Travel Tips

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<font face='papyrus' color=#A00000 size=+1><b>S</b></font>tanding on the beach on Odaiba island, looking back towards the mainland, the view is dominated by the Rainbow Bridge. People sit along the boardwalk, eating and drinking or just taking in the view.

The beach is nice and sandy, if a little hard in places, almost as if it's been compacted in the same way that South Beach in Miami can be, after being driven over by vehicles. There are no vehicles here, though, and the effect is probably due to the fact that the beach is artificial.

There's a swift monorail-style transport connection with the mainland, with the nearest station to the beach only a few minutes walk away. An ideal place to come on a sunny weekend when the weather's warm.

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<font face='papyrus' color=#A00000 size=+1><b>T</b></font>o get into the Fuji building itself, you have to climb a long, wide flight of steps. Fortunately to take the effort out of this, they've thoughtfully provided an escalator. At the top, you're actually underneath the observation sphere, although still outside the building. It's all impressively large, and like everything in the area, in stark contrast to most of the rest of Tokyo, looks really well planned!

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<font face='papyrus' color=#A00000 size=+1><b>T</b></font>his page is under construction.

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<font face='papyrus' color=#A00000 size=+1><b>T</b></font>his page is under construction.

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<font face='papyrus' color=#A00000 size=+1><b>T</b></font>his page is under construction.

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<font face='papyrus' color=#A00000 size=+1><b>T</b></font>his page is under construction.

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<font face='papyrus' color=#A00000 size=+1><b>O</b></font>ut on the water, sailboats, windsurfers and jet-skis dodge the water shuttles which connect Odaiba island to a variety of destinations. From a short hop over to the mainland, close to where the Rainbow Bridge is anchored near Takeshiba, to a lengthy trip up the Sumida River right up to Asakusa and back.

Prices are resonable, so if you have time on your hands, you could do worse than take one of these boat rides.

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<font face='papyrus' color=#A00000 size=+1><b>J</b></font>ust behind the beach is an enormous shopping, eating and entertainment complex, called Decks Tokyo Beach. Seven floors of it, to be exact, complete with outdoor boardwalk-style decking running the length of the building, and often hosting live bands.

For the kids, or even adults who don't want to grow up, there's Joypolis, on the third through the fifth floor - a massive virtual-reality entertainment arcade run by Sega. Everything's priced individually, between 200 and 700 yen per ride, or you can buy an unlimited ride pass for 3800 yen. It's open from 10am to 11.30pm, so there's plenty of time to see and do everything on offer.

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<font face='papyrus' color=#A00000 size=+1><b>F</b></font>urther down the road, you might be forgiven for wondering if your eyes are playing tricks on. A scaled down Statue of Liberty stands guard over the treetops which screen the beach from the road running parallel to the shore. But no, it really is there.

It's nowhere near as large as the original, but it's still a crowd puller, as surprised Japanese tourists pose for photographs. The Rainbow Bridge in the background completes the striking scene.

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<font face='papyrus' color=#A00000 size=+1><b>U</b></font>nlike the one in New York, at least you don't have to get on a boat to get right up to the base of this one!

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<font face='papyrus' color=#A00000 size=+1><b>T</b></font>urning the other way, you see what exactly Lady Liberty is looking at. It's called AquaCity, and guess what, it's yet another shopping / eating / entertainment complex. That's the pink building in the foreground, anyhow.

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<font face='papyrus' color=#A00000 size=+1><b>J</b></font>ust to prove that I was actually there taking these photos myself, and not copying them out of a guidebook! (Surely no-one would ever do such a thing???)

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<font face='papyrus' color=#A00000 size=+1><b>Y</b></font>ou may have wondered what the funny-looking building behind AquaCity is. The one with the strange sphere right at the top. Well, it's the Fuji TV building, and for a 500 yen fee you can go right up into the sphere, which is actually an observation deck.

The place was swarming with people, many of whom seemed to be queuing up for no obvious reason. I am wondering whether TV shows are actually made here, and the queues were of people wanting to be part of the audience? Well, I'll never know...

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<font face='papyrus' color=#A00000 size=+1><b>P</b></font>ast the Fuji TV building, in the distance is the Telecom Centre, an unusual structure in the shape of an arch. Not sure exactly what's there, although if you want to find out, the monorail stops right outside. Overhead, a plane is on final approach, coming in to land at a local airport.