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From Gotemba, it takes about an hour and a half to drive straight to
Shinjuku (新宿). We'd
only filled up the tank once during the whole trip, and I reckoned there
was still enough fuel left to make it all the way to Tokyo. But just in
case something unexpected happened, I decided to top up a little at
EXPASA Ebina (海老名) on
the way, and take the chance to have a short break and look around. |
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So, what's the different between an EXPASA and a regular service area
(SA)? EXPASA is a new high-spec type of service area run by Central
Nippon Expressway Company (NEXCO Central). Unlike the traditional SAs,
these have been 'turned into shopping malls', with a large number of
food stalls and retail shops, laid out rather like the basement floor of
a Japanese department store or the concourse of a large JR station. The
first service area to be upgraded into an EXPASA was Gozaisho (御在所)
on the Higashi-Meihan Expressway (東名阪自動車道),
which opened in 2010. Including Ebina and Gozaisho, there are now seven
service areas that have been redeveloped as EXPASA. |
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Apart from EXPASA, NEXCO Central also has another new-style service area
brand called NEOPASA, all located along the Shin-Tômei Expressway (新東名高速道路),
which opened in 2012. The different is that EXPASA sites are redeveloped
from existing SAs, while NEOPASA ones were purpose-built to the new
standard from the start. Among the three NEXCO companies, NEXCO Central
has the shortest network – just 2,151 kilometres, about half the length of NEXCO East's and one-third of NEXCO West's – but it has far more SAs
(not counting parking areas): twice as many as NEXCO East, and 1.6 times
more than NEXCO West, with a total of 163. |
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After browsing around EXPASA Ebina for about an hour, we set off again
at around 17:00. Back on the Tômei Expressway (東名高速道路),
we immediately noticed there was more traffic than before. Once we
joined the Shuto Expressway (首都高速道路),
we soon ran into congestion – clear proof that we were approaching
central Tokyo. Driving in the city really does require extra care; the
roads far more complicated than in the suburbs, especially around
Shinjuku and Shibuya (渋谷).
On the sat-nav it may look like a single road, but in reality it could
be made up of three separate layers – elevated, ground level and
underground – all heading in different directions. |
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The original plan was to return the car first and then check in, but
since we had so much luggage – and we'd arrived back in Tokyo earlier
than expected – we decided to head to the hotel first. For the next
three nights we'd be staying at Hotel Gracery Shinjuku (ホテルグレイスリー新宿),
which most people simply call 'The Godzilla Hotel'. The hotel has no car
park of its own and no arrangements with nearby ones. The basement car
park below is run independently, and there's no discount for guests
–parking costs JP¥330 every 20 minutes. That's just how eye-watering
parking fees are in the busy districts! |
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The hotel is right in the middle of Shinjuku's Kabukichô (歌舞伎町)
area, so getting around is very easy. The nearest station is Seibu
Shinjuku station (西武新宿駅),
about a three-minute walk away. JR Shinjuku station, along with Keio (京王電鉄)
and Odakyû (小田急) lines,
plus Shinjuku Nishiguchi station (新宿西口駅)
on the Toei Subway Ôedo line, are about seven minutes' walk. Shinjuku
Sanchôme station (新宿三丁目駅),
served by the Toei Subway Shinjuku line and the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi
and Fukutoshin lines, is about nine minutes' walk. |
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Decorative items in the hotel lift lobby |
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The Shinjuku Toho Building (新宿東宝ビル),
where the hotel is located, is owned by the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group (阪急阪神東宝グループ)
– the parent company of Toho Co., Ltd, one of Japan's three major film
studios. Godzilla is, of course, a Toho creation, so the Godzilla theme
was very much the landlord's idea. The basement is a car park, the first
floor has restaurants, the second floor houses a Maruhan pachinko
parlour, and from the third floor upwards is TOHO Cinemas Shinjuku (TOHO
シネマズ新宿). The hotel reception is on
the eighth floor, with guest rooms above. |
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From the car park, you have to take the lift to the first floor, walk
past a few shops to find the hotel entrance, then take another lift up
to the reception on the eighth floor. As soon as you step out of the
lift, you're greeted by a Godzilla scene model from the 2000 film
'Godzilla vs. Megaguirus' (ゴジラ
× ガギラス G
消滅作戦). From
there, you walk through a gallery of Godzilla film posters before
reaching the reception desk. |
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'Godzilla vs. Megaguirus' scene model |
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Godzilla's posters gallery |
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Reception lobby on the eighth floor, with
Godzilla gift shop |
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In front of the lobby restaurant |
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Traditional Japanese New Year decorations |
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Once check-in was done, we had to head to another lift lobby and take a
different lift to reach our room. This means that every time you go out,
you have to change lifts on the eighth floor – not the most covenient,
but still better than The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, where you need to
change lifts twice and take two escalators just to get from your room to
The Elements shopping centre. |
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'Why is it near the lift again?' Todd asked curiously. This was actually
something I'd requested when booking. I usually add 'high level floor'
and near lift/elevator' in the remarks. Some oriental guests avoid rooms
far away from the lifts, thinking 'end of the corridor means fewer
people, so bad vibes!' That's not my reason at all... It's true hotels
assign rooms starting from the lifts outwards, and the far ends are used
less often. But precisely because of that, they tend to be cleaned less
often, so the bedding and furniture may have gathered dust for ages. |
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Our room was on the 27th floor (the highest being the 30th), so they had
indeed given us a high floor. In my experience, hotels in Japan and
Taiwan really do try to meet such requests. In the UK and Europe,
though, don't expect too much – if you get the standard allocation,
consider yourself lucky. |
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Our room on the 27th floor |
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Entryway with changing area, same layout as
Hotel Gracery Taipei |
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Our room type was a Standard Twin Room, basically the same as at Hotel
Gracery Taipei. Compared with the
Dormy Inn in Ginza where we stayed the previous week, the size and
layout were also very similar. Price-wise, this was cheaper – three
nights for JP¥87,500 – but Dormy Inn had the bonus of hot spring baths,
plus free laundry, drinks, snacks and late-night noodles. The biggest
downside here was the tiny window. It's a newly built tower, not a
conversion, so why design such narrow windows? The view was actually
quite good, but unless you walked right up to the window, you couldn't
see much. |
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The room itself was just like any ordinary hotel room – no Godzilla
touches at all. Despite 'The Godzilla Hotel' nickname, most rooms are
standard. Only the top floor, the 30th, is a
Godzilla-themed floor, with 36 ordinary rooms and one
Godzilla Room. The lift lobby and corridors on the floor are
decorated with Godzilla displays, but the ordinary rooms there are much
like the others, except for a few Godzilla items. Only the single
Godzilla Room has full Godzilla decor. |
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Aside from the top floor, there are six
Godzilla View Rooms on lower levels. These are all Standard Double
Rooms facing the terrace with the giant Godzilla head, and they also
have Godzilla items. All themed rooms and Godzilla View Rooms can only
be booked via the hotel's own website on a
special page – you can't get them through other booking agents. |
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Sitting area – note the narrow window view |
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Nigh view from the window |
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Apart from having vending machines and ice makers on every floor, most
of the hotel's facilities are located on the eighth-floor lobby. These
include the laundry room, a microwave, and a smoking room. The laundry
room has six coin-operated washing machines and six tumble dryers, plus
two washer-dryer combos. Washing costs JP¥300 per load, with detergent
automatically added, so you don't need to bring your own. Drying costs
the same as in Ginza – JP¥100 for 30 minutes. Unlike Dormy Inn, the TVs
in the rooms here don't show the real-time status of the machines, so
you have to check in person. |
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The microwave is just outside the laundry room. Perhaps because it's
rarely used, there's only one for the whole hotel. All guest rooms are
non-smoking, so smokers need to use the smoking room next to the
laundry. |
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Next to reception, there's a corner selling Godzilla products – not just
figurines, but also various everyday goods, clothing and stationery. The
eighth floor is also home to the Gracery Lounge, which is a café until
17:00, and a bar afterwards. Breakfast is also served here, but it's a
set menu, not a buffet. From mid-year, the global chain restaurant
Sizzler will open on the first floor as the hotel's partner restaurant.
At that point, guest breakfasts will be provided by Sizzler, and this
will be its only branch in Japan offering a breakfast buffet. |
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Godzilla decoration in front of the Gracery
Lounge |
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The hotel's most famous landmark – the giant Godzilla head – is also on
the eighth-floor terrace. However, it's currently closed to the public,
including hotel guests. The glass doors leading to the terrace are
locked, with staff stationed nearby to make sure no one forces them
open. It feels a bit like a high-security zone. |
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The Godzilla terrace opened on 17th April 2015 along with the building,
while the hotel itself opened a week later on the 24th. For the first
few weeks, it remained open to the public, but the member of visitors
caused serious congestion at the lifts and lobby on the eighth floor,
disrupting guests. As a result, from 18th May 2015, the owner Toho
restricted access, allowing only hotel guests and customers of Café
Terrasse Bonjour (now Gracery Lounge). |
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In July 2023, there was a
suicide attempt on the Godzilla terrace when a woman climbed over
the railing, apparently intending to jump, but was rescued by emergency
services. Then on 5th November the same year, a man in a suit holding a
loudhailer
jumped to his death. The whole incident was streamed live on X
(formerly Twitter) by bystanders. The man was reportedly a nightclub
host in his twenties or thirties. From the next day, 6th November 2023,
the terrace has remained closed. |
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The terrace with the Godzilla head is not open! |
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If you search for these two incidents, you'll find no local news
reports. Japan's suicide rate is 1.7 times the global average, and
Kabukichô's rate is said to be particularly high – reportedly up to
seven cases in a single month. In general, the police don't open
investigations into suicides where there's no suspicion of foul play, so
no press releases are issued. Mainstream media tend not to cover such
cases either, deeming them to have no news value. As a result, most
suicide stories circulate only on social media and never appear in the
news archives. |
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Kabukichô has always been a mixed bag. Alongside its host clubs and sex
industry businesses, it's also home to a large number of 'Tôyoko
Kids'. 'Tô' refers to the Toho Building, and 'yoko' means side street.
The Covid pandemic hit kabukichô's nightlife and adult entertainment
sector hard, but drew in runaway youths – often escaping domestic
violence or school bullying – who sought a sense of belonging. This, in
turn, brought problems like drug use, heavy drinking, smoking,
prostitution, fights, and sexual assaults within groups. Many of
Kabukichô's suicide cases involve people from these circles. |
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Leaving home doesn't always bring comfort, and some ultimately decide to
end their lives. Sadly, with no police investigation and no media
coverage, even family members might never know. It's as if the person
has been deleted from existence with a 'Shift + Delete'. To tourists,
Japan may seem like a paradise, but beneath the surface it faces the
same social issues as many other countries – no place is perfect. If
you're thinking of emigrating, don't just focus on 'what I like about
that place', but also on 'what I'm prepared to accept about it'. |
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Shinjuku Toho Building, home to the hotel |
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Godzilla head seen from the street |
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After mentioning some of Kabukichô's darker sides, does that mean I'd
advise against staying here? Not neceesarily. While the nightlife and
the Tôyoko Kids certainly add a bit of rowdiness – host club staff
touting on the streets, drunk youngsters making a racket – these things
are more of a mild nuisance than a serious safety concern, and they
don't really affect tourists. In fact, they make for a rather unique
travel experience. Of course, everyone's tolerance level is different;
if you value a completely peaceful environment, then Shinjuku is
probably not for you. |
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With the car parked in the basement car park, every minute was costing
money. After checking out the room, I quickly laced up my new shoes,
headed out to return the car, and then planned to have dinner. Before
returning it, we had to fill up at one of the designated petrol
stations. Nissan Rent-A-Car had given us four options, all self-service
with no staff assistance. Two of them weren't open 24 hours and had
already closed, so we had to drive to one of the 24-hour ones, which
were a bit further away – navigating through Shinjuku's complicated
streets again. |
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Although petrol station in the UK are all self-service, the process is a
bit different. In the UK, if you're paying cash, you fill up first and
then go into the shop to pay. In Japan, even the payment process is
self-operated. I inserted a 10,000 yen note into the pump before
filling, and after I'd finished, the machine only spat out a receipt –
no change. I panicked for a moment, wondering where the 7,000 yen-odd
had gone. In the UK, a receipt usually means the transaction is done! It
turned out that in Japan, you have to take the receipt to a separate
machine to scan it before you get your change. |
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Mario Kart sighting in Shinjuku streets |
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Tonight's dinner – Kura Sushi |
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The Nissan Rent-A-Car branch we used was Shinjuku Station West Exit. To
return the car, you drive into the Shinjuku Station West Parking and
park in Nissan Rent-A-Car's designated area (signs are posted inside).
The approach to the car park is a bit complicated and confusing, so the
company's website even has a
demonstration video. Once the car is parked, you follow the signs to
the office, which is on the B1/F of Odakyu Ace South Area. You hand over
the parking ticket and paperwork to the staff, who then check the car
and calculate the ETC toll charges. Over the past few days, we'd spent
JP¥8,150 on tolls. |
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After returning the car, we had a quick wander around Shinjuku station
before heading for dinner. I don't think I've ever had conveyor belt
sushi in Japan, so tonight we went to Kura Suchi (から寿司)
in Nishi-Shinjuku. Before moving to the UK, Sushiro (スシロー)
had already become common in Hong Kong, so this time I went for Kura
Sushi, which hasn't opened there yet. Kura Sushi's most famous feature
is its capsule toy game, but Todd tapped 'No' on the order screen so
quickly that we missed out this time. Taste-wise, I didn't find much
difference from Sushiro – it's just a typical chain sushi place. |
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After dinner, we popped into a nearby drugstore. These are especially
popular with Hong Kong visitors for fever and pain relief medicine, as
they believe Japanese medicines are more effective – though in reality,
it's a misunderstanding about the ingredients. In the UK, painkillers
are extremely cheap and varied, so I never bother buying them here.
Since today was our first day without a hot spring bath after having one
every day since the start of the trip, I decided to look for some bath
salts to uses in the hotel. We also went to Bic Camera (a major
electrical retailer), where I picked up a pair of Switch controllers at
a lower price than in Hong Kong or the UK. Then it was back to the hotel
for a rest... |
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Morning view from our window |
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You can stoll watch the sunrise in busy Tokyo! |
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When I woke up, the sun hadn't risen yet. I never expected to be able to
enjoy a sunrise so leisurely in the middle of busy Tokyo! Rooms at Hotel
Gracery Shinjuku face either east or west. I was quite pleased we'd been
given an east-facing room, because not only could we watch the sunrise,
but the view was also better. On the west side, the view is blocked by
the 48-storey Tôkyû Kabuki Tower (東急歌舞伎タワー),
so you'd see nothing except Cine City Square (シネシティ広場)
– the main gathering spot for Tôyoko Kids. |
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Since breakfast wasn't included in our booking, we had to sort it out
ourselves. There's a 7-Eleven right outside the hotel on the first
floor, and we'd bought breakfast there the night before. Little did I
expect my first ever scolding from a convenience store staff member to
happen in Japan! |
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There were only two South Asian migrant workers on shift, one manning
the till and the other tidying up inside. It was a bit busy at the
checkout, so we went to the self-checkout kiosks. But when we scanned
our items, nothing happened. Instead, the staff member who wasn't on the
till shouted at us not to touch their machine, and accusing us of being
impatient. Later I found out that 7-Eleven's self-checkout service is
still in its trial stage, so not all machines work. Still, no need to
shout at us! |
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Godzilla head on the terrace in daylight |
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Godzilla spotted on the street in the daytime |
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I suspect it was just that particular staff member's 'style', or maybe
they get so many unruly customers that they've become used to shouting.
Migrant workers and South Asians shouldn't be discriminated against. In
the UK, you meet South Asian in all walks of life – shop staff, doctors,
nurses, bus drivers, handymen – and get along perfectly well. Whether
you're a migrant worker or an immigrant, you have to adapt to the local
culture and ways of doing things if you want to fit in. While I don't
discriminate, I did feel a bit put off, and I've avoided that 7-Eleven
ever since. |
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One last note about this hotel: there are hardly any Japanese
guests! Be mindful of what you say in the lift. I had a few
encounters where Hong Kong tourists seemed to assume everyone
else in the lift was Japanese and wouldn't understand Cantonese,
and they said some rather impolite things. I've also heard
American tourists do the same, thinking no one could understand
English. I didn't call them out – just carried on pretending I
hadn't heard. From what I've seen and heard, most guests here
are from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea, with a few from
China, almost no Japanese guests, and Western visitors mostly
from America. |
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| After a simple breakfast in the room, we set off for the
day's adventures... |
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