As technologically advanced and high tech of an image Japan might have with the rest of the world I think that in many cases it is quite the opposite. Today’s adventures in Shinjuku was a case of just that.

Shinjuku station is huge. It is the busiest station in Japan, perhaps even in the world. Surrounding it are lots of places to spend you money which illuminate quite nicely at night. However outside of the east exist there is this building that looks very unsuspecting.

It is very close to two underground exists. I found it because there is a place at the entrance that sells bubble teas and crepes. Being as it was hot and it is Mango season here in Japan I thought I would indulge in a マンゴミルク (Mango milk) tea, which my choice of black tapiocas or colored ones. I decided to play it safe and go with the black tapiocas giving the vibe building.

Inside it felt like a dead and dying mall. I pictured what it must have been like when it first opened, probably around the time of the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, and it was probably pretty nice. Inside there was only stairs that have been blocked off and a discount Zara store. Somehow people came down the stairs sometimes but never went up. Walking through the back entrance into a Zara discount store, the music was loud and the store a mess.

Our goal was the third floor today. Rumor had it there was a movie theater in this building. We ride the rickety elevator up and the doors open. The floor is covered in pink checkered carpet and a small line of movie goers has formed. We have a choice of three movies, mostly Japanese films. The concession stand is mostly lit and the pop corn in machine is sitting there with pre-popped popcorn waiting to be ordered under a heat lamp of sorts.

We get our tickets and to my surprise there is no assigned seating, which is normal in Japan. We purchase our ticket and it is like the rest of the building, blast from the past. A past that I had never before experienced. On the ticket is the name of the theater, the screen number (2 of 3), a stamp with the date and time, and a seating number.

When it comes time to enter the theater I do not know what to expect. Everybody is standing around waiting for them to start calling out seating numbers. They start calling out “Tickets 1 ~ 10 can now enter” and I start to move towards the front.

We get in the theater and it has 10 rows of 7 (split in a 4||3) with a smaller screen. At this point though I was half-expecting a 20″ black-and-white television. There is a small No Smoking sign on the front left. People are walking in with bags of McDonalds to enjoy during the movie. Apparently you do not have to sneak food into the theater here. A school bell rings. Everybody quiets down and the film begins…