Tokyo Tower - Symbol of Sight-seeing and So Much More

20th August, 2010 - After visiting Zojo-ji, we were off to see another old favourite friend in Tokyo. Good old Tokyo Tower... Walking up the road from Zojo-ji, you catch glimpses of the tower through the tree line. A tease of things to come.

Tokyo Tower was a symbol of reconstruction and re-birth in post WWII Japan. The tower is a complete rip-off of the Eiffel Tower - though at 333 m tall, it is about 10m taller than the original French inspiration. Construction started in 1957 and was completed in 1958 - with the first radio transmitters installed in 1961. 

Tickets to the observation deck are around 820 yen for adults, and 460 yen for children over 4, and 310 yen for children under 4. The main observation deck is at the 150m mark, and affords quite nice 360 degree view of Tokyo, and being where it is, there's lots of cool neighbourhoods to find in amongst the neon and steel.

My brother-in-law said before we went that we should try and find the second Tokyo Tower... and frankly I didn't know what he was talking about. Then as I was looking out at the night-scape, it suddenly struck me. The second Tokyo Tower! No... not the Skytree... but a wonderfully coincidental tower made from the street lights of a busy intersection just a little way from the tower. And yes - even I could see how you could call it a second tower... built entirely from momentary car lights and sodium sparkles. 

Of course - any tower worth it's salt is going to have a "glass floor", and Tokyo Tower doesn't disappoint. Whether it was because it was night, or whether I was taken up in the mood - but I jumped on with complete abandon. Which, as some of you might know I do get afraid of heights quite easily... this was quite an achievement. But then again, sitting on my bottom was something I knew instinctively how to do. 

There is also another "special" observatory that you need to fork out another 600 yen (in addition) once you get to the main observatory. For whatever reason, we've never bothered abut getting up to the 250m level. We were content with what we had. Back down stairs, the tower is amazing at night when it's lit up brilliantly. 

And if you find it all too much, then you can pop into the "Foot Town" building at the base of the tower and check out the faux Shinto temple as something different (and is found on the second floor). It's four floors of beautiful cliche tourist trap sort of stuff. But it's still irresistible!

Tokyo Tower is almost certainly a tourist trap itself... but it's so much more too. Like all symbols it stands apart from that which describes it - even if it seeks to symbolise the city it lives in - Tokyo. It turns out to be quite a classy reminder of the dreams Japan had at the beginning of the 60's when it seemed that all you needed was a good work ethic and the world was your oyster. Even though the world has changed, it's symbolic power remains, if a little hidden under the glare of it's new sister tower, the much larger Tokyo Skytree.

Miraikan - The Museum From The Future

20th August, 2010 - As mentioned in the previous post, we had come to Odaiba so that my wife could catch up with a good friend of hers (who was temporarily back in Japan). Whilst we were there, I was going to take my son to Miraikan... the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation....

Now this is perhaps a little too old for my (then) 3 year old son... but there was at least one very good reason to go...

Asimo. This robot, first developed in 2000, has become a star attraction. Not just in Miraikan, but is globally famous. And oddly enough, is a child of Honda, the car manufacturer. Asimo - and here I'm pretty sure there's a whole army of them out back - performs every hour or so. And the the shows are always packed (especially in the holidays). And I mean packed. The good thing is that they have an area down the front that is reserved for children (with an accompanying adult) to at least be able to get a good look.

  The routine is quite enjoyable (and no, you don't need to understand Japanese to enjoy)... with lots of movement demonstrations and even a spot of soccer ball kicking. One of the things I didn't understand was the fact that off to the side (out of shot) there appeared to be a man with a computer doing some sort of control. At the end of the day, I assume Asimo isn't quite all that autonomous...

Actually, as you might have guessed, robotics form a major component of the displays at Miraikan... including some disturbing "talking" robots engrossed in their own conversation... unfortunately the explanation given didn't seem to relate much to what was going on (had they decided to throw away the script?)

And of course - if you can't get a real Asimo, the next best thing? Asimo-mini.

Another big driver in the Miraikan displays are references to nature and the natural world. I think these bits are the more educational parts... although of course, you need to have time to talk with your children about what it all means.

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For example there was this complicated display of the different ecological cycles in nature  (though I did suspect that it may have also started out life as a Pachinko machine gone insane).

Now ... let's try and explain DNA to a 3 year old....

One of the more unusual displays was a rotating full-size scanner. You sit down and are rotated through a vertical scanner with the composite image displayed on a large LCD screen,

Actually, the Miraikan building also has a number of exhibitions throughout the year - and I thought we had hit gold when we discovered that the Science Behind Doraemon was going to on whilst we were there. Doraemon is a Japanese institution - a manga/anime character that has been thrilling Japanese children (and perhaps quite a few adults) since 1969. Doraemon is a robotic cat from the future, sent back in time to aid the fortunes of one young boy (and ancestor) Nobita. Doraemon has lots of wonderful gadgets (including a fourth dimensional pocket for storing all sorts of goodies, including an Anywhere-Door and a Bamboo-copter. 

It's a fun series, and L-kun loved it (and still does)... so I was hopeful that our son could have a great time here. And he sort of did... but it was also obvious that the hot weather was starting to take it's toll on him. 

So after a long day of running around, we left Miraikan - and I suspect we'll be back when it's not so hot. Actually, I have to admit that such was our overall exhaustion that L-kun and I had our first  real 'moment' walking back to Venus Fort (where my wife was shopping with her friend). I think you know that you're tired when you start arguing with your 3 year old son... sometimes it's easy to forget who is supposed to be the mature one.

T-chan shot the photo below as we returned... that my friends is the look of sheer relief from utter desperation. Survival. The day had so much already, and was lots of fun... but had quickly turned from laughs and excitement to lots of unhappy tears amidst the stinking hot Tokyo summer. And despite the tears, I can recommend visiting Odaiba! There's so much to do there it's not funny. 

Not all holiday moments are kodak-worthy, and some you want to forget (or at least re-do)... but that's also part of having a holiday. Experiencing the good, and the bad, together as a family.

Odaiba - City of Lost and Found Dreams

20th August, 2010 - Today was going to be a bit of a strange day for us... we were visiting friends. Well, I should say my wife, T-chan was visiting her Japanese friend who had recently returned to Japan with her Australian husband and son (and who were living in Saitama, but commuting into Tokyo). It had been a while since they had caught up in Adelaide, so had planned a girls afternoon out. Not really having anything in mind for the boys, the idea of basing all of ourselves in Odaiba came to mind....

The island sits off to the east of Shinagawa, and is famously connected to one end of the Rainbow Bridge...and is often reached using the equally (in)famous Tokyo monorail. 

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Odaiba is an artificial island in Tokyo Bay and was initially developed at the end of the Japan's introspective Tokugawa (Edo) era... to defend Edo (Tokyo) against the threat of the Western nations. However, the promise of protection was short-lived and Japan capitulated against the threat of the American "Black Ships" of Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853. The islands were grown further through reclamation, converted to a port, then finally in the heady days of the 90's was decided to become a mini-megapolis within the mega-megapolis (a plan that had grown in the 60's dream of the perfect post-industrialised society). Supposedly the development was going to house 100,000 people.. which to my mind is hard to believe (it's only 1.5 x 2.8km in size... so that's some serious population density, and hardly my idea of social perfection). Thankfully (or not) the Japanese economy collapsed, in a giant bursting of the property market bubble, and much of the audacious (or crazy, or both) plans for Tokyo were suddenly put very much on the back burner. Odaiba the city within a city was one of those cancelled plans.

Now Odaiba sits amidst Tokyo Bay, a beacon for dreams lost, not really knowing what it is. There's a strong mix of the recreational and the industrial. Neither reality really dominating. But there area a few things are noteworthy. For instance Venus Fort which is a paper-mache style shopping mall, highlighting the best of chic (or is that cliche) Japanese tradition. And who could forget Daikanransha in Palette Town, the 100+m Ferris Wheel that is one of the night-time highlights of Tokyo.... perched alongside the Rainbow Bridge.

Then there's a number of smaller themed attractions, like the Toyota Megaweb (no, it's not an 24x7 booth of  youtube Toyota commercials... it's one of their promotional halls for future tech stuff). One of the highlights is the trumpet playing robot - though it's been blowing tunes out for the last decade or so. Actually, it only has a few shows every day, each lasting for a few minutes only. Miss it and you've got to wait a long time. Both my son and I were looking forward to seeing it, but  it left us a little disappointed (does it do anything else, Daddy?)

From a musical robot to an automotive one... you can jump into one of the autonomous cars that drives around the centre. It's an odd drive, sitting there watching the car do it's thing. Was very tempting to see if I couldn't grab the wheel and score really amazing souvenir of the day... Once again it's sort of neat, but technology hasn't stood still - like Odaiba - and this is now a little old hat.

And it wouldn't be Tokyo, and Odaiba, if it didn't have the obligatory "high tech" concept vehicles. Hmmm Toyota... I think I might stick with our Yaris (or Vitz as it's known in Japan) for our second car. It may be small, but at least it can fit more than a slightly emaciated gender challenged alien mannequin in it. 

I wonder if people in 30 years time will look back at these designs and wonder what the hell we were all on...

Need I say more?.... I can see this would make walking to the cafes all that more enjoyable (as long as it came with a cup holder).

But of course, it's not just futuristic vehicles that sets Odaiba apart... the landscape screams futurism, with a vast array of experimental avante-garde architectural wonders from the period of Japanese design where the world must have seemed to have only one purpose - to be a playground for architects to have fun in. Actually, there's more buildings than I could poke a stick at, all very interesting indeed... and these are just a sample of them.

Telecom Centre

Fuji TV

Close up of Observation Deck in the Fuji TV building

Tokyo Big Sight Convention Centre

Miraikan

Now, there's another post coming, specifically on the Miraikan (above)... but I'll end this post by saying that Odaiba is one of Tokyo's confusing moments. A social-experiment-turned-theme-park-turned-some-times-graveyard. There's lots to do here, but also, it can feel like there's not much going on. I'm sure there's crowds, but the day we went, there weren't that many people at all walking around (I later found out where they were)....

It's worth visiting if you've got a spare day in the itinerary, and the weather's good. The dream of a the perfect city-within-a-city was lost, but they found another dream. The dream of a time when the economy was strong enough to be adventurous and bold. Even that dream has become elusive... but we found a way to at least see what the dream looked like in Odaiba.

Anpanman Museum... It's Not Easy Being Edible

18th August, 2010 - Yokohama's Anpanman Children's Museum and Hall....or perhaps known better as just the Apanman Museum. Now first things first, I suppose I should tell you a little about who Anpanman is, and why the hell he'd have his own museum (let alone, why are we visiting it). 

Anpanman is (if you hadn't guessed it by now) a Japanese children's character that started life back ... well... let's just say he's only slightly younger than myself (only slightly).... anyhow he started life as a picture book and then around 1988 transitioned to the world of moving pictures. And of course, merchandising. But it all started with a funny looking character with a bun for a noggin... not just any bun, but an anpan (which is a small bun filled with anko, which is made by sweet red azuki beans). And indeed, such is the popularity of Anpanman, that he's been shown on tv continuously since it's start. Not bad for a smiling bun boy.

 

Now... Yokonhama is also where you'll find the Anpanman Museum... though you might not find that high on the list of places you must see in most guide books. For good reason too. Anpanman is a distinctly Japanese phenomenon and they don't really care if he translates across to a broader market or not. Indeed they don't bother even providing non-Japanese information on the web-site. Now having said all of that, if you wanted to experience something very Japanese with your young children, then perhaps it's not a bad idea at all (just prepared to go along with the experience).Now the museum itself is perhaps poorly named... it's half free shopping centre (where you can buy any number of Anpnanman related paraphenalia) or there's the mini theme-park (that's where you're coughing up 1000 ¥ per person... for three floors of fun and games). The first section has a number of diorama's depicting all number of stories... some of which are "animated"....

Because it was bon odori time there was of course a special bon odori scene as well... and we'll return to this a bit later.

But without doubt, it's all about Anpanman... and L-kun was a pretty big Anpanman fan!

But it wasn't just Anpanman... oh no... there was a cast of thousands of characters. Ok... not 1000's, but a Guinness World Record of 768 unique characters....

Of all sorts and sizes... well lets face it, when you've hit 700 the remaining 70 odd must be a real killer to find something to have a character based on .... hey look, it's mister inanimate-rod!

But whilst they go to extremes here, it's nice to see so many different characters of different styles... and as I said, it's distinctly Japanese.... after all, where else would you find Onigiri-man (onigiri = rice ball).

And death never looked so good... ok. no, it's not death catching a ride, but rather Horrorman (yes, that's right). The orange (uni-horned) character is Dokin-chan... his partner in crime. We'll meet their leader in mayhem, Baikin-man later.

Now... it's nice to show this sort of photo. A happy smiling child always makes you feel good. Unfortunately, it had been a long, hot day... and L-kun had also reached the end of his energy (sweated out most likely), so he didn't quite get into it as much as he perhaps wanted to.

But there were lots of things to do... all of course having a very Anpanman slant to them... but the good thing about the museum is that there's always something just around the corner for them to explore in/on/around.

 There's also an open play area where parents and kids can get some rest, or regenerate some energy for the next onslaught (and of course, they can also watch streaming Anpanman videos as well).

There's also craft sessions, where children and parents get to make some of the characters (in this case, Dokin-chan).

And there's also a number of "rides" that children can enjoy (with a little imagination)... looking out...

And looking in...

Though I'm not sure he was taken with the artwork.... everyone's a critic.

Whilst there were a few hands-on activities to keep L-kun busy, he did manage to perk up when we reached the bottom floor with the slides. He's a simple boy at heart.

There are a number of live shows semi-regularly throughout the day in a large auditorium... this one was MC'd by Melonpanna-chan, Anpanman's close friend (and some might say love interest?....)

We awaited the start of the show with much expectation...

Melonpanna has some support from a very enthusiastic staff... and she knew just how to get the children to near exploding point in anticipation of the big man himself....

Anpanman! Oh yeah baby.... work that room. And did he ever... which was good, because otherwise he may have had to resort to his secret weapon. When friends are in need of help, or just hungry, Anpanman will offer his head to be eaten... and I mean, not just a nibble, but a full-on feast. Now that's a friend that gives that little bit extra. It's ok however, as his father Jam Ojisan will often bake him a new head. I sometimes wish I could get a new head baked...

The show itself is largely singing and dancing to an Anpanman theme song - and whilst there wasn't much story involved, the children seemed to love it. Once again, don't expect to have much of an idea of what's going on if you don't know Japanese and aren't familiar with the show.

As mentioned earlier... given that it was bon odori time, there was a special focus to the events... including an impromptu taiko performance. I have to admire the people inside these suits... it was still boiling hot (and I mean boiling), and yet they were running around and having a great time.

I also haven't introduced perhaps the second biggest character in the show... it's Baikin-man, where baikin stands for bacteria.... and Baikin-man is the lord of all germs, and hence Anpanman's arch-nemesis (though there's also a strange friendship there at times as well - perhaps as they represent both sides of the same coin). He's cheeky, clever, and oh so naughty - perhaps why he's so popular with children (and our son).

And of course, it wouldn't be an Anpanman Museum without a whole heap of merchandising opportunities available to you. And I mean lot.

One of the more interesting aspects is the bakery... I mean, isn't there something a little disturbing about eating a Shokupanman (shoku pan = white bread, and he's one of Anpanman's closest friends). He's also very tasty. Damn you Jam Ojisan (on the right below)... why did you create your world of delectable super-heroes?

Overall... it was a long day (and not over yet), and whilst I felt that the museum was a little over-priced for what you got (especially considering the merchandising), and perhaps not the best place to go on a hot day, it was interesting to visit anyhow. And L-kun enjoyed too, in between his heat-exhaustion - and still talks about it to this day.

And did I say there were lots of characters?.... let's just say, there's enough to keep birthdays, Christmases and just about every other Sunday occupied with new presents....

(top left to right: Jam Ojisan, Baikin-man, Tendon-man, Anpanman, Omusubi-man;

bottom left to right: Cheese, Dokin-chan, Shokupan-man, Melonpanna-chan, Curry-panman, Kamadoman)

Info:

4-3-1, Minato Mirai, Nishi-ku, Yokohama, 220-0012

Tel: 045-227-8855

Open : 10:00 -18:00

Cost : 1000 ¥ per person (over 1 year old) 

How to get there: The easiest way is by taking the Minatomirai / Chinatown Line from Yokohama Station, catch the  (180yen) getting off at Shintakashima Station 新高島駅 and then walking about 550 m (7 mins) to the south.

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