Putting On My Tourist Shoes Again

3rd May 2006 – 22:00

From today there are 3 days of holidays which means time off for me and everyone else in Japan! Unfortunately it also means that wherever I choose to explore over the next few days millions of other people will be doing the same!

But this didn’t put me off! Today – a very sunny day – I visited Odaiba, a man-made island with museums, malls, exhibitions, arcades and a ferris wheel! To get there I had to get a train from Shimbashi which goes across the Rainbow Bridge which is nearly a kilometer long. Coming across the bridge gives great views of the Tokyo skyline as well as the bay area of Odaiba.

Once I’d got off from the train (along with about 10,000 other people) I headed through the malls towards the Toyota Mega Web showroom. A vast exhibition hall with (you guessed it) Toyota cars in it. It is also an exhibition showing the history of the company, the development of Hybrid fuels and how they affect and help our planet. At least here there was stuff in English. It may not have been the most interesting thing I’ve done since I got here but at least I could understand what the hell was going on! There was also a demonstration of Toyota’s i-Unit a personal mobility vehicle. Very futuristic stuff

There were more expensive shops around here (including a mall like Caesars Palace in Las Vegas) and my hunt for a cheap pair of sunglasses goes on because I can only find Oakley’s and Police ones! I decided against a ride in the ferris wheel, as the queue was a mile long, and headed back through Aqua City, Mediage (which has a Sony Style showroom) and Decks to the Fuji Japan TV Centre. This has a 360° observation deck 25 floors up and on a clear day it is said that you can see Mount Fuji in the distance.

When I’d decided that enough was enough I jumped back on the train to leave and after changing at Shimbashi went to Roppongi (again) for something to eat.