The Private Islander Goes Japan!
The next day, the first place I visited was Tokyo Tower. It is actually a TV and radio tower, with the side benefit of being a tourist attraction, much like Canada’s CN Tower. Tokyo Tower was designed to look like the Eiffel Tower, but is three feet taller and one-third the weight. I wasn’t able to get a good shot of the structure, but above is a picture taken from the main observatory. Though I don’t know why, the tower’s magnificent lights turn off at midnight every night.
Most of Tokyo’s buildings are new. This is because the city was destroyed twice in the last century- once during a 1923 earthquake and again when the U.S. bombed the city during World War II. As a result, Tokyo doesn’t have the same charm as other Japanese and European cities that still retain most of their old architecture.
Later that day I visited the Toyota complex in the Odaiba area. There you could see some of Toyota’s prototype cars, take a 15-minute ride in one of their automated cars, and more. The prototypes on display were amazing. There was a vehicle like the one in the picture above you could drive for free, but a good understanding of the Japanese language was required before you were allowed to get behind the controls. Also on display were some robots and other random gizmos.
Outside the Toyota complex I found a large group of shops and not just any ferris wheel, but the world’s second-largest ferris wheel! I gleefully hopped on after paying the expensive 700 yen admission fee and took a few pictures of the surrounding area, including Mount Fuji. By this time the sun was setting.
Later that night I ate dinner at a Chinese buffet, one of the last places one would expect to dine in Japan. The type of food served was more authentic than American Chinese food though. The restaurant had a deck overlooking Tokyo, and I was able to get a great photo of Tokyo’s famous Rainbow Bridge.
Continue on for more…
March 4th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
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