
Venus Fort light show

Fountain at Venus Fort Mall

Paula and ferris wheel

Fuji TV Building
The final stop on our tour was Odaiba, a man-made island just over the Rainbow Bridge from Tokyo built in the mid 1800s to protect Tokyo. The bridge was completed in 1993 and is named for the many brightly colored lights that illuminate the bridge at night. The island has interesting attractions and shopping venues.
We crossed over the Rainbow Bridge in our tour bus on the expressway. But you can also walk, ride the train, or ride over the bridge on a regular (not expressway) road. We couldn’t help noticing a large futuristic-looking building with the sphere/globe built near the top of the building, and were told this was the corporate headquarters of Fuji Television. Also of note was an extremely large Ferris Wheel, 115 meters tall (377 ft) probably the largest one I have ever seen. Each car of the ferris wheel holds 6 people and it takes 15 minutes for the wheel to make one complete revolution.
We visited the Toyota Mega Web which contained a showroom with different models of Toyotas including a very tiny one-person car and some really unique cars designed to accommodate individuals with disabilities. We also saw a demonstration of a kind of individual, stand up transport device that spectators could try out. I would have loved to try, but not knowing Japanese and so, unable to follow the verbal directions, I might have found myself in Tokyo Harbor. So I just settled for sitting in the one person car. Finally we visited Venus Fort, an upscale shopping mall, designed with an Italian theme. The ceilings were painted like the sky so that you had the feeling you were walking the streets of Rome! Not only was the decor incredible, but we were there in time to view the “light show” that occurs several times a day – it was definitely unique. We had a wonderful lunch at an little Italian cafe and then headed back to the bus. Next adventure – Mt. Takao Firewalking Ceremony.