Today we're in Odaiba
It's an area in Tokyo bay
It's actually manmade, reclaimed land
There's lots of things to do here
So today I'm going to show you some of them
Odaiba is spacious, futuristic & has its own feel
I think it's an interesting place to spend a day
Or half a day
Depending how much time you have
And what you're interested in
So today I'm going to run through what there is to do
There's quite a lot
At the end I'll tell you how to get there
And how to get around
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Odaiba isn't always included in lists of "Top 10 things to do in Tokyo"
Or things you should do on your first trip
But I think it's a really interesting place to come
And I don't know why it's not featured
I think a lot of the time it's featured because of the giant Gundam
So people say you should visit that
And I don't think you can see that anywhere else
But Odaiba to me just has a really nice feel to it
I don't know if that's just because
It's the first place we came on our first visit to Japan
It seems like a strange place to pick for your first day
But that's what we did
On our first day ever here
It's quite laid back
Because it's manmade and relatively modern
It handles all the traffic properly
It's a bit more spacious than a lot of other places in Tokyo
It looks really modern & futuristic
There's some interesting architecture around here
Like the Fuji TV Building, Big Sight & a lot of other ones
It's a real contrast to the rest of Tokyo
Where, somewhere like Shinjuku
It's really really cool
But it's so dense & compact
It's a mismatch of everything
Which is really nice in its own way
That's what's good about that
But then you come here
And it's the complete opposite; everything's big
And wide open
And that's really nice as well
There's quite a few things to do here
If you're into shopping
That's not a thing we particularly like to do
But here's 3, 4 malls here?
There's several shopping malls
Decks Tokyo Beach
Diver City
And Aqua City Odaiba
But the most interesting one
Is Venus Fort
It has 3 levels
One is classical European style
With a fake sky ceiling
It's just like Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas
There's statues, fountains & everything
Once I even saw a couple there having wedding photos
The giant Gundam is just outside Diver City mall
Anyone can go along & have a look at it
Even if you're not into Gundam
It's still pretty cool
And it really is huge
Every so often it transforms
And does a mini show
There's also a shop & a Gundam cafe
You've also got the seaside park
Which is nice on the beach
You can't go swimming or anything
But it's nice to stroll around
Or have your lunch or something
You've got a nice view of Tokyo across the river
You can also combine going to Odaiba
With going to Asakusa
Or the SkyTree
And that sort of area
Or maybe even Akihabara
Is in that area too
You can get a boat going up the river
Which is always nice
When you're on a trip
My favourite one's called the Himiko
It was designed by an anime artist
So it looks really cool & futuristic
We went on that, is that in a video?
Yes!
So we'll link the video to that
That is really cool
Especially on a nice day
You cruise down the river
You get to see a few things
Like the Asahi Building's right at the end of it
You just get to see a bit of Tokyo
I don't think there's anything really remarkable on the journey
But it's just a nice way to spend an hour or so
As well as the Himiko
There's also two other boats called the Hotaluna & Emereldas
They're all quite similar
One of them has an outdoor deck
There's also a load of other things here too
Like the Science Museum, Miraikan
Which is really good
You can see Asimo there
I dont' know how advanced he is these days
But he always was touted as a really advanced robot
He's the first one that could properly run & carry stuff upstairs
He's quite cool to see
He's Honda's robot
I've got a video of him
From our first trip to Tokyo
On my terrible camera back then
That was probably half a megapixel
I really enjoyed Miraikan
The science museum
There's lots of robots
There's a model showing how the internet works
And you can go inside a model of the space station
There's also the Digital Art Museum
TeamLab Borderless
There's a temporary exhibition from them as well, at the moment
Called TeamLab Planets
The special thing about that one
Is it's got water
So you have to take your shoes off
And go wading through water
And they do projections on the top of the water & things
That's nice!
I really enjoyed TeamLab Borderless
It's a really different, unique experience
With projection mapping
And immersive, interactive displays
As well as being beautiful
It's also really fun
With parts you can climb through
And things you can play with
That aren't just for kids
There's a video on my channel
You've also got Toyota Megaweb
Which is basically just a Toyota showroom now
Showroom turned into tourist attraction
They've got a few things you can do
Like design your own car
And you can go on a little test ride around
I've never done that
It's kind of interesting, but not necessarily a reason to come here on its own
You might as well have a stroll round if you're there
If you like cars
There's also the Toyota History Garage
Which is a small collection of vintage cars
It's free to look round
That's in the area where there's a giant ferris wheel
That's really tall
And I've got a bit of a problem with heights
So I don't know if I really want to go on that or not
The one we went on in Osaka was quite high
I was alright with it though
The ferris wheel's 115m tall
There's views of Tokyo & the bay
Apparently, on a clear day, you can see Mount Fuji
It's right next to Venus Fort
And Teamlab Borderless
The area it's in is called Palette Town
Which is named after an artist's paint palette
At night the ferris wheel's lit up in rainbow colours
Just like the rainbow bridge
Can you go up the Fuji building?
I think there's a free observation deck in there
If you walk in with enough confidence
Free as in, I'm pretending to work here?
We could see that
We could
Get a nice view of Tokyo across the bay
After this we went to investigate the Fuji TV Building
Unfortunately it isn't free
But there is an observation deck
And it's an interesting building to take pictures of
If you like the anime One Piece
There's a themed restaurant
There's also an onsen theme park here
Here?
Yeah
It's called Onsen - something - Monogatari I think
It's got a lot of different themed onsen you can go round
Didn't know that
Oedo Onsen Monogatari
Is probably the least traditional way to experience an onsen
Which is a natural hot spring bath
Usually they're in relaxing, picturesque towns in the countryside
But if you're not travelling outside Tokyo
This is a way to experience one
In the form of a theme park
There's several different types of traditional baths
But there's also mixed footbaths
Where you can wander around in a Yukata
That's a lightweight kimono
There's a historic Edo-period themed foot court
And traditional Japanese sideshow games
Of course, Odaiba's where Big Sight is
Which is the main convention centre in Tokyo
So if you're going to a big event
They have big cosplay events here as well
Design Festa
And all sorts of things
It's worth checking if anything's on when you're there
Big Sight is where they have the big anime conventions
And Comiket
So if you want to see cosplayers while you're in Japan
This is where you'd see them
Next, the Trick Art Museum
Is so much fun
You pose with optical illusions on the walls
You'll go home with hundreds of really silly photos.
It's such a unique place.
There's a video about it on my channel.
A new attraction in Odaiba
Is the Unko Museum
Which means the poop museum
It's in Diver City Tokyo Plaza shopping mall
The theme is "Max unko kawaii"
Which means: maximum poop cuteness
There's games & exhibits
Like poop drawn by famous people
But it's mostly made for Instagram
Just like the museum of ice cream
With backdrops for you to pose with
And take lots of pictures
With the cute poop
Sega Joypolis
I always want to call it Joyopolis
Is an indoor theme park
With simulators
Rides & VR attractions
The Takoyaki Museum
Isn't really a museum
It's more a collection of themed food stalls
Selling different types of takoyaki
Which is octopus in batter
With a tasty savoury sauce
There's a small takoyaki-themed arcade
And even a takoyaki shrine
There's a Madame Tussauds
With waxwork models of famous people
Just like all the other ones around the world
Next, the Legoland Discovery Centre
I can't really tell you much about this one
Because you're only allowed in if you have a child with you
It's very unfair
It's an indoor attraction
Aimed at children aged 3-10
There's several other museums too
Which I haven't been to, so I can't say how good they are for foreigners
There's the Tokyo Water Science Museum
Which is free
Mainly for kids
There's the Museum of Maritime Science
Which is also free
That's about ships
And carrying on the water theme
There's the sewerage museum
Which is about sewers
That one's free as well
Next, How to Get to Odaiba
You can get there on the Rinkai or Yurikamome lines
You can use your Suica card just like all the other lines
The train goes over the Rainbow Bridge
So you get some great views of Tokyo Bay
And all the really interesting architecture on Odaiba
You can also walk across the Rainbow Bridge
But you're walking alongside the traffic
Or you can go by boat
From the Shiodome area
Or from Asakusa
Finally, how to get around Odaiba
Once you're there
It's pretty easy to get around
A lot of the places I've mentioned are walkable
There's also several stations
And there's a free Tokyo Bay shuttle bus
That does a loop
So if you fancy a break away from the rest of Tokyo
Where everything's really crammed in, and you want somewhere more spacious to go
Odaiba's a good place to come
There's lots more ideas for things to do in Tokyo on my channel
And new videos every Thursday
If you want to subscribe
I'll see you next week