Odaiba & Onsen

We spent Wednesday on Odaiba, a large artificial island in the heart of Tokyo. Originally built for defensive purposes in the 1850s, it was expanded in the late 20th century as a seaside district and is now home to impressive high-rise buildings, exhibition halls, shopping centres and leisure facilities.

The Tokyo Big View, an exhibition hall:

A panoramic view over Odaiba, with the Fuji TV building in the centre:

A panoramic view over Tokyo with the Rainbow Bridge on the right:

Yes, Odaiba even has its own Statue of Liberty!
It is a replica - not of the one in NYC however, but of the one that used to be in Odaiba from 1998-1999, which was made to celebrate the ties between France and Japan.
There are two other replicas of the Statue of Liberty in Japan: one in Osaka and the other in Shimoda.

Here's an other, very different statue - the Gundam Statue, built in 2012 and dedicated to the popular anime series "Mobile Suit Gundam.

What the heck? Oktoberfest in Mai? In Tokyo, Japan? It exists and is a complete rip-off with prices between 1'200 and 3'400 Yen for a beer. No thank you! (It was amusing to see Japanese eating sausage and chips with chopsticks though.)

Maybe our favourite place in the whole of Odaiba is the Oedo Onsen Monogatari, where we spent the evening. It is an onsen resort with restaurants, entertainment programs and even a relaxation room. We will definitely be going there again.