3 – 9 June 2018

Tokyo has a number of entertainment districts and tourism sites throughout the city. We spent most of one day on Odaiba, an artificial island that was redeveloped into an entertainment district, adjacent to Rainbow Bridge. There was plenty to see and do all of which lit up nicely at night.

Rainbow Bridge and Odaiba

Tokyo Tower is an iconic structure that was “inspired” by the Eiffel Tower. At 333 meters (1,092 feet) it was the tallest structure in Tokyo when it was built in 1958. On the tour they would have you believe two great men with a unique vision created this magnificent structure. Don’t get me wrong, it’s cool. We really enjoyed our visit and the views from the upper deck. How can anyone take much credit for essentially copying a famous building and painting it international orange because, well, they had no choice but to comply with flight safety regulations?

The real genius was to hide a television and radio communication tower in plain sight. The tower could stand alone as a successful tourist destination and internationally recognized icon; however it’s real purpose was as a communications tower, the rest was just icing on the cake. Ironically when Japan transitioned to all digital television broadcasts, the tower was not tall enough so the Tokyo Sky Tree was used.

Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Sky Tree became the second tallest structure in the world when completed in 2011. You can see it from most anywhere in Tokyo. We decided one observation tower was enough for us so we did not go up.

Tokyo Sky Tree

Tokyo Dome City is an entertainment district centered around the city’s largest stadium, Tokyo Dome. The Dome is home to the Yomiuri Giants, one of Japan’s professional baseball teams, and the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.

Tokyo Dome