Today was originally planned to be the day I went out to Fuji-Q but it's a theme park that has terrible operations and whilst it has one of the best selection of unique coasters in the world, having to queue for at least 2 hours for each one did not appeal. It's a park I'd been to on both previous occasions and both times found it challenging to genuinely enjoy myself when I wasn't on the rides that is.
So instead I chose to do some geek stuff around Tokyo before heading back to Odaiba for the attractions and Megaweb wheel that had been closed a few days prior. So what geek stuff did I pick?
Well the first one was a bit of a pilgrimage to Kodomokuni in South-West Tokyo (probably more accurate to say Yokohama) to visit the location of a show that is still extremely popular today despite having been made over 25 years ago. Takeshi's Castle is still one of my favourite shows and visiting this was something I just couldn't fit into the previous trips, nor would I want to drag my friends to...I suspect they wouldn't be friends for much longer if I'd brought them. Figuring out where to go was very easy due to the wonderful www.keshiheads.co.uk website which not only showed where the show was filmed but also where on the land each of the games took place.
Second I headed to Setagaya for Ultraman Town, a part of the city that have adopted Ultraman with statues of him in the area, and even the streetlights are designed to look like him. There are apparently half a dozen statues around this area, but I only managed to find 2. I think the studio where the show was made is close by. A couple of kilometres south from here is the Toho Studios and I'd heard they have a cool statue of their most popular creation Godzilla here, so I thought I'd amble down to that too.
After a quick lunch stop I headed back to the metro and rode it to Odaiba to revisit the Gundam statue, which looked exceptional and check out MegaWeb, a very fancy car showroom for Toyota with an indoor car track for those that wish to have a drive. But I was interested their simulators and VR attraction, the latter of which took you on a drive to showcase how their in-car tech can improve your driving experience and make it safer. A very passive experience but an interesting use of the kit.
You can find some cool stuff exploring the back streets of Shinjuku
Kodomonokuni station is on it's own little line, also called Kodomonokuni running from Onda station. Across the main road from the station is little children's amusement park also called Kodomonokuni. Kodomo is "child" and Kuni is "country" so I would guess the park came first and the railway second once they realised the kids couldn't reach the park easily. The park was closed today so there was no chance of riding their rollercoaster, which was fine because I wasn't here for that.
Not as good as Nagoya's but still better than ours.
The walk to TBS is a little under a mile uphill and in this weather (another stunning hot day) water was essential so I stocked up from the station vending machine but I still had to resort to using my umbrella as a parasol on the walk as it was so hot. Near the top of the hill on the right hand side is the main studio building, signifying you're almost there.
The plot of land (yes! this is what I was walking for) is across the road on the left. It's all fenced off with signs clearly saying no trespassing and property of TBS so I couldn't get too close to it, not without upsetting people which was the last thing I'd want to do in Japan. You can get down to the bottom of the slope as there's a golf range immediately next door, but the view from down there would be even worse - at least I could look down on it from up here.
(image courtesy of www.keshiheads.co.uk)
My photos are taken from the side of the road in the bottom right corner of the map.
From the vantage point you could get an appreciation for how much they crammed into such a small space. I couldn't see any signs of water either so I suspect all the water on skipping stones and the like were man-made.
and if you've no idea what I'm on about, what rock have you been hiding under? Here's a best-of youtube clip taken from Challenge TV. In the US I think it's called MXC and has a different edit. The show is has recently moved to Thailand and is has started airing on one of the channels in the UK but it is being panned so I don't think I'll bother.
What I didn't realise is that the same piece of land is also home to the assault course from the show "Sasuke", or "Ninja Challenge" as we call it in the UK, but there was no evidence of it today. The assault course has the name Mount Midoriyama, that's takes it's name from the studios close by.
So a very silly start to the day but being my holiday I get to do what I want.
From Kodomonokuni (the last time I have to type that) I headed back towards the centre of Tokyo to Setagaya for Ultraman Village. Here are the Ultraman statues I did manage to find; a fairly poor attempt admittedly but no amount of searching online revealed where the others were.
I wasn't aware the Toho studio buildings had these huge murals for their two most popular films. The Godzilla one was incredible, but I liked the Seven Samurai on too.
The statue is outside the reception building. Unfortunately they don't offer a tour of the facility and the stages are closed sets, so I had no chance of seeing what they were up to.
For the right amount of money Miley Cyrus might love you!
Having to transfer at Shibuya I thought it right to jump out and see how Hachiko was getting on. I've been here plenty of times before so it didn't seem too upsetting to get back home and realise I'd not photographed the famous crossing. I did get the babies statue this time which I don't recall seeing before.
The Palette Town complex includes lots of shops, including one area full of pet shops, and the Megaweb facility, which is what I'd come for.
Lots of concept cars were on display, unfortunately you're not able to take these for a drive.
They had tech that you could play with though.
The cars you can drive and a bit of the indoor track you can drive them around.
Some views from the Daikanransha Wheel which was open today. Again I chose the cabin with the see through floor. This was probably the worst of the wheels I did because the cabin would stick occasionally before gravity would swing it back into position. A little disconcerting that meant the ride wasn't as smooth as the others I'd been on but it offered a great view of the area and opportunity to see just how vast Tokyo is.
A slightly poor photo zoomed through the cabin wheel but they were setting up the Ultra Japan music festival, a 3-day event which was going to start the day I flew home; typical! This would have been a great event to go to. Next time I come here I'll pick a better date. This is last year's after movie, I'll post 2017's when it's made available.
The Gundam statue in better light than my first visit. The finishing touches were being added to it but they'd opened up a stage where for a nominal sum you could have your photo taken with it in the background, but who'd want to see a photo of me getting in the way of this? It's apparently a unicorn variant of Gundam hence the horn on the head.
A Sanrio gift shop which made me laugh because the backsides were facing outside and the public as they walked past. Had it been the other way around more people would have been enticed in...possibly. Their take on the spoof Mount Rushmore perhaps?
Spooky cute?
In planning the trip I'd seen this Mario Kart guided tour which I was all up for doing as I figured it would be a good way to see the city. They offer 1,2 and 3 hour tours (I'd have gone for the middle one). But I was also reading quite a bit of negative reports about the company. Nintendo were already in the process of suing them and there had been reports of them encouraging irresponsible driving and being disliked by some of the locals. So I dropped it and it was therefore not ironic that one of the groups nearly run me over as I crossed on a green light.
Odaiba has a Tussauds and Legoland Discovery Center here too. The Merlin global occupation continues.
This VR attraction has you working collaboratively with others to defend earth from an asteroid attack. There is no English unfortunately but I think I figured out what was going on.
A closure shot of the Megaweb wheel.
Another busy day but one doing the quirky stuff I wanted to do.
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