Come with me now as we travel into a world that is the future. The buildings are strange, high school students roam the streets, even on a school day. Oh, and the weather is nice, the breeze feels warm, and it doesn't smell. Welcome to Odaiba - an area which was built to showcase the future of residential living in Japan.
If that is the future, then I'm sure that most people would have to be faced with culture shock. For starters nothing smells. Frequently in the other parts of Tokyo that are stuck with the rest of us suckers in the past there are rancid sewer smells.
This is the average scenario: "Look at me, I'm a respectable gentleman trying to enjoy a lovely crepe as I walk down the street." - Sudden, uncontrollable vomiting due to smell, resulting in the loss of a $700 suit. It's s shame, and explains why nobody ever eats and walks at the same time here.
Other than lack of smell there is another weird thing missing: adults. It's like a weird version of pleasure island - minus the donkeys. For the most part all I saw were high school students roaming the streets, with just a small dash of teachers and adults. Sure, there were plenty of adults on the train going in, I'm just not sure what happened to them once we arrived.
Putting aside the strange feeling of being alone, lost in a care free world, filled with hyper-enthusiastic children, chomping at the bit to try and practice last weeks English assignment, there two really fun things to do on the island.
The first, and possibly greatest thing, was a place called Japan Muscle Park, a theme park dedicated to fitness games. Sure, it doesn't sound like the most fun at first, especially seeing how one of the games allows you to pay to due a push-up, sit-up, pull-up contest, but it really was cool.
To start things off I tried to due the miniature Sasuke course - or as it's better known in America as "Ninja Warrior." As a whole I would have to say that it's hard - very hard. They start you off all nice and easy with a confidence booster having you complete a trip on a hand bike. Easy enough. Then they decide to have you dangle from a steel beam and inch your way across using only the tips of your fingers. Not cool. Afterward you move over to a steel pole laying horizontal on two steel poles, similar to a gunrack. You then must use the two steel poles to shimmy up three high racks. Sadly though I was too heavy for the bar and nearly snapped it in half. And last are the crooked rings, which combine that Windows plumbing pipe screen saver with gymnastics rings. This one I thought I had going for me, but that was an fail in a half, sending me flying off the course.
Other than Ninja Warrior we were able to compete in some great games, such as a Baseball punch out game, a soccer punch out game, and this really fun game where you have to stack blocks while a train goes around a track. It's one of the funnest games I've ever played, but I would have to explain how it works in person.
With all the musclefide fun that we could handle we headed off to the JOMSI (you know, the Japanese Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). Okay, so it's not called JOMSI, but it is a whole lot like a newer OMSI, but set in Japan.
We were given the opportunity to meet the Asimo robot, which is the first to run, balance on one foot, and kick. It can operate on it's own, and can follow your instructions with you via voice commands. I really want one, but they cost 106,710,325 yen and can only be on for an hour at a time.
For me he was the highlight of the trip, but there we lots of great demonstrations and activities to look at, covering a wide spectrum of emerging sciences in the fields of quantum computing, health care, earthquake detection, and space and sea discovery. As I whole I would rate the place at 3.5 OMSIs.
For the days pictures click here.
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