A silhouette in high heels walked briskly through the Shinjuku West Exit rotary

Silhouette walking briskly in high heels — Silhouette walking on Shinjuku West Exit rotary

The area around Nishi-Shinjuku used to be called Tsunohazu, a name that dates back to the Edo period. In the 1970s, when the Keio Plaza Hotel and other skyscrapers were being built one after another, the area began to transform into the Shinjuku subcenter and the name was disappeared from the maps. Perhaps they thought that the name "Tsunohazu" was not appropriate for a place that was being redeveloped to bring new life to the area. Nowadays, the name of the place is just Nishi-Shinjuku.

According to the dictionary, the word "Tsunohazu" has two meanings. One is that the horn of a bow or arrow is made from the horn of a cow or deer. The other is a word used at the Saigu Shrine to refer to Ubasoku. Ubasoku is a male Buddhist believer who lives at home. The word "Ubasoku" was also forbidden as abstinence and was instead called "Tsunohazu."

There are several theories as to why the name "Tsunohazu" became the name of this area, but the most interesting one is that a man named Watanabe Kohei, who was involved in the development of this area, came from Kishu to this area and enshrined the Kumano Gongen. Although he enshrined the Kumano Gongen, Watanabe Kohbei himself was a follower of the Shingon sect of Buddhism, Ubasoku. Therefore, to avoid the word "Ubasoku," which is an abbreviation of Saigu, this place was called Tsunohazu.

Even though it was derived from the bow and arrow are made from the horns of cows and deer, or the name of male Buddhist believer, the image of this place is far from that of a place where skyscrapers stand and many businessmen work. In this sense, the name Nishi-Shinjuku seems more appropriate than the name Tsunohazu for a place where women in high heels are walking briskly. Perhaps it was appropriate to change the name of the town.

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