Narrow postwar alley next to Shinjuku Station's east exit — about 80 stalls packed shoulder-to-shoulder, smoky, cramped, 5–6 seats per shop. Started as black-market food stalls in the 1940s, still serving grilled chicken, soba, and cheap beer through coin-operated vending machines on some stools. The seating is so tight you end up talking to strangers whether you planned to or not. Earned its other nickname from the lack of toilets in earlier decades.