Life in Japan📚 a day in the man-made land of Tokyo, Odaiba

*English captions available

Hello friends! Today we are visiting the man-made area in Tokyo called Odaiba.
It’s usually known for having Team Lab, the famous Gundam statue, and the Odaiba Statue of Liberty but we’re going to skip that and enjoy the small animals and Tokyo skyline views instead 🙂 I hope you enjoy!

Timestamp⏰
0:00 Intro
0:49 breakfast/getting ready
1:50 Yurikamome Line (Tokyo’s first fully automated train system)
4:10 Odaiba
4:17 Lunch at Eggs and Things
5:38 Coffee with a view of Tokyo Bay
6:16 Day view of Tokyo skyline
7:00 birds around Odaiba
11:22 Evening view of Tokyo skyline
12:59 Night view of Tokyo skyline

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@little.newyorker (for Tokyo pictures)
@chiisaa__ (for life? pictures, mostly stories)

Information on the Yurikamome Day pass 🎟
https://www.yurikamome.co.jp/en/ticket/coupon.html

Music 🎧

with news about the weakening y stagnating wages and national debt brast on TV every day it’s hard to imagine Japan’s booming late 80s I hear stories about life during the bubble even today with anecdotes about their fancy Lifestyles fat bonuses and the new buildings that they were buying like designer bags and designer bags like our daily Necessities I know that stories get exaggerated over time but there’s a part of me that likes to imagine my parents and grandparents generation having a great time without a worry in the world so today we’re heading to a place called OD to observe the hints of the extravagant 80s that remain today [Music] he [Music] I’m now ready so let’s go head out and enjoy the Tokyo views that Oda has to [Music] offer the Udi line is Tokyo’s first fully automated transit system which opened in 1995 it connects shimbashi station in central Tokyo all the way to Toyota station and is elevated above the ground giving passengers on board a unique view of Tokyo and Tokyo bay it is controlled entirely by computers with no drivers on board and it’s the second fully automated transit system in Japan after CO’s port liner which opened in 1981 according to the Japanese government’s website the system used for this train the AGT only costs around a third to a half of the cost of building an underground metro line as their elevated designs do not require the acquisition of huge chunks of land to build so in the future maybe we’ll have more of these elevated trains around the city allowing us to view even the busiest ports of Tokyo on our daily commute from high up [Music] above with the line still being relatively new the price of the tickets are slightly higher than the other trains with the train ride from shimbashi station to adipa being 325 Yen or around $2 although with the big Windows giving you a view of the city I would say the extra money is definitely worth it if you want to check out all the stations on the Udi mailine they also have a day pass which is 820 Yen or around $55 [Music] [Music] as if we’re back in the booming 80s we’re going to have lunch at egg and things with view of the bay the epitome of urban opulence eggs and things is a Hawaiian restaurant specializing in pancakes waffles omelets and egg Benedicts their waffles and pancakes have so much whipped cream that they become a tower and are delicious and fun with company but I didn’t think I could finish them myself so I went with the spam egg Benedict and a SI smoothie both were absolutely tasty watch [Music] according to japang guide.com Oda is a man-made Island in Tokyo bay that originated as a set of small man-made Fort Islands built in the late ID period to protect Tokyo against possible attacks from the sea specifically in response to the gunboat diplomacy of Commodore Perry alsoo given them the name OA as daba means Port more than a century later the small Islands were joined into larger islands by Massive lamp Hills and Tokyo began a development project aimed at turning the island into a futuristic District during the extravagant 1980s after the burst of the economic bubble development was halted leaving Oda nearly vacant it was not until the second half of the 1990s when several hotels shopping malls and the beuty com line were opened that revived o Diva into what it is today but there are still many of the initial architectural projects that did materialize giving the area the grandio F it has today [Music] although there were initial speculations on whether this man-made land would be able to withhold the frequent earthquakes and tsunamis Japan experiences they have passed a test of time so far propelling more apartment complexes to be built and people to move in today it has become a popular residential area for young families as it is filled with nature and places to run around I personally like to come here alone with a book on days off there are plenty of trees to sit under and The View when I look up from the book is always spectacular there are plenty of birds and ants to observe as well creating a little Oasis in the city [Music] there’s something very calming about watching animals go about there every day they seem to be so focused on their next destination while adding little Hops and Sprints into the mix to make their Journeys more [Music] fun for me they remind me of how simple life really is because at the end of the day we just need food water and shelter and maybe a crazy imagination to live a fun fulfilling life [Music] a lot of our infrastructure is created through updating what we already have with our recent advances as a society roads for cars are squeeze within streets initially meant for horses and pedestrians bicycle lanes are added to roads for cars of a quick line of paint and highways and train tracks are built on whatever land they were able to purchase so it’s fascinating to see how a city would have been designed if we were able to start completely from scratch I’m guessing that there aren’t too many instances where a city can build an area from scratch so many of the designs must have have been experimental but for a daot I think they did a great job creating an Airy town [Music] observing too across the water and seeing how each glass window was a gateway to someone’s entire house or office with a multitude of stories to tell was a very grounding experience going about my daily life in Tokyo I’m a stranger to the people who occupy the room next door even though from here it seems like we spend hours within a couple of meters every single day unlike New York there’s not much of a small talk culture here and staying quiet to not disturb others kills like the standard we would say hello if we ever ran into each other but nothing more and as much as I respect the Customs it does make me feel disconnected to the people I share a building with we built our wall so thick and strong with our new we that we can no longer feel the emotions of those physically close to us we have no idea whether the person next door is having the best time of Their Lives who are struggling puring our safety and privacy we’ve also blocked out some of the best moments that only community and belonging could bring taking the step back even the fact that we got to live in the same neighborhood let alone the same apartment building in this enormous world seems like a miracle and a good enough reason to bond and it inspired me to at least try to get to know my neighbors better as the economy worsens and each of our grids get smaller and smaller I hope it softens the wall between us two pushing all of us to go outside more and break down the social constructs dividing our world into every chines spaces I hope it allows us us to feel more warmth and compassion for the people living next door because we’re all going to need that extra smile then [Music] and on that note I hope you all have a wonderful night and a day the beautiful new friendships tomorrow [Music]