Daiba is an example of land reclamation, similar to Osaka Bay's Kansai International Airport. When the West began forcing Japan to open up during the 1850s, the shogunate ordered the construction of blockages in Tokyo Bay to keep the foreginers at bay. These were called 'daiba', hence the island's name today.
It is linked to the rest of Tokyo with the monorail, bridges, ferry routes and several other train routes. It is part of Rainbow Bridge's imposing skyline over Tokyo Bay.
As you can see, it was a very misty day. It couldn't decide whether to rain or snow, so it did both simultaneously for a few hours.
A lot of these photos were taken from the monorail, and the flash reflected off the window, so I apologise for the poor quality, but that is the Tokyo skyline as seen from Rainbow Bridge. The monorail takes you from Shinbashi station, through parts of Tokyo, then out into Tokyo Bay, and over Rainbow Bridge, down to Daiba. What a great way to see the place!
Five storeys of arcades, shops and cafes here.
A weird piece of children's playground equipment. Looks like a big pretzel to me.
Rainbow Bridge looming out of the mist.
Funky coloured things! I can't resist that.
Daiba is home to Tokyo's only beach, which I could tell would be heaving in nice weather, but it was like I had the entire island to myself, which was a very weird feeling.
Major companies don't miss a chance do they! Daiba's seafront has Le Meridien Grand Pacific and several other big hotel chains.
The headquarters of Fuji TV is here too, with its futuristic ball on the front.
The traffic lights talk to you and count down the remaining time before you can cross.
They had a 'Don't do...' sign and one of the dangerous activities is golf! I don't know which Tiger Woods they've been watching...
The view over the bay.
I had the entire park to myself. It's quite a walk from the seafront, maybe it was just the unpleasant weather, but my legs ached at the end of the day!
But you get a much better view of the bridge from there.
The park was littered with the remains of the original 'daiba' blockages.
This area was fenced off, but the barrier was broken and I couldn't resist having a peek. I was very disappointed.
Tokyo Decks as seen from the park.
One of Japan's hundreds and hundreds of enormous ferris wheels.
This is just a funky building I saw.
Yes, that's a TV screen in the centre of a vending machine!
What?
How Pokemon is this? I actually saw a giant billboard with a Pikachu on it too.
This thing was weird! I couldn't figure it out, but the spire looked like it was leaning different ways depending on which way you looked at it. It drove me insane wandering round it thinking, is it actually moving?
On 'Dream Bridge', there's a map of the places in the world they ship to from this port.
Funky building again.
I could have been anywhere in the British countryside!
Except for this promenade next to me of course.
There's a Toyota showroom, so I stopped off there as it's free. Valentine's Day is coming up! In Japan, women give men the chocolates, so I don't have to worry!!
This takes me back to my Cadbury World days...
Sexy new cars on show...
This photo is really really bad quality but you can just about see Rainbow Bridge through the rain-streaked window there.
The following videos are taken from the monorail so the quality isn't great. The first is the view over Tokyo Bay and Daiba from Rainbow Bridge, and the second is a fleeting glimpse of the bridge.
The area near Shinbashi station was brightly lit up with neon by the time I got back there.
I got home about 6ish and got another job offer for a private student, with the 30-minute demo lesson tomorrow morning!! So I won't get the lie-in I was angling for.
I have started using Google Calendar, as my schedule is pretty confusing with several different jobs all happening at different times, and I've found it pretty useful already.
As it was Chinese New Year today, two of my Chinese housemates made gyoza (dumplings), despite the recent food poisoning scares, and they let me join in with the meal! I think I'll repay the favour by bringing them the food of my people on St. David's Day, and by "the food of my people" I mean spaghetti bolognese, as it's the best thing I can cook!
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