Odaiba is a man-made island in Tokyo Bay.

Here it is on a map:

I've always thought of Odaiba as a place that a couple would go on a date.

...but maybe that's just because Rei and I went on one of our first dates here. I took a picture of her standing in front of the Gundam statue:

...or behind the Gundam statue, I guess.

This thing is rad, by the way:

As you can see in this picture, the building behind it is basically a mall. In fact, Odaiba feels like one big shopping mall, which is why I'm not head-over-heels in love with the place.

What I do like to do in Odaiba is get some beers at this supermarket, then chill at Odaiba Seaside Park:

In fact, that's where a considerably younger Niko and Rei were sitting when they took this picture:

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So what's there to do in Odaiba?

Well, the first adventure is getting there.

I like to take the Yurikamome line from Shimbashi Station (directions on Google Maps) because it goes over Rainbow Bridge:

"Rainbow Bridge" sounds pretty exciting... but it's not quite as rainbow-ish as I'd hoped when first visiting.

You can actually walk across Rainbow Bridge. To do that, I'd probably take the Yamanote line to Tamachi Station, then walk from there:

That's a pretty far walk, though. It'll take almost an hour. And if there's a lot of traffic, the bridge is pretty loud. And to be honest, I was a little bit scared when I walked across it. I'm not a fan of heights.

I was able to take these pictures, though:

Someday I'd like to try taking the Tokyo Water Bus from Asakusa to Odaiba. This might be a good option if you're doing the tourist thing, in which case you'll probably be going to Asakusa anyway:

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Once you get to Odaiba, you've got a lot of options.

First, you can stroll over to the Statue of Liberty:

Because of course.

Then I would probably just walk around the shops, maybe look for some souvenirs.

...but that's mostly because I'm a lazy tourist. If you're a bit more active, you can go somewhere like SEGA's Joypolis.

Joypolis is an indoor amusement park:

Here's their official video. And here it is again with an English voice-over. Is it just me, or are Japanese voice actors 20 times better than English ones?

I've never been there, so I can't vouch that you'll have a great time.

The same goes for Ōedo-Onsen Monogatari.

This is an edo-era-themed hot spring:

Personally, I like to go to onsen that are in remote locations, like up in the mountains and whatnot, away from lots of people.

But something like this might be fun, too.

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To finish off your day in Odaiba, you could eat at one of the many, many restaurants on the island.

But I think what I'd do is jump back on the Yurikamome line to Shimbashi Station, then take a ten-minute walk to the many izakaya under the train tracks by Yurakucho Station, where you can enjoy some yakitori and beer:

( ↑ These two photos were taken from this blog post, which has several more photos of the area.)

Ah, that's the Japan that I really adore.

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Useful Japanese:

明日はお台場に行く予定です。
あした　は　おだいば　に　いく　よてい　です。
I’m planning to go to Odaiba tomorrow.
Literally: “tomorrow + は + Odaiba + に + go + plan + です.”

ジョイポリスって楽しい？
ジョイポリス　って　たのしい？
Is Joypolis fun?
Literally: “Joypolis + って + fun?”

お台場いつも混んでるから嫌い。
おだいば　いつも　こんでる　から　きらい。
I hate Odaiba because it’s always crowded.
Literally: “Odaiba + always + is being crowded + because + hated / disliked.”

ビール３つと焼き鳥の盛り合わせください。
ビール　みっつ　と　やきとり　の　もりあわせ　ください。
Three beers and the assorted yakitori, please.
Literally: “beer + three (things) + と + yakitori + の + assortment (of food) / combination platter + please.”

Here's a picture of a 焼き鳥盛り合わせ from our lesson on yakitori: