Tag Archives: Shinjuku Nishiguchi

A short history of the Japanese hippie movement

Posted on Nov 17, 2020 by William Andrews

We might begin with a series of snapshots. Young people sniffing paint thinner in plastic bags around Shinjuku Station. Long-haired, bearded musicians like the Taj Mahal Travellers, embarking on a tour of Asia. Artists hanging out at trendy, edgy venues … Continue reading →

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The Shinjuku West Gate Underground Plaza protest movement, 1969 and today: Japan’s invisible civil society and phatic silence in urban space

Posted on Sep 9, 2019 by William Andrews

Shinjuku Station in Tokyo is commonly described as the busiest train station in the world, used by millions of passengers daily.(1) A key component of the station is the West Gate (or West Exit) area, which comprises a long street … Continue reading →

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Shinjuku Station West Gate: Reclaiming Tokyo’s banned plaza as a political space

Posted on Aug 11, 2018 by William Andrews

Over the years I have continued to gravitate back towards the Shinjuku Station West Gate (Nishiguchi) protests, which I believe to be one of the most important yet little-known social movements in Tokyo today. Every Saturday from 5pm to 7pm, … Continue reading →

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The Right to the City: Solitary walking Article 9 protestor in Shinjuku challenges the pedestrian paradise

Posted on Feb 3, 2018 by William Andrews

He was alone but he didn’t care: on that cold Sunday afternoon he paced steadily up and down the main boulevard in Shinjuku, along past the perfumed elegance of Isetan and the unpretentious blare of Bicqlo to the edge of … Continue reading →

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Cleaning Up the Counterculture

Posted on Aug 8, 2015 by William Andrews

A spectre is haunting Tokyo, but it’s not the spectre of communism: it’s a famous movie monster. Fresh from a recent Hollywood remake and with a homegrown film also on the way, Godzilla is very much back in town, literally. … Continue reading →

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