They're connecting Tokyo and Nihonbashi stations underground which will effective connect 10 stations in total with underground passages so that would be another interesting 3d map

Also, that map seems incomplete by at least a 3rd. The connection between it and Shinjuku-3-chome station is missing (the hallways just arbitrarily stop on that map) and the tunnels from there to the south entrance of Shinjuku station are missing as well as 3 more train platforms. I suppose you could argue that's a different station which is fine, but the fact that tunnels don't end where they appear to on this map is misleading.

• cyberrock

  today at 1:56 AM

  Looks like the cutoff is from the source governmental data. It's also missing Tochoumae and Nishishinjuku, even though it has Shinjuku-nishiguchi and Seibu Shinjuku.

This is an excellent visualization! I would love to see someone adapt this data into a first-person navigation game. The game should put you at some location in the station complex and ask you to navigate to some location. This would be excellent training for people visiting the real-life Shinjuku station for the first time.

• Rendello

  today at 4:03 AM

  I thought the horror game "Exit 8" was going to be like that when I bought it: having to navigate through a labyrinthine nightmare version of Shinjuku or Shibuya station, trying to remember the passageways and —hey wait... was that escalator there before?

  Turns out is was the opposite since the whole game takes place in a single hallway. It was still a lot of fun though!

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exit_8

  • lkois

    today at 6:25 AM

    I wasn't aware of this game until AFTER I saw the movie. Made a lot more sense after that. Watching a guy solve the same puzzle over and over felt like an odd narrative choice.

    A labyrinthine Shinjuku would still be way cooler. Shibuya station doesn't have quite the same disorienting featureless repetition to it, but offers a more overwhelming MC Escher-like experience where you can often SEE exactly where you want to go in the near-distance, but every path and every turn brings you into a completely different space, and rarely any closer to your destination.

https://github.com/satoshi7190/Shinjuku-indoor-threejs-demo

Finally I'll be able to properly follow JJK season 2

• jhogendorn

  today at 3:47 AM

  That's shibuya

I've never really had crowd fear, but after a crush event at an agricultural fair underpass, I acquired it. Shinjuku just before rush-hour brought it back on, and I basically ran away and sat under a tree for an hour or so.

I've been in Tokyo and Ikebukuro at busy times, but nothing has been like Shinjuku to me. Maybe it's the escalators and a certain ordered-but-relentless ant-army mentality getting to the platforms.

• artisinal

  today at 6:25 AM

  21 people suffocated at the Love Parade event in Duisburg Germany and are no longer with us. 652 injuries in total.

  It’s a good thing to be cautious with crowds.

• al_borland

  today at 5:12 AM

  I was lucky to never hit rush hour when visiting Japan. Shinjuku was however the first station I had to navigate after taking the train from the airport. After the long flight, knowing how big it was, and not knowing if I was going the right way, I was losing it. I was just trying to find a way up to the street level, so my GPS would work and I could get my bearings. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a panic attack, but that’s probably the closest I’ve been.

  I was very thankful to find my Airbnb, and once I had an anchor point it was better.

Really cool, it's giving me Ghost in the Shell computer UI vibes.

Can’t help but think of the 3D map of Midgar from FF7 when I look at this

• azalemeth

  yesterday at 4:19 PM

  For me it's more metroid prime than FF. Just needs the coloured doors!

very cool project. would you create more of this for other stations in Tokyo? or other famous stations on different cities

Funny to see this as well as the Gaussian splat cathedral on the HN front page at the same time.

While the Gaussian splat is impressive, I kinda still dig the wireframe…

What are the steep angle arrows indicating? Too steep for an escalator/stairs, but not 90 degrees like an elevator would need to be. Anyone know?

• cevn

  yesterday at 4:43 PM

  It turns off if you uncheck "hokousha/pedestrian network". Based on their placement I'm pretty sure they are elevators, I wonder if they actually do have that angle.

• ant6n

  yesterday at 8:15 PM

  Escalators. The distances between the levels are exaggerated, to make it easier to see what's going on.

• Karliss

  yesterday at 5:57 PM

  Some of the not quite 90 slopes seem to be due to arrows representing more of topological structure not necessarily accurate geometric representation. Could be elevators with doors on both sides, connect doors on opposite sides and you will get a bit of slope. Some of them might spiral stairways. The vertical spacing between floors is likely also exaggerated for clarity. Underground there might be larger gaps since the train tunnels need to go over each other under the rivers and what not, but there is no way 3 above ground floors (4f-2f) have empty gap 5x the ceiling height of individual floor.

get stuck at the center where I can't zoom or move around anywhere.

Very cool and very performant

NO WONDER I've become lost in Shinjuku Station on at least 3 occasions!

• lmm

  today at 4:13 AM

  Shinjuku isn't the worst - it's big, but every part of it has its own distinct feel, you never get confused about where you are. I actually think Ikebukuro is the worst - there are too many places where you can rotate 180 degrees, or move up or down a floor, and find yourself looking at an exactly identical scene.

• notrustincloud

  today at 3:55 AM

  anyone who hasn't been lost in Shinjuku-eki has not been to Shinjuku-eki. Or has been, but it was Golden Week and the place was nearly empty.

Now we just need an app that links your location in 3d space so you can finally easily navigate Shinjuku.

• SapporoChris

  yesterday at 7:40 PM

  Please don't do this. The station is very busy and the commuters do not have time to navigate around people focused on their smartphones.

  Instead, familiarize yourself with the general layout. There's no need to memorize the entire map, only the portion you will be using. Inside the station there are plenty of signs overhead and even on the floor to help navigate.

  • pezezin

    today at 5:32 AM

    How do you expect tourists, including people coming from other regions of Japan, to familiarize themselves with the layout?

  • ranger_danger

    yesterday at 8:30 PM

    The signs are incredibly confusing and often will all point to each other from every direction.

    • razorbeamz

      today at 2:55 AM

      No they aren't. People who say this have never spent a significant amount of time there.

      • pezezin

        today at 5:34 AM

        Yes they are. Every time I visit Tokyo I try to avoid Shinjuku because it is extremely confusing and I always get lost.

        Signs are mostly useful for people who are new to a place, if you need a significant amount of time to familiarize yourself then they are useless.

    • SapporoChris

      yesterday at 9:39 PM

      Do you have an example? Your comment seems like an exaggeration, I have never seen any signs pointing to each other from every direction.

      Also, I am curious of the justification. Why would anyone place signs that "... are incredibly confusing and often will all point to each other from every direction."

  • figmert

    yesterday at 10:01 PM

    For what it's worth I was joking. I've only been Shinjuku as a tourist, so I unfortunately won't be able to familiarise myself with the layout, but I do feel your pain. I've seen the same thing in smaller stations in the London and absolutely hate it.

    • SapporoChris

      yesterday at 10:46 PM

      I appreciate your comment.

This is beautiful. I went there 20 years ago and my mind was blown then how big it was but I really had no idea!

• yesterday at 10:29 PM

• ranger_danger

  yesterday at 3:54 PM

  It is still the busiest train station in the world by far:

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_busiest_railway_statio...

  • bogdan

    yesterday at 5:56 PM

    Probably. They count journeys involving Shinjuku as an interchange as two separate, independent journeys.

  • badc0ffee

    yesterday at 8:52 PM

    This is off-topic, but I find it surprising that relatively small Stockholm is so high on the list.

looks like a doom level

• LeoPanthera

  yesterday at 6:42 PM

  Doom cannot have hallways above or below other hallways without teleport hacks.

  But you could do it in Quake.

• wingmanjd

  yesterday at 9:28 PM

  Or Descent. Pity the fool who hits the map key mid-multiplayer fight.

• yesterday at 6:37 PM

[dead]