Is Odaiba, Tokyo Worth Visiting?
Odaiba is an interesting district since it’s a man-made island in Tokyo Bay. Originially built as a defensive fortress to Tokyo against possible sea attacks back in 1603-1868, it has now evolved into a large enterntainment area. There’s an abundance of shopping in the area with large malls, most notably Diver City Plaza, which has ample restaurants as well. Also, of note, the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation is located in Odaiba as well.
The Odaiba station is about a 15-20 min metro ride from teamLab Planets. From Shinjuku Station it would be over an hour. The station is located right next to Diver City Plaza and the below attractions which makes it a very convenient location.
Three of the biggest attractions in the area are listed below.
Rainbow Bridge
Rainbow Bridge is a two-story bridge which connects Odaiba to Tokyo. It lights up at night and is supposed to be quite the sight. There’s an area in Odaiba with a great platform walkway around the area which is nice to be able to walk around to take in the sights. The view of the bay and the bridge here is spectacular. I imagine at night this view would be even better. The walkway leads down to the bay as well and there’s a paved path to stroll around.
Replica Statue of Liberty
Located in front of the Rainbow Bridge is a replica of the Statue of Liberty. Originally placed here to celebrate Japan’s ties with France back in 1998, the statue proved to be quite popular. In a sign of goodwill, France gifted Japan a replica of the statue in 1999 where it has remained since. The statue stands 40′ tall, about 1/7th the size of the Statue of Liberty in New York.
Unicorn Gundam Statue
In my opinion, the coolest attraction in Odaiba is the “life-sized” Unicorn Gundam statue standing 19.7 meters tall. This is a full-scale statue of the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam.
The statue itself is very impressive. Even without any knowledge of the series, I was still blown away. The level of detail on the statue is really amazing. If giant robots really existed, surely this is what they would look like!
Nine times a day the statue goes into “destroy” mode and its frame expands and glows pink. This includes an accompanying light and sound show as well!
The schedule is listed below.
Daytime show: 4 times/day: At 11 am, 1 pm, 3 pm, 5 pm
Nighttime show: 5 times/day: At 5.30 pm, 8 pm, 8.30 pm, 9 pm, and 9.30 pm
So…Is Odaiba Worth Visiting?
If you’re a Gundam fan or just someone that’s into nerdy stuff like giant robots (like myself) than yes! It will be worth it. The Gundam statue is captivating. You can truly admire and appreciate the level of detail that was put into it. I missed the transformation to “destroy” mode but it’s certainly something I’d love to see in the future.
If you’re in the area due to having visited teamLab Planets, have somewhat of an interest in seeing the Gundam statue, than it’s worth the short trip to visit.
The walk way around the replica Statue of Liberty and view of Rainbow Bridge is great, but I wouldn’t come here just to see those attractions. They aren’t worth the trip solely to see, in my opinion.
The shopping as well, namely Diver City Plaza, wouldn’t move the needle for me. There’s a ton of other massive malls in Tokyo that aren’t quite so far away from Central Tokyo.
So bottom line is if you’re not a fan of Gundam or giant robots, than I wouldn’t make the trip out to Odaiba. Although it’s a cool area, it’s a little ways out of the way. If you only have a few days in Tokyo to explore, it most likely is not worth your time.
