Thursday, December 15, 2016

Japan - Day 11 - Odaiba

Sunday, October 23, 2016   Odaiba, Tokyo

Odaiba in Tokyo is a happening place with a lot going on. It was quite a change from the more laid back and serene atmosphere that we had been used to, but I liked it.

Here's a bit of info that I found online about Odaiba:

Odaiba (お台場) is a popular shopping and entertainment district on a man made island in Tokyo Bay. It originated as a set of small man made fort islands (daiba literally means "fort"), which were built towards the end of the Edo Period (1603-1868) to protect Tokyo against possible attacks from the sea.

More than a century later, the small islands were joined into larger islands by massive landfills, and Tokyo began a spectacular development project aimed to turn the islands into a futuristic residential and business district during the extravagant 1980s. But development was critically slowed after the burst of the "bubble economy" in the early 1990s, leaving Odaiba nearly vacant.

It was not until the second half of the 1990s, when several hotels, shopping malls and the Yurikamome elevated train line were opened, that Odaiba developed into one of Tokyo's most popular tourist attractions and date spots with a wide selection of shopping, dining and leisure options.

Despite the initial setbacks, several lavish development projects did materialize, including some of Tokyo's boldest architectural creations, such as the Fuji TV Building, Telecom Center and Tokyo Big Sight. Modern city planning furthermore provides Odaiba with plenty of green space and a pleasant division of motorized and pedestrian traffic using elevated walkways and the like.

The Grand Nikko Tokyo Daiba was our final hotel of the trip. 

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Here's our room. 
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This was the view from our room. 
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After settling in we only rested for a little while and then we were off to check out the area. 
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Here's the very cool elevated walkway above all the traffic below.
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This is Diver City, one of the shopping complexes.
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I think some kind of auto thing was happening on the ground level.
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This is the Fuji TV Building.  Later in the evening the building put on a light show for us. 
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We went to Aqua City because I knew that there was a Daiso in the complex and a Supermarket which actually turned out to be not so Super.  I also wanted to check out the Lawson's there for more of Da Bomb Eyeliner.  
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We had dinner here at the food court. 
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We picked Kimukatsu because the tonkatsu pictures looked good.
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This is Sweetie's Kimu Katsu Curry.
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My Kimu Oyako Donburi. 
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Robotic information girl. 
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Rainbow Bridge
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We sat to rest our feet for a bit and watched the light show from the Fuji TV Building. Imagine . . . it's the lights in the rooms of the building that are changing color. Cooooool!!!


Here's more that Sweetie took with her iPhone. Watch for the poser guy at the end.

10 comments:

Kay said...

Statue of Liberty? Oh my! And a Daiso store. Yay!

Honolulu Aunty said...

So sad that it is the ending part of your trip. Poser guy was funny, thought it was in the light show.

jalna said...

Kay, the Statue of Liberty did seem out of place.

So sad, Aunty.

Chet Colson said...

I wish the Odaiba was on our itinerary for next year, but hey the pics will suffice. The katsu curry and oyakodonburi looks ono.

Susan said...

That was an amazing light show! My brother doesn't live far from Odaiba.

jalna said...

You know what Chet, I never even heard of Odaiba until I read the itinerary. And then, not knowing anything about the place, I was disappointed. Boy, was I wrong. I wish we coulda had at least one more full day there to explore.

Lucky brother, Susan!

Susan said...

Yup, I kept hearing Odaiba while on the train while heading out or heading back to his place. Have you been to Seria? It's another dollar store in Japan.

Leslie's pics said...

I think I need to give Odaiba another chance. The day we went was soooo windy I thought we were gonna blow away. We didn't get to do much. It looks pretty nice there!

jalna said...

Susan, last year we did go to a few Seria stores.

OMG Les, you should try go again. And I like go with you.

Nippon Nin said...

I have been there a few times. My favorite is Venus Fort...cute little boutiques, delicious curry pan... Your hotel looks spacious. I didn't stay there but I had a amazing cake with tea in one of the restaurant.