東京19:30JST

Book · ¥12,000
A narrow lantern-lit alley in Shinjuku just after rain, grill smoke in the light, a person under a clear umbrella walking away down the wet stones

新宿渋谷下北沢

AN
01Omoide Yokocho19:40 JST · f/2 · 1/60 · ISO 3200

Tokyo,
twice.

Night photo walks after the rain

Three hours through Shinjuku, Shibuya or Shimokitazawa on a wet night, six people and Mio, when every lantern and sign lands a second time on the street.

Next walk · Fri Nov 20 · 19:30 JST¥12,000 · Book

That’s 5:30 am on Friday in New York.

The Rain Pass

We go out when it rains.

Any walk can be booked for a set night. But the best nights are the wet ones, and nobody can book those from abroad. So tell us the dates of your stay, and we wait for the rain with you.

  1. 1Book the dates you’re in Tokyo, from home, in your own time zone.
  2. 2On the first wet evening, Mio texts you by 15:00 JST.
  3. 3Meet at 19:30 at the West Exit. No rain all stay? Your money comes back.

¥14,000a person · any line · the umbrella is yours to keep

13wet days in June, 梅雨 tsuyu, the rainy season

  1. 5Jan
  2. 6Feb
  3. 10Mar
  4. 10Apr
  5. 10May
  6. 13Jun
  7. 12Jul
  8. 8Aug
  9. 11Sep
  10. 10Oct
  11. 8Nov
  12. 5Dec
Days with rain in Tokyo, by month · long-term average, rounded · November marked

The walk, stop by stop

The AN Line

Shinjuku after the rain, 19:30 to 22:30 JST. Eight stops, about 4 km, all on foot.

  1. AN
    01

    19:30 JST

    Shinjuku Station, West Exit 新宿駅西口

    Six of us at the top of the steps. Everyone gets a clear umbrella: you can see the neon through it, and you can shoot through it on purpose. Settings once, then we walk.

    Looking up through a clear umbrella covered in raindrops at the red and cyan lights of Shinjuku
    AN01 · 19:30 JST · f/1.8 · 1/125 · ISO 1600 · 35mm

  2. AN
    02

    19:40 JST

    Omoide Yokocho 思い出横丁

    Two lanes of yakitori counters under the tracks, grill smoke in the lanterns. We shoot the lane, not anyone’s dinner: bars here are people’s evenings, so we ask first or keep walking.

    A narrow lantern-lit alley in Shinjuku after rain, a person under a clear umbrella walking away
    AN02 · 19:40 JST · f/2 · 1/60 · ISO 3200 · 35mm

  3. AN
    03

    20:05 JST

    Under the big railway bridge 新宿大ガード

    The trains go over every two minutes. Brace on a pillar, 1/8 of a second, and the windows turn into one bright stripe above the wet road.

    A train with blurred lit windows crossing a steel bridge over a wet street at night
    AN03 · 20:05 JST · f/4 · 1/8 · ISO 800 · 28mm

  4. AN
    04

    20:30 JST

    Golden Gai ゴールデン街

    Six lanes, about two hundred bars the size of a closet, stairs going up to more. The narrowest frames in Tokyo. Most bars here ask for no photos inside, and we keep to that.

    A very narrow wet alley of tiny two-storey wooden bars with outside stairs and lanterns
    AN04 · 20:30 JST · f/2.8 · 1/30 · ISO 4000 · 24mm

  5. AN
    05

    21:00 JST

    The puddle lesson 水たまり

    The trick the whole walk is named for. Find a puddle, put the lens two centimeters above it, and turn the city upside down. Phones are better at this than cameras.

    A puddle on black asphalt holding the upside-down reflection of magenta and cyan lights
    AN05 · 21:00 JST · f/2 · 1/100 · ISO 2000 · 35mm

  6. AN
    06

    21:30 JST

    Yasukuni-dori, long exposure 靖国通り

    Back to the big avenue for one long frame. Six seconds braced on a railing and the taxis become red and white rivers on the wet road.

    A wide Shinjuku avenue at night in the rain with red and white light trails and tall lit buildings
    AN06 · 21:30 JST · f/11 · 6s · ISO 100 · 24mm

  7. AN
    07

    22:05 JST

    Hanazono Shrine 花園神社

    Quiet after all that. Wet stone, a few lanterns, the noise of the avenue behind the trees. We look at your frames together on the steps.

  8. AN
    08

    22:30 JST

    End of the line 終点

    Shinjuku-sanchome Station is a two-minute walk. Last trains leave around midnight; Mio points everyone to their platform.

Yasukuni-dori · 21:34 JST · f/11 · 6s · ISO 100 · 24mm

Walks

Three lines, one wet city

  • A lantern-lit alley in Shinjuku after rain

    新宿

    AN

    Shinjuku after the rain

    1. West Exit
    2. Omoide Yokocho
    3. The tracks
    4. Golden Gai
    5. The avenue
    6. Shrine

    The walk on this page: lantern alleys, trains overhead, the narrowest lanes in the city, one long exposure.

    Tue to Sat · 19:30 JST · 3 hours · 6 people

    ¥12,000a personBook

  • The Shibuya crossing from above at night in rain, crowded with umbrellas

    渋谷

    SB

    Shibuya, from above

    1. Hachiko side
    2. Above the crossing
    3. Center Gai
    4. Under the tracks
    5. Nonbei Yokocho

    The crossing in the rain from a window most people walk past, a sea of umbrellas at 1/4 of a second, then the old drinking lane by the tracks.

    Fridays and Saturdays · 19:00 JST · 3 hours · 6 people

    ¥12,000a personBook

  • A quiet Shimokitazawa street at night with shutters down and a glowing vending machine reflected in a puddle

    下北沢

    SM

    Shimokitazawa, late

    1. South Exit
    2. Shutters
    3. Vending light
    4. Level crossing
    5. Last coffee

    The slow one. Low streets with the shutters down, one vending machine lighting a puddle, the bell of a level crossing in the rain.

    Thursdays · 20:00 JST · 2½ hours · 6 people

    ¥10,000a personBook

Private walkAny line, any night, up to four people, your pace · ¥48,000Ask Mio

Mio Tanabe, the photographer, under a clear umbrella in a wet Shinjuku side street at night, a camera around her neck
Mio, Shinjuku · 19:12 JST · f/1.8 · 1/125 · ISO 1600

Your guide

Mio Tanabe 田辺 澪

I grew up in Kanazawa, where they say you can forget your lunch but never your umbrella.

I came to Tokyo in 2009 to retouch photographs in a print shop in Shinjuku, mostly other people’s weddings. For five years I went home on the last train and never took a picture of my own.

Then one night in June 2014, the rainy season, I missed that train. I waited out the rain in Omoide Yokocho with a cheap clear umbrella and my phone, and I photographed a puddle with a red lantern in it, upside down. When I looked at it on the platform at dawn I couldn’t tell which half was the street. I still can’t. It is the first picture on this site’s wall.

I started walking visitors through the wet city in 2019. Most of them book from home before their flight. I wait for the rain with them.

  • 2014the puddle that started it
  • 6people a walk, at most
  • 600+wet nights walked since 2019

Gallery

Every frame, twice

Mio’s wet nights, standing on their own reflections. Signed archival prints from ¥18,000 (30 × 45 cm), mailed flat anywhere.

  • The Shibuya crossing from above in the rain, hundreds of umbrellas crossing
    Shibuya crossing · 19:22 JST · Junef/8 · 1/4 · ISO 400 · 35mm
  • An old drinking lane in Shibuya lit by red and white paper lanterns, one person with an umbrella
    Nonbei Yokocho · 21:48 JST · Octoberf/2 · 1/50 · ISO 2500 · 35mm
  • A woman with a clear umbrella seen from behind at a level crossing as a lit train blurs past
    Level crossing, Shimokitazawa · 22:10 JST · Junef/2.8 · 1/15 · ISO 1600 · 50mm
  • A sleeping Shimokitazawa street, a vending machine glowing and its light in a puddle
    Shutters down, Shimokitazawa · 23:05 JST · Marchf/4 · 1/8 · ISO 800 · 28mm

What to bring

A phone is enough.

Two hands holding a phone just above a puddle to photograph the neon reflected in it, a clear umbrella at the edge

  • I only have a phone

    Perfect. Phones are the best puddle cameras there are: tiny lens, low to the ground. Mio shows you night mode and how to brace on a rail.

  • Do I need a tripod?

    Leave it at the hotel. The alleys are too narrow and the crossing too crowded. We brace on pillars and railings; Mio carries one tiny tabletop tripod for the long exposure.

  • What about the rain?

    A clear umbrella is waiting for you, and a microfiber cloth for the lens. Bring a jacket with a hood and shoes you don’t mind wetting.

  • How far, how fit?

    About 4 km, flat, at a stroll, with plenty of standing still. A few steps at the shrine. Three hours in all.

Night manners

  1. Shoot the lane, not anyone’s dinner.
  2. Ask with a bow and a lifted camera. A no is a no.
  3. No photos inside a bar without the owner’s yes.
  4. Step aside to stop. Tokyo keeps walking.
Three guests on a night photo walk in a wet Shinjuku lane, one laughing at her camera, one raising a phone to a lantern, one crouching at a puddle

Guests

From the last wet nights

  • “Booked it from Lyon a week before the flight. It rained the second night, Mio texted at 14:50, and I have never seen a city look like that.”

    Camille R., LyonRain Pass, June

  • “I only had my phone. The puddle lesson alone was worth it: my upside-down Golden Gai is now printed above my desk.”

    Devon A., TorontoAN Line, October

  • “I shoot weddings for a living. Mio knows the second a train crosses the bridge and where the light pools after rain. Worth every yen.”

    Priya S., wedding photographer, MelbournePrivate walk, March

Where we meet

Shinjuku Station, West Exit 西口

At the top of the steps by the entrance to Omoide Yokocho, 19:30 JST. Look for the red umbrella. Mio texts a photo of the spot the morning of the walk.

By train
JR Yamanote or Chuo Line to Shinjuku, then follow the signs for the West Exit.
From Narita
The Narita Express runs straight to Shinjuku, about 80 minutes.
From Haneda
About 45 minutes by train with one change.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Shinjuku Station, West Exit Meet by Omoide Yokocho at 19:30 JST. Shibuya and Shimokitazawa walks meet at their own stations. Open the map

Questions

Before you fly

What time zone are these times in?

Japan Standard Time, JST, which is UTC+9 all year: Japan has no daylight saving. Every time on this page is Tokyo time; the next walk at the top is also shown in your own time.

What if it doesn’t rain?

We walk anyway. Shinjuku doubles itself in shop glass and wet gutters on dry nights too. Or move to a wetter night of your stay, free. On a Rain Pass you only go out on a wet night, and if none comes, your money comes back.

What if it really pours, or there’s a typhoon?

Steady rain is the point. Typhoon warnings, thunder or a downpour that floods the lanes cancel the walk; it moves free or you get your money back, your pick.

Can I book before I land?

Most people do. Book from home in your own time zone; Mio texts you in English the morning of the walk with the meeting point and a photo of where to stand.

Is the walk in English?

In English and Japanese. Mio worked six years with foreign clients in a print shop and switches between the two all evening.

Can I photograph people?

Strangers in a crowd at the crossing, yes. In the alleys, ask first: a bow and a lifted camera is enough, and a shake of the head means no. Inside bars, never without the owner’s yes.

Can kids come?

Fourteen and up, with a parent on the same booking. Golden Gai is a bar district, so we keep to the lanes.

Book

Hold your spot

All times are Japan time (JST, UTC+9). A ¥3,000 deposit holds it; the rest is paid on the night, in cash or by card. Bad weather moves it free.

That’s 5:30 am on Friday in New York.

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  2. 2Day and time
  3. 3Details
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