Attempt to exit (or enter) any major train station in Tokyo and you are likely to find yourself lost in a maze of winding multi-level underground passageways and arcades lined with all manner of shops and restaurants. Make a wrong turn, and you’ll somehow end up caught on the designer handbag floor of one of the towering department stores attached to the station by a dizzying array of underground and aboveground entryways. For a first time visitor to Japan, a major train station and its associated passageways and tunnels can be both an amazing and frightening experience.

Last week, I spent a handful of nights at the Century Hyatt, a nice, four-star hotel located in Tokyo’s Nishi-Shinjuku skyscraper district. Of course, this meant that I would be making use of Shinjuku Station, the poster child for enormous and confusing Japanese train stations, and the underground tunnels connecting it with my hotel. It is often said that finding the same location in Shinjuku Station twice is impossible. I had previously used the station for visiting Shinjuku, but this was my first time using it as my jumping-off point for the rest of Tokyo, and I found that it definitely lived up to its reputation.

Each day, three and a half million commuters pass through Shinjuku Station (yet, like most other places in Japan, it somehow remains practically spotless). Six train companies operate over a dozen lines that stop at the station, which is connected to the rest of Shinjuku by miles of twisting below-ground walkways. Seven department stores are linked with the sprawling station complex. I only ever figured out how to get to one of them, though I can’t say I tried particularly hard.

Ah, yes, the department stores. Japanese department stores are amazing sights that have to be seen to be believed. Most are at least ten stories, selling everything from designer clothes, handbags, and cosmetics to stationery, electronics, and books. Department stores are also a great place to eat on the cheap. The top floor or floors usually have an array of reasonably-priced sit-down restaurants, but the real bargains are to be had in the basement. There, you’ll find a sensory overload of dozens of stalls selling every type of food imaginable, from traditional Japanese-style dishes to spaghetti. Countless varieties of sweets and bakery are also available. Employees shout out over the noise of thousands of shoppers, enticing hungry patrons to eat at their stall. Everything is freshly made and nicely displayed, and free samples are often available, if you can manage to pick them out from within the crowds of hungry commuters. Almost everything costs less than 1000JPY (about $8.50), so the department store basements make a great alternative to overpriced hotel food. The bento boxes sold by many stalls also make great lunches to take with you when out sightseeing.

For dinner one night, I found a stall at Odakyu called Chicken Deli that sold a rotisserie chicken stuffed with carrots, potatoes, and onions and seasoned with some of the most delicious spices I had ever tasted. I also picked up a great salad from an adjacent stall that went beyond typical American salad fare of lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese and added bits of pumpkin, beans, peas, and nuts. The whole thing cost barely more than an American McDonalds Extra Value Meal and tasted way better (and was no doubt way healthier).

One of the most amazing things about Japanese stores in general, and department stores in particular, is the care that goes into packaging your purchases. The salad I purchased was wrapped in no fewer than three containers - a small plastic box, which was placed inside a plastic bag, which was taped shut with an ice pack attached to the top of it, which was finally inserted into a larger paper shopping bag with handles. Items purchased are beautifully giftwrapped and boxed upon request at no extra charge. In contrast with most American department stores, where it is often nearly impossible to find anyone to help you, employees are always available and eager to assist.

Just in case the department stores don’t offer enough shopping and dining options for you, the shops and restaurants lining the underground walkways connecting the train station with other areas of Shinjuku are there to fill in any gaps in the department stores’ offerings. Convience stores, fast food restaurants, tiny sushi stalls, and even banks and post offices can be found tucked away in various locations inside the tunnels beneath Shinjuku’s streets.

While other train stations operate on a somewhat smaller scale, most major ones follow the same basic pattern: department stores and long underground shopping plazas connected to the station by dozens of tunnels and walkways. Tokyo’s Ikebukuro, Shibuya, and Tokyo stations and Kyoto’s main station all offer similar shopping and dining options.

Luckily for me, Shinjuku Station was fairly kind. I only got so hopelessly lost that I had to stop at a koban (police box) and ask for directions once. I managed to find my way back to the Odakyu department store’s basement each day to buy lunch, even though I never managed to get there in quite the same way twice. I found myself walking in circles or taking some horribly indirect path a number of times, but I always managed to get to where I wanted to go in the end. While sprawling and somewhat befuddling on occasion, I’m definitely looking forward to my next stay in Shinjuku. Now where is that Isetan department store?