The West Exit of Shinjuku Station is where the ticket gates for the JR, Marunouchi, Keio, and Odakyu lines are. The buses connecting Narita and Haneda airports to the station are also located by its West exit, making it a convenient spot for foreigners visiting Tokyo.

What's more, some of the stores in Electric Town are directly connected to the station, making them easily accessible right off your commute.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government skyscrapers by the west exit of Shinjuku Station is impressive. Although the area is an office district, where many business people come and go, there are also stores for families and tourists.

Major electronics retailers compete for a broad customer base, and all stores have excellent product lineups. Each store has a unique style that makes use of its strengths.

Whether you are on the market for cheap home appliances or personal computers, looking for the most advanced digital home appliances in Japan, or just want to enjoy the vibrant atmosphere of Shinjuku Electric Town, this is where it's at.

Since being established in Nishi Shinjuku in 1967, Yodobashi Camera has evolved from a camera shop into a general electronics retail store, and it’s long been known as the face of the West exit of Shinjuku Station. This site has been part of Nishi Shinjuku since its former name, Yodobashi Shinjuku, and it’s become the headquarters of Yodobashi Camera, which has stores all over the country.

One of the major features of the building is that it has expanded many times, acquiring nearby buildings and other floors. Several specialty areas are scattered around the west exit, mainly multimedia museums that have been there long. If you know what you’re looking for, take a look at the specialty areas.

Multimedia Building
If you’re not sure where to go, visit the Multimedia Hall. This major section sports all kinds of appliances, like PCs, smartphones, cameras, audio equipment, electronic pianos, rice cookers, beauty appliances, and cosmetics. The Multimedia Hall consists of three buildings, the North, south, and East buildings, but the sections of the pavilion indoors are connected so that you can quickly move within it. The North building stretches from the basement to the 8th floor, while the South and East buildings have products from the basement up to the 5th floor.

General Camera Building
The camera building, filled with camera-related products from the basement to the 5th floor, is a must-see for camera lovers. It is no exaggeration to say that you can get almost anything related to cameras, such as tripods, camera bags, photo-organizing supplies, digital SLR cameras, and lenses from all manufacturers.

Print Building
There is a specialty shop that prints photographs. A digital printing machine is installed in the store, so you can print photos taken with a digital camera or smartphone while sightseeing around Japan. Of course, you can also ask the staff to make a print for you.

Repair and Film Building
The Repair and Film Hall is for camera repairs. They also repair items not purchased from Yodobashi Camera, so visit them if you have issues with one of your electronics breaking. They also handle camera film and film development, which are not common anymore.

Watches Building
The watch specialty building is located on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th basement levels. There are many Japanese watches on the first level, like Seiko, Citizen, and Casio. There’s the casual kind you can buy for 1000 yen, making the store section popular among foreign visitors. Other floors have foreign-brand watches, alarm clocks, even sunglasses, and writing instruments. The second basement level is where they handle battery replacement and repairs.

Mobiles and Smartphone Hall
Connected with Shinjuku Station in the basement, this area has mobile phones and smartphones on the first floor and PC peripherals and home appliances on the second floor. If you want to try and find something cheaper of many different makes, check out the ‘outlet’ (discount) corner on the second floor. In addition, the store sells bicycles on the second basement level, and they also do watch repair, battery replacement, and parts replacement.

Cellphone Accessories Hall
You can find Docomo, Au, SoftBank, smartphone cases, LCD protective sheets, chargers, earphones, and memory cards here. Selfie sticks (popular among travelers) can also be found here.

Travel Hall
The Travel Hall has a variety of things to use for traveling. There are. An array of suitcases, from small to large, as well as rucksacks, shoulder bags, padlocks, compression bags, preserved food, conversion plugs, adapters, etc. Foreigners traveling in Japan may find some valuable goods. This area of the store also carries outdoor and camping equipment.

Gashapon (gumball/toy ball machine) Hall
Gashapon is a capsuled toy that comes out of a gumball-like machine upon inserting a coin and pulling a lever. On the ground floor and in the basement, about 500 gashapon are lined up, with prizes from popular characters, to animals, vehicles, and cute or funny things.

Hobby and Toy Hall
There’s a dream-like specialty section full of toys from the first basement level to the 5th floor. In addition to children’s toys, they sell plastic models, drones, and railway models that adults will love. Everyone will be happy with the selection.

Game Hall
The game specialty hall sells game software, peripherals, strategy books, and more for game consoles like Nintendo, Switch, 3DS, PS4, and Xbox One. There are also game character goods for all video game lovers out there.

Yamada Denki Labi Shinjuku Nishiguchi, which opened in 2011, is a new store in Electric Town by the West exit of Shinjuku Station. That said, Yamada Denki is the largest consumer electronics retailer with large stores nationwide, not just in urban areas.

LABI Shinjuku West Exit also has 11 floors from the basement level to the 9th floor (the 7th and 8th floors host the Yamada Denki Group’s PC specialty store “Tsukumo Shinjuku West Exit”), and it carries PCs, digital cameras, games, watches, home appliances, smartphones. The store boasts a large selection of daily necessities, like cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. You will be amazed at the variety of smartphone accessories in the store on the first floor. There is also a section where you can experience the so-called suggestion-type sales.

The store also features many of the latest home appliances and smart home appliances focused on energy-saving, the main selling point of the store. The store has only used LED lighting on all floors since its opening. Also, unlike many other stores in the area, the passages connecting the various parts of the store are very spacious. Walking around with a cart, stroller, or large luggage is particularly good for families and travelers in general.

Finding your desired item from a large selection of products in this bright, spacious store with high ceilings should be easy. The first basement level is connected to the underground connecting passage to Shinjuku Station, so it’s safe even on rainy days.

Janpara is a smartphone/computer store that operates all-over Japan. They purchase unwanted smartphones, PCs, tablets, digital cameras, etc., inspect them, and re-sell them.

There are two stores by the West exit of Shinjuku Station. The one on the second floor of the pharmacy is a store that handles used smartphones, tablets, PCs, and video equipment in particular. The selection of smartphones like the iPhone is large. Many types of RAM, CPU and HDD parts are indispensable for home-built personal computers.

The entrance is different, but the main products of Janpara Shinjuku Second Store are on the second floor, in the same building as the Yodobashi Camera Shinjuku Nishiguchi Main Store. Here are all camera-related products, as well as Macbooks and iPads. In particular, you will find many SLR digital cameras and lenses. They also handle headphones and other audio equipment.

This is how the West exit of Shinjuku Station became Electric Town. Here, you can find new and used products and the major home electronics retailers in Japan, Yodobashi Camera, BicCamera, Yamada Denki, and Janpara.

Consumers can shop at lower prices because of the fierce competition, and you will also be able to receive guidance from expert clerks in many fields in Electric Town by the West exit of Shinjuku Station. All of this will make for delightful shopping.

*This article was originally published in January 2020. Coupon codes were updated in May 2023.