Odaiba

Odaiba began as daiba, artificial gun platforms built in Tokyo Bay in the 1850s to defend the city from the sea; two of the original earthworks survive as a park you can walk out to. The rest was reclaimed and developed from the 1990s as a waterfront district, and the result is malls, exhibition halls, a beach that is not for swimming, and a set of oddities: a two-fifths replica of the Statue of Liberty, put up temporarily in 1998 and kept by demand; the Fuji Television building with a spherical observation room on struts; and a large Gundam statue outside DiverCity that moves on a schedule. The teamLab Borderless digital art museum that stood here closed with the Palette Town complex on 31 August 2022 and has since reopened at Azabudai Hills in central Tokyo. The Rainbow Bridge is crossed by the Yurikamome, a driverless train that runs on an elevated loop with front seats over the track - the ride itself is one of the better things about coming.

History

The name comes from daiba, the batteries built in 1853 by Egawa Hidetatsu for the Tokugawa shogunate to protect Edo from the sea after Commodore Perry's Black Ships arrived that year. Of 11 planned, only six were finished, and in 1928 No. 3 Battery was refurbished and opened to the public as a park (Wikipedia, Odaiba).

What to look for

• Surviving gun batteries - two 1850s earthworks kept as a park in the bay.
• The Yurikamome - a driverless elevated line with front seats over the track.
• A moving Gundam - a large statue outside DiverCity that articulates on a schedule.
• A Liberty replica - two-fifths scale, put up in 1998 and kept by popular demand.

When to go

All year; after dark for the bridge and skyline. Half a day.

Things to know

It is a mall district and much of it is shopping. The beach is not for swimming - water quality prohibits it. Attractions come and go; several well-known venues have closed or relocated. Distances between sites are longer than the map suggests.

Nearby

Toyosu market is north; central Tokyo is over the Rainbow Bridge.