Odaiba (Daiba) Island

- Rainbow Bridge, Fuji TV Building, Statue of Liberty, Aqua City Odaiba, Metro, Views, Skylines

Odaiba (Daiba) is an artificial island, built in the 1850s for defensive purposes where you find the Port of Tokyo. Daiba formally refers to one district of the island development in Minato Ward. Odaiba is connected with Minato ward in central Tokyo with the beautiful suspension bridge called the Rainbow Bridge, built in 1993. It is 798m long and a famous landmark with its 126m high towers.

On Odaiba Island you find the high tech 25-storey Fuji TV Building by Kenzo Tange, with its globe and external escalators (built in 1993), the Odaiba Statue of Liberty (lower then the one in New York), a high ferris wheel, Galleria Grand, Aqua City and other malls, restaurants, nightclubs, luxury hotels and Tokyo Big Sight, a futuristic exhibition building complex (built in 1996) that will be used during the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.  Tokyo has a busy port, opened in 1941, but the one in nearby Yokohama is even more important. Yakatabunes (privately owned Japanese boats) can be seen illuminated on Tokyo Bay at night.

We entered Odaiba Island with the driverless metro train that goes through the Rainbow Bridge, a rollercoaster like ride with nice views! When looking at the Odaiba Statue of Liberty (a smaller version of the one in New York), Rainbow Bridge and the skyline, one might assume that you are looking at Manhattan. It was very pleasant watching this view from Odaiba, especially during sunset and after dark.