Sunday i took a trip out to Odaiba, 2 trains and about 40 minutes from home.
Odaiba (お台場) is a large artificial island in Tokyo, Japan, featuring many hypermodern and just plain strange looking buildings.
Odaiba was originally constructed in 1853 by the Tokugawa shogunate as a series of 6 fortresses in order to protect Tokyo from attack by sea, the primary threat being Commodore Matthew Perry’s Black Ships, which had arrived in the same year. Daiba in Japanese refers to the cannon batteries placed on the islands.
The area is now a very popular shopping and entertainment destination featuring attractions such as Decks Tokyo Beach, Aquacity Odaiba, Museum of Maritime Science, National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, Oedo Onsen Monogatari, Palette Town, Venus Fort, Sun Walk, Tokyo Big Site and the list goes on.
Odaiba is also home to many businesses including, the Fuji TV Building, Panasonic Centre, Telecom Centre, Mega Web.
I had originally intended heading to Odaiba for a look around then over to Tokyo Big Site to have a look at the Tokyo International Anime Show but after a slow start to the day and the weather turning bad i only managed to get a few hours around Odaiba in and taking a few photos was harder and harder as the day wore on.
Looking towards Rainbow Bridge which connects Tokyo to Odaiba.
I took the long way home from my travels this morning and took a stroll through Yoyogi Park. Yoyogi Park (代々木公園, Yoyogi kōen) is one of the largest parks in Tokyo, located adjacent to Harajuku Station and Meiji Shrine in Shibuya.
Even though it was barely lunch time the park was already filling quickly with punters enjoying their first weekend of Hanami Parties. Hanami (花見, Hanami lit. “flower viewing”) is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the beauty of flowers, “flower” in this case almost always meaning cherry blossoms (桜 or 櫻, sakura?), or ume blossoms (梅, ume).
If you can look past the sea of blue tarpaulins it’s quiet a site to be seen. The Hanami parties are a great excuse to pull up some grass in the park and progressively get loaded on your favourite drop. After being restricted to indoor activety for much of winter, it’s a welcome change to get outside and enjoy Spring time in Japan.
It’s first in best dressed when it comes to getting a spot during the Hanami season. People gather in the park from the early hours on the weekend and no doubt during the week for those not working.
Often there’ll be a few designated individuals that will go early and mark the spot with their tarps and the others in their party will join later in the day.
Himuro Mansion In Japan, does it really exist, i don’t know. I live in Japan and have never heard of it but it’s something i’m going to look more into.
Himuro Mansion is a fictitious mansion from the Fatal Frame game series. The story behind Himuro Mansion goes as follows;
In an area outside Tokyo, there lies a mansion in which it is said seven people were murdered in a grisly manner. On the same property, there lie three detached residences that surround the mansion, all of which are rumored to have ties to the mansion’s troubled past.
It’s said there is an underground network of tunnels that lay beneath the premises, but nobody knows who made these tunnels or what purpose they served. Many inexplicable phenomenon have been reported occurring on the property. Bloody handprints have been found splattered all over the walls. Spirits have been spotted on the premises… even in broad daylight.
A narrow stairway leads to an attic where a spirit-sealed talisman is rumored to be locked away. Men have sought this talisman, only to be found later with their bodies broken and rope marks around their wrists. There’s a crumbling old statue of a woman in a kimono, but its head is missing. If you take a photo of a certain window, a young girl can be seen in the developed picture.
