Tokyo, Japan - May 10, 2019: At Godzilla’s hometown of Tokyo, a giant Godzilla Head of the scaly menace is towering over the Toho Building in the Shinjuku Ward.; Shutterstock ID 1448007500; GL: Lonely Planet; netsuite: Lonely Planet Destinations Content; full: Tokyo Free Things Artile; name: Gemma Graham
1448007500
Japan-Tokyo-DerekTeo-Shutterstock-1448007500-RFE.jpg
Tokyo, Japan - May 10, 2019: At Godzilla’s hometown of Tokyo, a giant Godzilla Head of the scaly menace is towering over the Toho Building in the Shinjuku Ward.

© DerekTeo / Shutterstock

Hotel Gracery Shinjuku

Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo


The big draw of this huge (970 rooms!) hotel is the enormous Godzilla statue atop it (you, and taxi drivers, will have no trouble finding it). It's fairly new and still feels fresh, and the size means you can usually score good rates (but also that the lobby is routinely crowded). Note that it's in Kabukichō, the red-light district.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo attractions

1. Godzilla Head

0.01 MILES

Godzilla, a portmanteau of the Japanese words for gorilla (gorira) and whale (kujira), is king of the kaijū (strange beasts) that ruled Japanese popular…

2. Golden Gai

0.17 MILES

Golden Gai – a Shinjuku institution for over half a century – is a collection of tiny bars, often literally no bigger than a closet and seating maybe a…

3. Hanazono-jinja

0.21 MILES

Merchants from nearby Kabukichō come to this Shintō shrine to pray for the solvency of their business ventures. Founded in the 17th century, the shrine is…

4. Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower

0.39 MILES

This Nishi-Shinjuku landmark building (completed in 2008) is a 50-storey webbed tower designed by Tange Associates. Easily identifiable among the blockier…

5. Shinjuku I-Land

0.52 MILES

This otherwise ordinary office complex is home to more than a dozen public artworks, including one of Robert Indiana’s LOVE sculptures (on the southeast…

6. Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building

0.72 MILES

Tokyo's city hall – a landmark building designed by Tange Kenzō – has observatories (202m) atop both the south and north towers of Building 1 (the views…

7. Shinjuku-gyoen

0.76 MILES

Shinjuku-gyoen was designed as an imperial retreat (completed 1906); since opening to the public in 1951, it has become a favourite destination for…

8. Place M

0.8 MILES

Run by four veteran artists (including pioneering street photographer Daido Moriyama), this gallery serves as a hub for the city's photography scene…