A place where people meet, Shinjuku’s Golden Gai

Sometime when you wake up early in the morning, go to work, and the sun begins to fall, you get the feeling that you would just like to hang out and talk to someone. 
That being said, your colleagues may be busy at work, and it may be hard to find a friend that is able to join you at such short notice. 
In times like these, there is one place that I just seem to go. 
I often end up at Shinjuku’s Golden Gai, located in a part of the Kabukicho district. 
While it used to be a place for intellectuals in the past and did not have a very welcoming atmosphere for one-time visitors, it is now popular with many young people, and probably because it is listed in the guidebooks many foreign tourists also visit the area.





It is full of three-story wooden buildings, and while it is a narrow area, there are 280 bars and eateries in this one place. 
Here you can have conversation on all kinds of topics such as literature, theater, film, music, and pop idols.
Even if you go there without someone to meet, you can talk with the regular customers or the friendly owners and bartenders of these shops. 
You can stop by whenever you want and enjoy casual conversation. 
I sometimes feel it is like a school in a way, because there are a variety of forms of stimulation and many things to learn about.



You may even come across someone you know greeting you as you walk down the street. 
In these modern times when we have few opportunities to interact with people, one of the attractions of Shinjuku Golden Gai is to be able to interact with people with this old-fashioned sense of warmth.



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