8 things to do at the new Tokyu Kabukicho Tower in Shinjuku

Kabuki-Yokocho is the tower’s fancy new food hall with ten restaurants and live cultural performances throughout the week. Feast on classic Japanese cuisine such as Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, Okinawa soba, Hamamatsu gyoza and more. Aside from Japanese food, you can also enjoy Taiwanese and Korean cuisine. 

Prepare yourself for a fun night out as this yokocho is decked out with state-of-the-art lighting and sound systems, in addition to a DJ booth and karaoke machines. Exciting events are also scheduled throughout the week, including taiko drum shows, sword battles and Awa Odori dance performances.

This brilliant new attraction combines a gaming arcade with a bar, making it a nightlife venue with a twist. Aside from plenty of arcade games, the space has an area dedicated to gachapon, where you'll find 250 capsule toy machines dispensing fun little toys and trinkets. 

Over in the bar area, you’ll find a menu of cocktails and mocktails, which you can pair with a sweet parfait from late-night dessert specialist Parfaiteria Bel. For a slightly more unusual snack, check out the range of canned savoury foods from Cannederful, a shop that sells regional specialities from across Japan in tins. For more entertainment, head to the seating area near the bar to experience AI DJ performances, including popular characters like Pacman.

On the tower's sixth to eighth floors, you’ll find the astounding Theater Milano-Za. The theatre has around 900 seats and features a special stage equipped to host a wide range of productions. It’s been designed to create a sense of unity between the stage and the audience, giving viewers a more intimate experience.

The theatre opened with a stage adaptation of the Evangelion franchise and is also set to host the stage production of 'Parasite', the Oscar-award winning South Korean movie from 2020. Check the theatre's website for more info on upcoming shows.

This luxury cinema takes your movie night up a notch by offering extra large seats, all-you-can-eat popcorn and bottomless soft drinks. It’s located on the ninth and tenth floors, with 752 seats and eight screens in total, including the panoramic Screen X. There’s also a spacious lounge where you can relax before your movie begins.

The late musician and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto supervised the sound system for the theatre, ensuring a high-quality audio experience for all your movies. Additionally, six works from the Ryuichi Sakamoto Premium Collection are being screened until May 18, giving you an opportunity to enjoy movies featuring Sakamoto's work.

Head down to the basement levels and you'll find live music venue Zepp Shinjuku, which turns into the nightclub ZeroTokyo during the evenings. Zepp Shinjuku takes over four floors and has capacity for 1,500 people, making it one of the largest live music venues in Shinjuku.

When functioning as ZeroTokyo, the club hosts a rotating line-up of domestic and international DJs and artists. It also has an impeccable sound system with over 100 speakers from Adamson Systems Engineering, complemented by trippy lighting from Cosmic Lab.

Up on Tokyu Kabukicho Tower’s 17th floor is Jam17 Dining & Bar, a restaurant and bar with great views of the city. The restaurant has a spacious dining room, gelato shop, private party rooms and even an open rooftop terrace with a large screen. 

One of the menu highlights is the Ne10 craft gin, which was designed with Shinjuku in mind. The 'Ne' stands for the elemental symbol for neon, symbolising the bright neon lights of the Kabukicho district. Additionally, one of the botanicals in the gin is the Naito Togarashi pepper, which was grown in the Shinjuku area during the Edo period (1603-1867).

Tokyu Kabukicho Tower is home to two stunning hotels: Hotel Groove Shinjuku and Bellustar Tokyo (pictured above). You’ll find Hotel Groove Shinjuku from the 19th to 38th floors, where it has 538 rooms, including some that double as art installations. There are four types of rooms showcasing works by Japanese artists Takuro Tamayama, Yoshiaki Kaihatsu and Tomoyuki Washio, plus animator nuQ.

Bellustar Tokyo, meanwhile, is a luxury retreat found between the 39th and 47th floors. All guest rooms feature 7m-wide windows that offer sweeping views of the city skyline. If that wasn't enough, you can also treat yourself to one of the five penthouse rooms, which are coined 'Private Villas in the Sky' and have 360-degree views of the city below. 

Both hotels are scheduled to open on Friday May 19.

Sitting right outside Tokyu Kabukicho Tower is an outpost of discount ticket store TKTS. This is where you can pick up great deals on tickets to plays, musicals, sporting events, live music shows, art exhibitions and traditional performing arts like Noh and kabuki. You can get discounts as big as 50 percent for same day or next day tickets. 

To see the current sales line-up, you can visit the website before heading over.