DISTANCE: 7.5km (4.75 miles)
TIME: A half day
START: Kokusai-Tenjijo-Seimon Station/Tokyo Big Sight
END: Shibaura-Futo Station
POINTS TO NOTE: A ¥820 one-day ticket for the Yurikamome monorail (www.yurikamome.co.jp), connecting with Tokyo’s subway at Shimbashi and Toyosu stations, lets you hop on and off at will.
Tokyo Big Sight
Heading by monorail to the east of the island of Odaiba, you can’t fail to miss the gravity-defying Tokyo Big Sight 1 [map] (www.bigsight.jp), a massive convention centre. It consists of four inverted pyramids and is best accessed from Kokusai-Tenjijo-Seimon monorail station, outside of which there’s a sculpture depicting a huge upended saw.
Follow the monorail tracks southwest in the direction of a highly visible Ferris wheel – the Giant Sky Wheel (charge). The wheel is part of Palette Town 2 [map], a colourful recreational complex that includes the quirky pseudo-neoclassical Venus Fort (www.venusfort.co.jp) mall, with a ceiling illuminated by an electronic sky that changes by the minute.
Around Miraikan
Walk south then west past the blue arch of the Telecom Centre to the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation 3 [map] (www.miraikan.jst.go.jp; Wed–Mon 10am–5pm; charge), also known as the Miraikan, where you can learn about robot technology and other cutting-edge science projects.
The Giant Sky Wheel at Palette Town
iStock
Nearby soothe your limbs at the extraordinary Oedo Onsen Monogatari 4 [map] (www.ooedoonsen.jp; daily 11am–9am (last entry 7am); charge) a traditional hot-spring bath with outdoor and indoor tubs, a sand bath, saunas and foot-massage baths.
A short walk northwest of the Miraikan is the Museum of Maritime Science 5 [map] (Fune-no-Kagakukan; www.funenokagakukan.or.jp; Tue–Sun 10am–5pm; charge). The building has exhibitions tracing the development of shipping and sea transport. Docked outside and part of the museum are the decommissioned ferry Yoteimaru and The Soya, used for Japanese expeditions to the Antarctic.
Oedo Onsen Monogatari
Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications
DiverCity Tokyo Plaza
Heading north through the West Promenade, you will see DiverCity Tokyo Plaza 6 [map] (1-1-10 Aomi, Koto-ku; www.divercity-tokyo.com; daily 10am–9pm), another vast shopping and recreational complex. The most notable attraction here is Round 1 Stadium (DiverCity Tokyo Plaza 6F; www.round1.co.jp/shop/tenpo/tokyo-divercity.html; Mon–Thur 8am–6am, Fri 8am–Mon 6am; charge). Recommended for those with kids, admission to Round 1 allows you to enjoy all the activities on offer, including bowling, karaoke and pool.
Don’t forget to check out Gundam Front Tokyo (http://gundamfront-tokyo.com; Mon–Fri 10am–7pm, Sat & Sun 10am–6pm; Charge) in front of DiverCity. There are also areas where you can view the gigantic robot structure free of charge.
Odaiba beach
Walk to the northern edge of the island, where you will find an artificial beach and Daiba Station, to view the astonishing Kenzo Tange-designed Fuji TV Building 7 [map], consisting of two blocks connected by girder-like sky corridors and a 32m (100ft) diameter titanium-panelled sphere. The cathode-shaped globe contains both a restaurant and an observatory (Tue–Sun 10am–8pm; charge) .
From the next monorail station – Odaiba-Kaihin-koen – you can access Decks Tokyo Beach 8 [map] (www.odaiba-decks.com), a shopping and amusement complex that includes the state-of-art arcade Joypolis (daily 10am–10pm; charge) and plenty of places to eat, including Khazana, see 1. More trendy shops, Sony’s ExploraScience museum, and a multiplex cinema can be found next door at Aqua City (www.aquacity.jp).
Rainbow Bridge
From Odaiba-Kaihin-koen Station a walkway leads up across the 918m (3,000ft) long Rainbow Bridge 9 [map]. A pedestrian promenade links the two anchorages at each end of the suspension bridge. Crossing it takes about 30–40 minutes, but the views from the bridge are superb. From the observation gallery on the mainland side it is only a minute’s walk to Shibaura-Futo, the stop for the monorail.
Food and drink
1 Khazana
5F Decks Tokyo Beach, 1-6-1 Daiba, Minato-ku; tel: 3599 6551; www.maharaja-group.com; daily 11am–11pm; station: Odaiba-Kaihin-koen; ¥¥
Khazana offers all-you-can-eat lunches (until 5pm) and good curries, plus outside tables with views of the Rainbow Bridge.