeShinjuku-nishiguchiHatsudaiWESTEAST500 mN
Places in this lensWhere FOW’s chosen places gather · not an administrative boundaryStationStop number on that walk

Places in this lens

Walks through this lens

Walking times are estimates from OpenStreetMap’s surface street network at 80 m/min. They exclude underpasses, decks, station concourses, signal waits, slopes and movement inside buildings. Straight-line links are not walking routes; follow on-site signs even where a time is shown. Shaded quarters show the approximate areas around FOW’s selected places.

Map data: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Quarter names and character: FOW · Town names: each place’s official address · Walking: computed by FOW · 2026-10-16

The Shinjuku Chuo Park sign in front of its artificial waterfall
Lawn and path in Shinjuku Gyoen with high-rises beyond
Tokyo Opera City Tower and its podium
The Shinjuku Chuo Park sign in front of its artificial waterfall
Shinjuku Chuo Park’s “Niagara Falls” and park sign
Image infoMikhail Kotykhov · 2024-12-12 · CC0-1.0 · resized and cropped

QUIET COUNTERPOINTS

Shinjuku Chuo Park

An 8.8-hectare former waterworks site turned park, with waterfall plazas, lawn and wooded terraces that give the tower district different places to pause.

Continue with this place ↗

Choose one for the weather and time available. These separated places are not a mandatory five-stop walk.

Time spent outside

Chuo Park is a free choice for a shorter walk between the waterfalls and SHUKNOVA terrace. Some lawn renewed in 2020 is display-only, so green space does not always mean somewhere to sit. Shinjuku Gyoen costs ¥500 for an ordinary adult and offers three garden styles. Four rows of plane trees and roses establish formal axes; landscape lawns and large tulip trees release the view; the Japanese garden uses its ponds to reveal successive scenes. For a first visit, an editorial allowance of 60 minutes from Shinjuku Gate suits a shorter choice, or 90–120 minutes with the greenhouse. Add travel and queues.

Two kinds of close looking in rain

At SOMPO, a still surface such as the brush marks in Van Gogh’s Sunflowers rewards close attention; ICC explores how sound, images and devices shape perception. In works ICC presented in 2026, Gregory Barsamian’s Juggler used rotating sculpture and strobes for continuous transformation, while YoungEun Kim examined noise reduction erasing parts of a recorded voice. These documented examples explain the different kinds of attention. Use the chosen exhibition’s guide for works on view, free areas and admission.

A brief shrine visit and the closing clock

Hanazono can be a short visit to worship and see the bronze lions and Geino Asama shrine; 15–25 minutes is an editorial allowance. Festival grounds will have a different pace from a quiet park. Gyoen’s last entry is 16:00 from 1 October to 14 March, and ICC lies towards Hatsudai rather than beside Shinjuku Station. Giving the time to one place makes its character easier to understand than briefly connecting all five.

Exhibition changeovers and garden closures differ by place. Indoor and outdoor are different experiences.

See this item in the Atlas ↗Read in the Mapbook ↗
Sources · image info
  1. 花園神社Shinjuku Convention & Visitors Bureau · as of 2026-09-29
  2. Hanazono-jinja Shrine (Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo)Japan Travel And Tourism Association · as of 2026-09-29
  3. 公園についてShinjuku Chuo Park designated manager · as of 2026-09-29
  4. AccessShinjuku Chuo Park designated manager · as of 2026-09-29
  5. 新宿中央公園Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Bureau of Social Welfare · as of 2026-09-29
  6. Shinjuku Chuo ParkTokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau · as of 2026-09-29
  7. Official access page Google Maps place linkSOMPO Museum of Art · as of 2026-09-29
  8. ご利用案内SOMPO Museum of Art · as of 2026-09-29
  9. NTT ICC · Annual 2026NTT ICC · as of 2026-10-19
  10. Contact / Frequently Asked QuestionNTT InterCommunication Center [ICC], NTT EAST · as of 2026-09-29
  11. Tokyo Opera City Tower (Q1201889)Wikidata contributors · as of 2026-09-29
  12. General InformationNTT InterCommunication Center [ICC], NTT EAST · as of 2026-09-29
  13. Access | Shinjuku GyoenJapan Ministry of the Environment · as of 2026-09-29
  14. Admission | Shinjuku GyoenJapan Ministry of the Environment · as of 2026-09-29
  15. GSI AddressSearch JSON: 新宿御苑Geospatial Information Authority of Japan · as of 2026-09-29
  16. Garden Rules | Shinjuku GyoenJapan Ministry of the Environment · as of 2026-09-29
  17. Universal Design | Shinjuku GyoenJapan Ministry of the Environment · as of 2026-09-29
  18. Shinjuku Chuo Park — north-area facilitiesShinjuku Chuo Park operator · as of 2026-10-19
  19. Van Gogh — SunflowersSOMPO Museum of Art · as of 2026-10-19
  20. YoungEun Kim — To Future Listeners INTT ICC · as of 2026-10-19
  21. Gregory Barsamian — JugglerNTT ICC · as of 2026-10-19
  22. Shinjuku Gyoen — garden styles and greenhouseNational Gardens Association · as of 2026-10-19