Odaiba is manmade island in Tokyo that is popular for shopping and entertainment, with many malls within walking distance to each other. We’ve been there before, but decided to return to find more adventure! And we did find some very interesting things to see…
We arrived at the Odaiba Seaside Park and disembarked our Sumida River boat cruise. Walking along the side street, we had a very nice view of Rainbow Bridge and the “Statue of Liberty”.
These are very popular spots for Japanese dramas to film. I’ve watched a few dorama featuring the Rainbow Bridge, one of them is from Itazura na Kiss: Love in Tokyo, where they went on their first impromptu date! <3
We then walked towards the automated train on the Yurikamome Line to journey to the other side of Odaiba (not very far, but we didn’t want to waste time walking)…
Our plan was to visit the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation a.k.a. Miraikan. You can stop at Funeno Kagakukan Station or Telecom Centre, as Miraikan is located in between the two stations.
We walked for about 5-10 minutes, there were little signs at first, but as we got closer we could see the cool looking building…
Once we were in, we put our explorer hats on and made our way around the beautifully designed building, with staircase spiralling around the corners to go to the next floor.
First up, check out all the robots! From Paro the baby seal who reacts to sound and touch, to Halluc the vehicle robot, to inter-robots who imitates human conversations, to the ever-so-popular humanoid robot ASIMO.
When we arrived, the ASIMO demonstration was over, so do check the timetable if that’s one of the main reasons for your visit.
We then moved to various other areas within the museums… to check out the sights and sounds of the future.
There was even a spaceship (well, a replica) where you can enter and see how the astronauts survive inside that capsule…
There was a section called “Stories of One, Everyone, and You” which basically reminds us that we are all a part of the same big world. It’s the story of connectedness told through interactive screens disguised like a storybook. It was popular with the kids.
My favourite section of the museum had to be walking around thinking about how our future can be. The Lifestyle 2050 area showed us just that. A miniature recreation of how our society would be like in 30-odd years time.
To that, I say: if the rest of the world can have some of the simple technology that Japan has implemented for years, I’d be happy with that already. Example: heated toilet seats.
We walked our way back through a very nice walking strip as we watched the sky getting darker and the sun setting slowly…
Our next stop was to admire the life-sized Gundam in front of DiverCity. You see, when we first went to Japan, DiverCity wasn’t opened yet, so I did make it a point to go through the area for a quick photo of the majestic anime robot.
We then walked towards Aqua City, as the city lit up and the Rainbow Bridge showed its true colours.
This wasn’t the end of our Odaiba trip, we still had dinner at Aqua City and fun times at Decks to enjoy. So do check my blog some time soon…
If you have questions about my trip to Odaiba, comment below!