Sunday in Odaiba

The weather was nice enough, Keiko was brave enough and so at about noonish with perhaps a little shortage of time enough, we mounted our steeds and headed to Odaiba, the man made islands in Tokyo Bay that seemed to be built to praise all that is kitsch and modern. Keiko got her bike a couple months ago and has been building her confidence slowly and this was our longest ride yet. In the beginning she was hesitant to ride on busy streets and insisted on obediently waiting at all red lights. She spent about a month commuting to work, took the bike out on her own to Kawasaki and other places and has since really become much more assertive on the bike. She's riding a little 650 Tokyobike city bike with 9 gears (?) and a frame small enough to meet her almost 5 foot stature. Me, I'm still on my 20+ year old Peugeot fixed-gear conversion until I find the money for a track frame. On the way back I rode mostly behind her just because it feels a little safer (somebody will hit me first) and she could set the pace. I was impressed at the speed she was making expecting it to be a bit more leisurely but instead I actually had to work.

Well, we made it Odaiba, or Daiba, a little before three in the afternoon and after passing "Tokyo Big Site", convention center and event space, we happened across "Tokyo Wedding Town" or something to that effect. From what was available to the general public this wedding theme park of sorts had all the shops you might need to plan your extravagant affair, dress shops, tuxedo rentals, cake shops, hair, nail, etc, all set among cobble stone streets meant to resemble the historic little European town of your choice. On the inside and away from pubic view, I gathered there to be western style (fake) chapels and little venues modeled after various countries for the after party. All this created to sweep you out of the neon and concrete of Tokyo into something that was decisively, not Japan. We felt like we had stumbled on a movie set but in reality it was probably more of a wedding-themed Disneyland.

From there we meandered around the island. There was an elevated monorail overhead taking people to the various attractions including a huge ferris wheel, an indoor amusement park and one of a couple huge shopping areas. The development evidently started in the mid-eighties with billions of dollars in investment as a coastal residential area. When the economy plunged in the early 90's the area was considered to be a failure but has since been going through a resurrection. In '96 it was rezoned to allow for commercial space and now is a mixture of modern high rise apartments, innovative office buildings and a shopping hub for those in search of glorified malls. The whole area seems a little unsure of itself. Between some of the impressive and massive architecture there are the remnants of Odaiba park that connect the various areas with grass uncharacteristically growing between the stones on the footpaths. A couple monuments seem thrown in with the idea that "we should have something that looks statuesque or monument-ish here". The bit of grass and trees the connects these huge areas struck me as out of place when the city that has eschewed green space sits in eye shot from any unobstructed view. The areas themselves don't compliment each other but feel as if they have been thrown together with pieces from various puzzles.

In typical Japanese style, we went down a bridge connecting the park to an adjacent mall and stumbled upon a small festival behind some foreign skateboarders practicing their skills. The dancers reminded me of what might happen if an American high school drill team with their pancake makeup got thrown into mixer with the day-glow infused traditional japanese wear and Slash from Guns'n'Roses. There were about 40 men and women doing their dances to an ear-splitting 80's style power ballad and taiko drums. We moved on quickly only to be greeted by a miniature Statue of Liberty at which point I conceded myself to having left reality as I know it. In the next hour we walked through a miniature, and surprisingly not cheesy, Hong Kong on three floors of a shopping area. We ate cantonese style chinese from conveyor belts and watched a trained monkey do his theater complete with roller skates, jumping five foot blocks (on roller skates no less), fainting in slow motion and blowing kisses to the audience.

Dusk approached, we had a long ride back and after a brief coffee stop in Ginza and with Keiko's suggestion we made record time home and watched the most recent episode of Battlestar Iraqtica, I mean Galactica. A nice day even if I didn't get any application work done. That is what today is for.





Bike clothes for the fashionably challenged.