Japan: Boat ride to Odaiba; giant Gundam statue at DiverCity Mall

Date: 28th March 2015

After enjoying the relaxing walk along Sumida river and capturing the cherry blossom trees in bloom, I was now going to get on a boat to Odaiba — a major shopping and entertainment district in Tokyo Bay.

Sumida river boat ticket number card — I paid ¥1310 (₹750/$11.5/€10) for my one way journey to Odaiba

Inside Sumida tour boat Tokyo — I sat inside for a while

Asahi golden building Tokyo Japan — That golden building belonging to Asahi breweries is meant to resemble a beer mug

Asahi building Sumida river Tokyo — Asahi Beer Hall with the “golden turd” on top

Sumida river boat tour Tokyo — It didn’t take me long to go up to the top of the boat

Tourists boat tour Sumida river Tokyo — Seemed like the majority of the passengers chose not to sit down below

Office building Sumida river Tokyo — Passed many interesting looking buildings along the way

Apartment buildings Sumida river Tokyo-japan — Look like a pricey apartment complex. Must offer amazing views though.

Connected building Tokyo Japan — More skyscrapers

Tokyo Olympic stadium project site Japan — That’s the site of the new Tokyo Olympic stadium

Rainbow bridge Sumida river Tokyo bay — We were now in Tokyo Bay — and that’s Rainbow bridge

Rainbow bridge Sony Xperia Z1 Tokyo — It’s called the Rainbow Bridge because at night, the bridge gets illuminated in vibrant colours

Fuji TV Odaiba panorama Japan — We were about to dock at Odaiba boat station

Fuji TV headquarters building Odaiba Japan — That’s the iconic headquarters of Fuji TV, one of the major broadcasters in Japan

It was designed by the Kenso Tange, the same architect behind the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, which I had visited yesterday.

Fuji TV observation dome Japan — That’s an observation dome

Odaiba boat station Japan — It was time to disembark

Odaiba beach Tokyo Bay Japan — There’s a beach here

Joypolis Sega Decks mall Odaiba Japan — There are two major malls facing the bay. I went inside Decks, mostly because it had a massive SEGA Joypolis.

Joypolis entry ticket prices Japan — Unfortunately I couldn’t go in and check out the arcades until I purchased an entry ticket, which I just couldn’t justify purchasing given how little time I had in Odaiba

Classic arcade store Odaiba Tokyo — I went up to the top floor of Decks and found some interesting shops. This had classic arcade machines.

Lucky box shop Odaiba mall Japan — Lucky Box is a shop where you pay different sums of money and select random boxes. Inside are gifts and products ranging from cheap stuff to expensive products. Savvy business idea I must say — especially if YOU get ripped off 🙂

Michael Jackson shop Decks mall Tokyo — Yup, a shop dealing in only Michael Jackson merchandise 🙂

Madame Tussauds Tokyo Japan — Decks also houses a Madame Tussauds and LEGO experience center

Green tea Kit Kat Odaiba Japan — ¥204 for a packet of green tea flavour Kit Kat at a beauty chain store. Just keep this price in mind.

Diver City mall Tokyo Japan — Now it was time to see the main reason I came to Odaiba. For that I headed to Diver City mall.

Gundam robot crowds Diver City Odaiba — The giant Gundam statue!

Gundam statue Diver City Odaiba Japan — At 18 metres (59 feet) in height, it was built by Bandai to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise

For the uninitiated, Mobile Suit Gundam is an anime series that first aired back in 1979 and continues to be a popular Japanese pop-culture figure. There are Mobile Suit Gundam movies, TV series, video games and of course, model kits called Gunpla. This giant Gundam was officially opened to the public in 2009 and since then it has moved around to different sites in Tokyo quite a few times. But it currently stands in front of Diver City mall. Clever move on part of the mall’s management considering how many visitors this giant robot attracts everyday.

Gundam statue store Odaiba — This temp store was selling Gunpla model kits but they were priced slightly higher than what I had seen at Yodobashi Akiba and Bic Camera

Mithun Divakaran Gundam statue Diver City mall — I don’t usually pose for photos but I had to get one in front of this awesome creation

(This version of Mobile Suit Gundam was what I had assembled in this post about the Gunpla kit I had purchased)

Gundam RG 1/1 RX 78-2 version life-size model — At periodic intervals, it moves it head, the eyes blink and steam blows out of its jetpack

I arrived just in time to watch it move. Honestly it’s not much but I should have captured it on video anyway. The timings for when Gundam moves are 12:00 pm, 3:00 pm, and 5:00 pm.

Giant Gundam statue back side — Here’s one long panorama from the back

Gundam foot Odaiba Japan — There were many caution signs all over its body so I wonder what mechanicals, if any, are inside each component

Gundam Cafe Odaiba Tokyo Japan — There’s a nearby Gundam Cafe too!

Gundam Front Tokyo Diver City mall — And if that isn’t Gundam enough for you, step inside Diver City mall and head to the seventh floor

Gunpla Tokyo Front shop Japan — This is Gundam Front Tokyo. An experience center which houses a museum (paid admission) and a Gunpla store

Gunpla exhibit model shop Odaiba — Not just any Gunpla store. This place has on display every Gunpla kit ever made!

Gunpla model kits assembled Diver City — From the simpler, more commonly available Gunpla kits…

Premium Gunpla model kits display — … to really exclusive, limited edition (and expensive) model kits

Whichever model is available for sale, you may ask the staff for it and they will get it for you from their store room. But again, the prices here were higher than what I found at Yodobashi Akiba and Bic Camera.

Gunpla model kits coming soon Gundam — The store also showcases upcoming Gunpla models

Gunpla model size difference Gundam toys — These are the different types of Gunpla kits available, based on size and complexity

Again, refer to this post for more on Gunpla kits: Building my first Gunpla: RX-78-2 Gundam HG model kit

Chocolate Meiji Diver City mall — Remember how much that packet of green tea Kit Kat was selling for outside Decks? Here inside the mall at department store filled with Chinese tourists, the same packet was going for ¥500!

Diver City mall parking Odaiba Japan — The package tourists come in droves and the buses are all parked outside. I guess that’s the problem with packaged tours — you get little exposure to everything else outside of what you are shown and told by your guide.

Anyway, I decided to leave Diver City and head to Venus Fort mall but I’ll work on that post much later. I also visited a massive Toyota exhibition building. It’s not super interesting (unless you love cars) so I will work on it later. I want to focus on publishing all the other posts I have pending first.

Next posts in this series:

Japan 2015: Cherry blossoms at Tokyo Imperial Palace east garden

Japan 2015: Cherry blossom sightings at Shinjuku Gyoen

Japan 2015: Harajuku on a Sunday – Meiji shrine and Yoyogi Park

Japan 2015: Harajuku at night — Takeshita Street

Japan 2015: Visiting Akihabara a second time, because why not?

Japan 2015: Cherry blossoms in full bloom at Ueno Park

Japan 2015: Rikugien garden’s weeping cherry blossom tree

Japan 2015: Getting to Hakone; Lake Ashi sightseeing cruise

Japan 2015: Hakone ropeway; onsen at Hotel Green Plaza

Japan 2015: Ōwakudani sulphur springs, views of Mt. Fuji — and last night in Tokyo

Japan 2015: Getting to Narita Airport — and flying an Airbus A380 for the first time

Previous posts in this series: