The KCP Locale
KCP is in majestic Shinjuku, Tokyo.
Although it straddles Tokyo’s western fringes, Shinjuku is in many ways considered the city’s center. The Shinjuku train station is the busiest in the world–more than 3 million entries/exits per day.
Shinjuku train station.
The KCP campus is a 5-minute walk from the Shinjuku Gyoenmae subway station on the Marunouchi Line, or a 10-minute walk from Shinjuku San-Chrome subway station on the Toei Shinjuku subway line. (From the Shinjuku Gyoenmae station, take the Ohkido-Mon exit.)
Shinjuku Avenue is lined with tall buildings, shopping complexes, and office structures. The KCP neighborhood, however, is filled with smaller buildings and shops.
Besides the impressive Shinjuku Gyoen (see below). there are a number of small parks close by where you can enjoy a peaceful break. We leave you to find these on your own–a most satisfying discovery.
Shinjuku Gyoen (garden), a 5-minute walk from KCP, is very large and arguably the most beautiful park in Tokyo.
Shinjuku Gyoen Park in spring.
Originally an imperial garden as part of an estate, the garden, now public, contains French formal, English landscape, and Japanese traditional gardens, the latter with a traditional Japanese tea house.
It is a favorite cherry-blossom-viewing site (late March-early April) and also has some spectacular Himalayan cedars.
Also stunning are the neighborhood’s men and women dressed for a night on the town. Nightlife is plentiful, in decidedly Japanese style, especially in the more traditional Kabukicho and Golden Gai areas.
Omoide Yokocho alley in Shinjuku.
Shinjuku is home to the highest percentage of foreign nationals in Tokyo–a virtual melting pot–and it shows in its patchwork of diverse areas. Shinjuku offers a bit of everything Tokyo has to offer, including places catering to specialized groups. Nishi-Shinjuku is the business district. Shinjuku ni-chome is Asia’s largest and possibly most lively gay district.
Nishi-Ogikubo, at Shinjuku’s north end, is Tokyo’s Korea town, known for authentic, cheap barbecue and greenspace.
Korean hotdog at Shin Okubo.
What’s in the vicinity?
Shinjuku Station! See more people than you’ve ever seen in one place at rush hour (just after 17:00), standing at the Ginza Sukiyabashi crossing, or crossing the road next to the Hachiko Exit of Shibuya Station. Clusters of neon lights and jam-packed high-rises extending into the horizon–portent of the future?
Yotsuya Library is the closest to the KCP campus–a 5-minute walk.
And while we’re at it, the Shinjuku City website is a great source of info about the district.
Get to KCP from Narita International Airport via the Airport Limousine Bus–convenient and inexpensive if you aren’t familiar with the railway system in Japan.
The 45th floor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku has two free observation galleries with views of Tokyo, Mt. Fuji, and Yokohama.
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building.
You can get to Waseda Cosmic Sports Center by taking the number 4 bus toward Waseda from the bus station outside Shinjuku Station’s west exit.
The Shinjuku Sports Center is a also nearby.
From a KCP student–“Once you know Shinjuku, I recommend a place called Yoshinoya for lunch. You would not believe how much money I saved there by eating cheap.”
Kinokuniya Bookstore, main branch, is in Shinjuku. Take the east exit at Shinjuku Station. The Kinokuniya branch at Shinjuku Takashimaya Times Square (Shinjuku Station south exit) has one of the largest selections of English books in Tokyo, plus books in European languages.
With all this ambience, would you believe that KCP, in a great part of Tokyo and with one of the most highly rated academic programs available, is also one of the most reasonably-priced? Well, it is. More on this soon.
