Tokyo suburbs are all littered with side alleys like this. Every street has multiple businesses in each tower, and bright neon strip signs to the left and right

Shinjuku signage

No matter where you are and what time it is, every street is filled with businessmen on their way too or from a restaurant, a pachinko palace, a bar or something else.

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I'll take the bottom row.

Advertising inside a train. The varieties of iced coffee are endless! Once I found one I liked I refused to deviate. This wasn't it, though.

I had to ask someone why this was required. It was explained to me that on peak hour, Japanese men regularly grope the women. I can't believe any self-respecting, intelligent man would do that, but in Japan the gender rules are very different.

A girl waits alone for a bus

The “First Kitchen” clock was so often my landmark to help me find my way back to the hotel.

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Jazz busking on a Shinjuku corner. It's actually illegal, but I don't think they ever get busted. Maybe if they're really bad they might.

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Yep, jazz puts me to sleep too

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Korean BBQ - searing the fish with a blow torch

Seared raw fish & horseradish

Leave your shoes at the door. You have to remember to wear fresh socks with no holes when you eat at a lot of Japanese restaurants

Even after I ate this I still don't know what it was (except a slightly blurry photo of food with a cherry tomato on the side)

I found this very hard to take. Smoking in eating areas is the norm.

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Open mic night at a very dark, tiny Roppongi club

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