Osaka offered us Japan’s traditional roots. It was filled with tourist destinations that dates back from hundreds of years ago. A great adventure, indeed, but it’s now time to visit its more bustling counterpart—Tokyo!
Odaiba, our first stop, is a popular entertainment district in Tokyo Bay. Before it was known as a popular shopping destination among locals and tourists, it was a man made island which was originally built to protect the city against attacks from the sea during the Edo period.
Apart from doing a little shopping, we took the time to visit Japan’s version of New York’s Statue of Liberty. In pictures the statue may seem as big as its NYC counterpart, but it is actually just 40 feet tall or around 1/7th the size of its bigger sister. The statue was originally built to commemorate the country’s relationship with France.
To more futuristic sights that will surely tickle robot and anime fans, we chanced upon the Unicorn Gundam. To those that find this unfamiliar, Gundam is a long running manga and anime series whose storyline revolves around battles among hi-tech robots. The 65-foot Gundam switches from “Unicorn mode” to “Battle mode” ever so often. The transformation takes around 10 seconds, but the difference between two modes is barely noticeable.
Our next stop is the nautical wonderland, Tokyo DisneySea. The theme park, as the name suggests, is generally of nautical nature with different pocket sites, such as Mysterious Island, replicas of New York Harbor and Venice, Mermaid Lagoon, and much much more. Tokyo DisneySea continues to be a hit to kids and kids at heart!
Little Venice, in particular, was my favorite part—what with all of its romantic lights and relaxing boat rides.
Of course, we also took the opportunity to go to the country’s highest mountain, Mt. Fuji. If you want to have a great view of the mountain, visit Oishi Park, pictured on the right below.
Did you know that despite being known as the hi-tech city of Japan, Tokyo offers a few heritage sites, one of which is Iyashi no sato—an ancient Japanese Village, that translates to healing village. It can be fun at the northwest shore of Lake Sai, near Mt. Fuji. Unfortunately, a great typhoon wiped out the area’s famed heritage buildings in 1966. Eventually, efforts to restore its former beauty was set into action, hence the name.
Japan may be a small country compared to some of its neighboring countries, but truly, the country offers so much that it’s quite difficult to cover a lot of ground in just a week. While others do try to visit its major cities in one go. Another idea is to cover one city first, then come back next time for the other.
Nonetheless, Japan is a definite must visit!
#JuanderWithUs to Japan and other destinations that piques your interest. Talk to our Travel Specialists today for more information.
