Memory Lane — though everyone calls it Piss Alley for reasons more literally accurate fifty years ago — is a corridor of yakitori stalls jammed against the west wall of Shinjuku Station, surviving from the postwar black market era. The alleys are barely shoulder-width, the stalls open-fronted with counter seating for six or eight, charcoal smoke billowing into the passage. The yakitori is skewered, salted, and grilled over bincho-tan with the efficiency of people who have been doing this since before you were born. Organ meats are the specialty — heart, liver, gizzard, cartilage — working-class food from an era when nothing was wasted. The whole precinct vibrates with Shinjuku Station's energy and glows with paper lanterns burning in some form since 1946.
Location
Shinjuku, Tokyo
Insider Intel
Mixed yakitori set (moriawase) to sample the range — negima (chicken and leek), tsukune (meatball), kawa (skin), hatsu (heart), and sunagimo (gizzard). Order with shio (salt) first to taste the chicken, then tare (sauce) for the sweeter glaze. A cold beer or a cup of hot sake depending on the season. The horumon (offal) skewers are the authentic choice — liver and heart grilled fast over charcoal, slightly charred, sprinkled with shichimi pepper.
Early evening from 5:30pm to 7pm when the smoke is building, the lanterns are lit, and the after-work crowd is arriving but not yet overwhelming. Later in the evening (after 9pm) the alleys become very crowded and navigation is difficult. Weeknights are more manageable than weekends.
Directly adjacent to Shinjuku Station's west exit — you can hear the trains. The alleys are narrow and smoky; wear clothes you do not mind smelling of charcoal afterward. Most stalls are cash only. Prices are low — a full meal of yakitori and beer runs 1,500-2,500 yen. Some stalls have a table charge or minimum order. The language barrier is bridged by pointing at what is being grilled. Several stalls now have English menus. The area is safe despite its rough aesthetic. Open from late afternoon to late night.