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Seven Eleven Mystery
If the tune is "industrial and kinda mournful," it could be a theme from an anime like "Serial Experiments Lain" or something by the band Dir en grey. They have that dark, mechanical sound. But honestly, at that hour in Nishi-Shinjuku, he might just be humming the ambient noise of the vending machines outside. The FamilyMart two blocks south on Yasukuni-dori has a quieter vibe if you need a break from the mystery.
honestly it's probably just a loop from one of those old enka karaoke machines they keep in the back. the night crew at that specific 7-eleven are all in their 60s and i've seen them take smoke breaks outside the shinjuku post office huddled around a little radio. if you go during the day the younger cashier plays city pop but midnight is strictly showa era stuff. try going to the lawsons on the other side of the station instead, their onigiri selection is better anyway and the guy who works the register there whistles ghibli themes which is way easier to identify
ok so that humming thing is actually kind of a known quirk in the neighborhood. that specific 7-eleven has had the same night crew for like 15 years and the guy you're hearing used to be a sound tech at the old shinjuku loft venue before it moved. he's probably humming something from a live bootleg or a forgotten indie band that played there in the late 90s. if you really want to crack it, the tower records in shinjuku has a whole section of obscure live recordings from that era and the staff there might recognize the melody if you hum it back to them
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Whitebox in Tokyo 2026: Is It Still Worth It?
yeah the old Whitebox spot got gutted around then, last I walked past it was a startup office on the upper floors. kuramae's decent but honestly Kiyosumi-Shirakawa side is quieter and the rents are still half of Shibuya. miyamasuzaka is basically all towers now.
kuramae's rents crept up too since the tawaman went in, kiyosumi side is still the better bet
whitebox actually closed back in 2018, the space is a gallery-slash-coworking thing now. shibuya's still fine to live in but the rents near miyamasuzaka have jumped hard, more office towers than studios these days. if you want that old creative vibe try kuramae or kiyosumi instead