Tokyo Odaiba – a Day as an Otaku

We went to Tokyo Odaiba during our holiday visit to Tokyo. I experienced being an one-day Otaku, a Japanese phrase describing people (usually young) with obsessive interests towards any particular theme, topic, hobby or form of entertainment, commonly animation and manga. It is like being a super enthusiastic fan (a Star Trek fan who dresses up like Captain Kirk).

Our journey to Tokyo Odaiba started from Asakusa. In Asakusa, we boarded a Tokyo Cruise Ship, Himiko, which was designed by the famous Japnese cartoonist Leiji Matsumoto. The ship is shaped like a tear drop and very much looks like a ship from the future. The interior decorations are also very science fiction like. Leiji Matsumoto designed Himiko based on “the image of teardrop” and “the ship appealing to children.”

Inside the ship, there are life-size cardboard cut-outs of the characters from the Galaxy Express 999 cartoon. The announcements also mimic the captain from Galaxy Express 999.

It was raining that morning (and on and off all day), so the ship was mostly covered by rain drops and the sky was grey. The view of Tokyo from the ship on Sumida River was different and fresh to me. The ship passed about 15 bridges, highways, and train tracks before it arrived at Odaiba Seaside Park. The ride from Asakusa took about an hour and it was a great way to see Tokyo.

Odaiba Seaside Park is a pleasant park, but we didn’t get to walk around too much in the morning because of the rain. Instead, we hid into the shopping mall right next to the Seaside Park Terminal, Aqua City Odaiba, where I got a couple very cute sweaters.

Our top destination in Odaiba was Comiket (the Comic Market) taking place in Tokyo Big Sight Convention Center. Comiket is held twice per year, once in August and once in December, in Tokyo Big Sight, Tokyo Odaiba. It is the largest dōjinshi fair in the world. A dōjinshi (fan-created tribute) is a self-published work, usually related to some commercial-published anime, manga, game, or popular film. Many famous Japanese cartoonists started as dōjinshi artists and still continue self-publishing after they become famous. 

On our way to Tokyo Big Sight, we passed a live-sized Gundam standing in Diver City Plaza (like diversity ha, ha). It was huge and impressive!

And… We got lost. 😓

We thought we just had to follow the map to cross some bridge and we would be at Big Sight. However, the more we walked the more rural it looked. Luckily, we spotted a police station. Wait! Is that THE Tokyo Wangan Police Station? THE police station on our must-see list? A police station might not sound like an attraction, but this police station is surprisingly famous. It is where the “Bayside Shakedown” Japanese TV series took place. We excitedly walked into the Tokyo Wangan Police Station and asked for directions 😆. Two super nice officers told us to take the Yurikamome Train Line (meaning Lily Seagull in Japanese) from there.

On our way to the closest Yurikamome Line station from Tokyo Wangan Police Station, we passed by a big parking lot, where many decorated vehicles were parked. These cars were the evidence that we were close to Comiket!

Finally, here we were in front of Tokyo Big Sight!

There were tons of people in Comiket. I’ve never been to any fan convention as big as this one! The whole area was divided into many sections. There were several sections for dōjinshi publishers. There were sections for commercial vendors showcasing their latest products. There were also sections for taking pictures of cosplayers (costume players). I learned that it is considered very rude to take pictures of the cosplayers without asking. Therefore, if you want to take a picture of a cosplayer, you need to stay in line (every cosplayer has their own designated stage during a designated period of time) and ask for permission when your turn is up.

There were so many things to see and I lost track. Finally, I got a dōjinshi of Doraemon, who is my favorite Japanese cartoon character. I had King Hop read it to me. He is a big fan of Doraemon.

After Comiket, we headed back to Odaiba Seaside Park on the Yurikamome Line. The rain stopped for a little while. I saw JOYPOLIS from the metro station. I heard that it is a giant indoor arcade amusement park and it is a lot of fun. We didn’t have enough time to go to every attraction in one day, so sadly, we skipped it. Luckily, before the rain started again, I got to see the Statue of Liberty standing in the Odaiba Seaside Park with the Rainbow Bridge in the background. 

From there, we walked to Fuji TV, which was a neat looking building. Fuji TV building was free to enter. There were many exhibits showcasing the TV shows and dramas in Fuji TV history. I didn’t know all these shows and dramas, but I still enjoyed learning about them. I also saw many cute cartoon posters.

Tokyo Odaiba was very walkable. We casually walked around and stopped in a beautiful indoor mall, called Venus Fort. There were many toy, hobby, and animation shops, as well as other shops, in Venus Fort. The interior of Venus Fort was nicely decorated in a classical European style. It was a nice place for pictures. I saw a giant store of Calico Critters! I love their bunny families and I have a whole village of them!

By the time we were out of Venus Fort, the sky was darkening already and the rain stopped. I saw  the Giant Sky Wheel lit up. When we passed the Diver City Plaza, Gundam was also lit up.

We were very hungry and found a nice foodcourt in Aqua City. The dumplings and the ramen were so good! Sorry we ate most of it before we could take a picture.

After dinner, we walked outside along the Seaside Park before we hopped on the Yurikamome Line back to Tokyo Station. The nighttime view of Tokyo from the Seaside Park was just spectacular. The Rainbow Bridge was lit up in multiple colors, just like its name. The Rainbow Bridge also shows up frequently in many Japanese dramas.

Good Night, Tokyo Odaiba. I had a lot of fun being an Otaku for a day!

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