Miraikan

The other day I went to the Miraikan Museum (未来館) on Odaiba. The English name is "The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation", but the Japanese just means "future building", which is much simpler.

I went with Rob and his parents, because they were in Japan on holiday, and they invited me along for the day.

They had JR rail passes, which really are the most convenient way to travel around Japan if you're here on holiday. But there are no JR (Japan Rail) lines to Odaiba, so unfortunately they had to pay a bit extra when we arrived at Tokyo Teleport station on the Rinkai line.

Originally we had just intended to wander around Odaiba, because one of the receptionists at Rob's parents' hotel had said that the Miraikan would be closed because it was just after New Year.

But we decided to check for ourselves, and very lucky we did, because it was open!

It was a beautiful day, with the usual winter high pressure making it bright and chilly. We passed the Fuji TV headquarters building on the way.




The museum was a big glass building, and as soon as you walk in you can feel how modern the place is.

It cost Y600 per person, but Rob's parents treated me to the ticket, and later lunch, which was extremely kind of them.

We went into one of the exhibitions (I think there are about 7 floors, each with different exhibitions, and you put your tickets in the barriers to get into each individual area, but you can go in more than once.)

Everything was fascinating. There was everything from space to climate to photography, all with a futuristic spin on it. All the signs were in both Japanese and English, so it was very accessible.


We followed the route around the exhibition, and had a go on a lot of the interactive exhibits.





I liked this globe, which changed from displaying climate and weather, to cloud cover, and population information.






This exhibit was very interesting. The white lines that look like cracks in glass are actually streaks of radiation falling through the air. Normally it's invisible, but there was a special gas inside a glass case that made it visible to the naked eye. There was information about how the different types of radiation show up.

This robot is apparently a prototype for a much bigger one, that is at the moment hypothetical, but will eventually transport people over any terrain.

I'd heard about this Asimo robot before, because my British housemates from 2008 visited this museum and told me about it. He moved really quickly! It was very impressive.



I really recommend the Miraikan if you're in Tokyo for a long holiday, or living here for an extended period of time. It's definitely worth the cheap entry fee, and everything there was so interesting. I'm really glad I went along with them.

We didn't do everything there by a long shot, so if you fancy it, you could spend a whole day there doing and seeing everything you want to!

Hot Spring in Tokyo

Rob, Katy and I were invited to go to Oedo Onsen Monogatari (大江戸温泉物語), which is a public hot spring bath, by two of our friends who were exchange students in Leeds last year, and of course we couldn't resist!

The difference between this onsen and others I'd been to (Hakone and Beppu) is that it has a large area separate to the baths that has been made to look like part of Tokyo, when it was called Edo (江戸) in the aptly named Edo period (江戸時代, edo jidai). It costs Y2,900 for an adult ticket, but when we went they had a discount for November, so it was less than Y2,000.

Oedo Onsen Monogatari is in Odaiba, the man-made island in Tokyo Bay, so it took quite a long time to get there from our guesthouse in Musashi Koganei.

The front was very impressive, and even though it was the evening, there were still a lot of people there, and some coach groups.


We put our shoes in the lockers provided, and then queued for the counter, where we were told what to do. We selected the traditional Japanese robes (yukata) we wanted to wear from another counter. They had eight choices of design for men and eight for women. Rob and I, being tall, went for extra large, and they fitted perfectly.

We then split into men and women and went into our separate changing rooms. We got completely naked for the first time, and put all our clothes into a locker. Wearing our yukata, we went out into the Edo-style town area, where even the ceiling looked like a clear night sky, and met up with the girls.

We had ramen and gyoza at tables in a pretend park, and watched a short performance by men dressed in very traditional clothing.


It felt very strange, wearing nothing but a silky robe, and I was a bit uptight as, although I'd been to onsen before, I'd never been with people I knew.

After dinner, we wandered around the town area and saw what there was.

After looking at the shops and stalls, and generally getting used to being with so many people with only a thin layer of material covering them, we headed through the door to the baths.

We split into girls and boys again, and went into another changing area, where we got two towels, one big and one small. And then it was time to take our friendships to the next level! We put the yukata in another locker with the big towel, and then, covering some choice parts of our anatomies with the small towels, entered the main bathing area. There were quite a lot of men in there, but there was plenty of space for us to bathe.

It was so lovely to be in a bath again! I miss baths in Japan, as usually I can only shower. But my aching muscles (I blame Soul Run) really needed relaxing!

We relaxed quite quickly into the whole "being naked" thing, and enjoyed the experience. We went to the outside bath as well, which was lovely because the water was so hot but the air was so cool. It even spotted rain, which was very nice!

We stayed for about 40 minutes, before we all got a bit too hot, and needed to relax in some normal temperatures for a while. So we got showered and changed back into our yukata, and then met the girls back in the main area. Some of them got ice cream, but it was very expensive so I chose not to indulge that once.

We went to a TV room, that had rows of reclining comfortable chairs and individual TV screens like on an aeroplane. I think we all nearly fell asleep!

We took some purikura (プリクラ) (cute photos that you can draw on and then print out) and then went back to the main area.

We got changed and then went back to the main reception, where we gave back everything we'd borrowed, and collected our shoes from the lockers.

I want to go again now! I think I'll have to save up though... Need to find another way to relieve muscle tension!

Midnight Walk

On Friday night I did the craziest thing I've possibly ever done, except for coming to Japan. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do it, but I really wanted to try and give it my all.

Rob and I went on an all-night walk through central Tokyo with a group of 51 people from ICU. The route was Odaiba (the man-made island in Tokyo Bay) through the city centre to the ICU campus in the suburbs to the West.

First we met Chihoko and two of her friends in Musashi Sakai (where we saw one of our teachers!) and then went to Odaiba (お台場) by train for dinner.

We ate at a cheap Italian restaurant chain called Sizeriya (サイゼリヤ) and ate lots of energy food!

Then we met up with the rest of the group at about 9.15pm and paid our Y500 towards the breakfast they were providing back at ICU.

We left at 9.45 and started walking towards the bridge to the mainland (well, as mainland as you can get in Japan).

We took a slight detour from the more direct route and went to the bayside, where we could see the centre, including Tokyo Tower, and the bay with Rainbow Bridge. There were even some ships docked up!

We had our first break here, 90 minutes into the walk.

After the twenty minute break we continued up past Tsukishima, where I went for a job interview last winter, towards Tsukiji and Ginza. And we passed the Sumida River, that I used to live on!

We spotted Tokyo Tower again through the buildings.

When we got to Tsukiji (築地), where the famous fish market is, another of Chihoko's friends joined us. It was about midnight at that point.

We walked past Sushi Zanmai, where I ate twice last year! It was such a nostalgic walk! Every turn was another memory!

After Tsukiji, the route led us to Ginza (銀座), an expensive fashionable shopping district in Chuo-ku (中央区), which is the ward I lived in last year!

We walked right past the Kabukiza theatre (歌舞伎座), where I never went to see a traditional Japanese Kabuki play, but I definitely intend to this time!

We then crossed the second busiest pedestrian in the world, Ginza yon-choume (銀座四丁目). The Western-style building is a French department store called Printemps.

Here's a bit of nostalgia for British things!

How cute is this!?

It wouldn't be Japan without the random Shrines dotted around the city.

We then found ourselves right by Tokyo Tower! Well, "found ourselves" makes it sounds like it didn't take a lot of time, but it took over an hour.

We bought some food from a convenience store and sat down in Shiba Park (芝公園), which surrounds Tokyo Tower. It was about 1.30am and just before we sat down for our second break I felt really sick. A wave of tiredness hit me and I had to sit down and recover. I'm really weird and I do feel quite sick when I get tired, but I knew I had to move past it. I ate some onigiri (rice with fish in the middle wrapped in seaweed - they are my staple lunch at the moment) and drank some iced coffee. I realised that, although it was only 20C, it was quite sweaty and hard to breathe. Then I remembered I'd seen the weather forecast earlier that day - it was 98% humidity!

I felt better after eating and getting some caffeine inside me. We headed for Tokyo Tower, stopping at the toilets first.

We passed right past it, and I remembered visiting last year.

Random dog statues beneath it...

Apparently Tokyo Tower is in it's 50th year now!

The next area we walked through was Roppongi, the home of foreigners out for the evening, and many a sleazy bar and club, and non-sleazy ones too of course.

There was a woman dancing to Poker Face by Lady Gaga outside this bar. No regard for the 50 students staring at her in surprise!

The TGI's where I had my birthday dinner with my family last Spring! Awww!!

We passed Roppongi Hills, a huge shopping centre.

The next area we went to was Shibuya (渋谷). I was really desperate for the toilet, so I was really looking forward to the next break! We walked past this train that had closed for the night.

Shibuya was still busy with traffic, even though it was about 3am.

We didn't go to the famous Hachiko exit of Shibuya station, where the world's busiest pedestrian crossing is, but we passed nearby, on the other side of the train station. But of course, because the last train was about 1am, and the first ones start around 5am, the doors were all locked and the metal grates were down.

After the centre of Shibuya, we stopped in a small park, where there was a toilet! I'd never been so relieved to see a bug-infested public toilet!

A few people were wilting, and a couple fell asleep on the ground, but I was on my fifth iced coffee and felt okay. My legs and feet were starting to hurt quite a bit though! Rob and I had done Soul Run practice after Uni so we were tired and aching to begin with!

It was still really fun, despite the tiredness. I was speaking more Japanese than I had done since I arrived, and meeting the new people was nice.

After twenty minutes break, we got up and continued our, now trudging rather than walking, to Shinjuku to the north.

And then we made it! To Shinjuku! The big halfway point! It was about 3.45am and we were all pretty tired, but energised that we'd made it that far.

We sat down outside the station and relaxed for nearly half an hour.

The group leaders explained that the first Chuo line trains were at about 5am, so people could either wait for them to start, or could continue walking at their own pace to ICU. I had been feeling that I couldn't make it past Shinjuku earlier, as I was really tired and we'd already walked about 20km (12.5 miles). But I knew that I wanted to do it all, and have the experience of walking across Tokyo overnight.

Because we went with the Runners' Club, lots of them ran the last half to ICU. I thought that was madness! But one of them said that because running using different muscles to walking, it's actually a relief to run it.

So Rob, Chihoko and her friends, and I all set off at a little past 4am and followed the road out of the city centre, past the Skycraper District, towards the suburbs.

About an hour later the sun started to come up and we started seeing people (people who had slept!!) going to work or school, which I thought was crazy as it was Saturday morning.

It was about 6am, following the same one road to ICU, when we all started to really feel it. I felt sick and sweaty and tired. Some of our group were really flagging and were seriously considering going to the nearest station and giving up. And, honestly, so was I. I felt awful!

We stopped at McDonald's and I had a coffee. Chihoko nearly fell asleep on the table, and the only one of us who seemed to have energy was Rob. And I really think it would have been much more difficult to do it without Rob. He's like a bubbling pot of high spirits.

I thought about it seriously, but probably not that lucidly, and decided that the disappointment in myself if I gave up would be much worse than the physical pain of walking the final 11km (7 miles).

And the others seemed to feel the same. So we set off, not with new-found energy, but with new-found determination.

And it was really difficult. Maybe one of the most difficult things I've ever done! But I realised it was all in the mind. I knew I could do it, and my body would answer to my mind. (I know that sounds really weird, but I think it's the only way I actually managed it.)

We passed this cemetary about 3km along the road after McDonalds.

The cheerful chatter was long gone. There was only the occassional moan of pain or discomfort, or 殺してくれ (please kill me!) After 10 hours walking, we were all just focussed on making our feet move in a forwards direction.

When our guides eventually told us that we only had 3km (1.8 miles) to go, it was literally like music to our ears! We were so close! We continued with new enthusiasm. Which was then drowned by a downpour. I had my umbrella luckily, but Rob just had a thin coat and Chihoko just had a small towel. I shared my umbrella with her and we tried our best.

We were all pretty miserable then. Even Rob looked downcast and in pain. My feet suddenly started to hurt really badly. Just in that last half an hour. It was all I could do to keep them pounding the concrete.

And then, as the rain started to clear, we saw a sign to ICU! We all broke out in huge smiles, and would have ran if that wouldn't have resulted in ambulances being called.

But, curse ICU for being so nice, even once we were on campus, it took over 10 minutes to get to the right building. 10 minutes doesn't sound too long, but after 11 hours, it really is.

Oh, and then the relief! The relief! And the happiness! And the pride! My emotions were all over the place when we walked in and everyone clapped and gave us big bowls of hot soup. I was so happy. It was all worth it, just for that. To be able to say that we'd done it. We'd walked 40km (25 miles) in 11 hours overnight, and seen so much of central Tokyo as we did it. And for me, as a pretty non-sporty, non-physical person, it was a great achievement. I'll be proud of that for the rest of my life.

Rob and I got the train home, and promptly went to bed at about 10am. We woke up at 5pm or so, and went out for a celebratory dinner with Chihoko and her friend in Kichijoji. I couldn't believe we'd done it!

And actually, several days later, I still can't really believe it. But I know I'm happy about it. Really really happy.

They might do it again next year, and Rob's really keen to do it for a second time. I think I'll have to see...