While my last post focused specifically on the gardens that I had visited throughout Tokyo (and by no means was it a complete list of gardens within Tokyo), this post will have a much broader spectrum of sites I have come across here so far.

I will start with an area not far from me called Odaiba Island. To quote directly from Japan-Guide.com, “Odaiba (お台場) is a popular shopping and entertainment district on a man-made island in Tokyo Bay,” and “These islands were built towards the end of the Edo Period (1603-1868) to protect Tokyo against possible attacks from the sea and specifically in response to the gunboat diplomacy of Commodore Perry.”

By no means have I fully explored this area yet, but from what I have seen so far, this description is quite accurate. I went to see “Maverick,” there and I caught a glimpse of the scenery just after sunset. Since this was in the evening, I wasn’t able to get many good photos (especially on my phone). I did, however, see the miniature Statue of Liberty here.

I (and I’m sure many other people) wonder, “Why does this place have a replica of the Statue of Liberty located in New York City?” In another direct quote, this time from GoTokyo.org, “It was originally erected in 1998 as a temporary tribute to Japan’s relationship with France, but the statue was so popular she was made a permanent feature in 2000. What’s most interesting about the Odaiba Statue of Liberty is that she is not the only one in Japan, she also has sisters in Shimoda and Osaka.” So, there you have it.

This island area also has a small “beach” front and plenty of entertainment venues, including some museums that range from science and innovation to fine arts, Madame Tussauds, advertising and broadcasting, sake and shochu, and of course, robots! Some day, I intend to explore more of what this island has to offer.

The rest of the images shown are from areas all over.

Yeah, this image needs some explaining.

This statue, officially known as “The Flamme d’Or” (the golden flame), created by French architect Philippe Stark and sits in the Asakusa area of Tokyo. This is the headquarters for the Asahi Beer Company. According to https://nicejapan.co.nz/, “It is supposed to represent the freedom and grace of a good head of foam on your glass of Asahi beer.” It was originally supposed to be built standing upright, but the city decided to place it on its side after complaints that it blocked out the sun and view of other buildings. In Tokyo, it has another, less official name, though, that being the “Golden Poo.”

A few weeks ago, while wondering around outside of the Sensoji Temple area, I noticed that you can get a tour of the Asakusa area while riding in a rickshaw. This definitely looks like a job that gives the rickshaw operator quite a workout.

This was right around noon, so these operators must be used to pulling people around in the heat. Based on my experience arriving in August, I hate to think of how exhausting it must be to do this in the summer humidity!

While it has only been a few months at the time of this posting, I have plenty more areas to explore and trips to take.