I have watched way too many Miike Takashi films to be surprised by the seedy nature of Shinjuku. In fact, I found my first trip to Shinjuku to be similar to a first trip to Las Vegas - both interesting and slightly disappointing. Loads of expensive love hotels (much more expensive, and way more lame than the ones in Shibuya), cheesy pimps, trashy prostitutes, and drunken tourists. The best stuff I saw, besides the more quaint korean district, was the guy selling monkeys and peyote from a card table at the east exit at Shinjuku Station.
