Okay, even though I’m no longer over there, I still have a lot of things that I did in Japan that I haven’t posted about, so once more into the breech!
One of the things I wanted to do while I was in Japan was to see the newest “Evangelion” anime movie when it debuted. I didn’t get to go on opening day, but I found out that it was playing at a cineplex in Odaiba, which was a short subway ride from my apartment in Monzennakacho. Odaiba is one of the newest man-made islands in Tokyo Bay, and it was designed to be like more Western mixed-use complexes, with office buildings, shopping malls, hotels, condos, and all very automobile-friendly with parking garages and wide streets. Because it was built and designed after the 1970’s, and because Japan was very forward-looking at the time, much of the architecture is fairly experimental, artistic, and kind of what we used to call “futuristic”. A lot of it has stood the test of time, even though some things seem almost quaint.
Take “Tokyo Teleport”. This is a station on one of the private subway lines going from Tokyo to Odaiba, called the “Rinkai Line”. When I was first in Japan back in 2007 (kind of a futuristic year, now that I think about it) I was amused to find that station on one of the subway maps I saw, and determined to go there! I did get to back then, but my camera wasn’t good enough to really capture the futuristic essence of a place with “Teleport” in its name!
Here are some of the more mundane pictures of Odaiba, but also some of the more futuristic ones! See if you can imagine a 70’s science fiction movie in some of these places!
[one_half]Tokyo Tower, seen from Odaiba, through the Rainbow Bridge.[/one_half][one_half_last]view from Odaiba, with a shot of their model of “Liberty”, and a nice shot of the Rainbow Bridge[/one_half_last][one_half]Proceeding down the Corridor of Tomorrow! ^_^[/one_half][one_half_last]Heading to the starship loading dock ^_^[/one_half_last][one_half]And yes, even in The Future, guys do a double-take at the pretty girls…[/one_half][one_half_last]This was impressive architecture, this a suspension bridge, supported by cables from a single tower (which you can barely see) through the skylight.[/one_half_last][one_half]Ah, the Teleport Station! Prepare to transport…[/one_half][one_half_last]And the passenger arrives![/one_half_last][one_half]Oh no, a horrible teleport accident! Oh, wait, you mean he started that way? Oh.[/one_half][one_half_last]As with all of Japan, the station is guarded by both a guard, and a bank of vending machines, all ever at the ready![/one_half_last][one_half]If you’re going to build a subway station, you need to make it pleasing to the eye, and to the soul…[/one_half][one_half_last]My poor photos just don’t do justice to the beauty of the architecture in this station.[/one_half_last][one_half]Ah Rinkal the dolphin, mascot of the Rinkai subway line. Japanese people have a love of cute things that personify things in their lives…[/one_half][one_half_last]I… don’t know. A mascot for the station, maybe?[/one_half_last][one_half]Another mascot, for something…[/one_half][one_half_last]Other mascots, that I didn’t have time to get details, the train was going to board soon.[/one_half_last][one_half]Proceeding to the platform, surrounded by beautiful architecture.[/one_half][one_half_last]It’s art…[/one_half_last][one_half]“The management of this website would like to apologize for any feelings of dizziness or nausea caused by images of this person.”[/one_half][one_half_last][/one_half_last]
