Odaiba, Tokyo's Fakest Island Since 1853

Constructed in the mid-nineteenth century by the Tokugawa Shogunate, the artificial islands of Odaiba originally housed fortresses designed to defend Tokyo Bay from would be invaders. Following the success of the1985 World’s Fair in Tsukuba, Odaiba’s main island was re-envisioned as an international showcase for technology and ultramodern living. However, with the burst of the bubble economy in the early 1990s, the expensive project had to be abandoned. Later in the decade Odaiba was reborn yet again, this time as an entertainment and shopping district. Although Odaiba’s primary attractions are now shopping malls and theme parks, the area still exudes a certain futuristic ambience, as evidenced by the world-famous Fuji Television building (seen above). You can even enjoy a futuristic ride into Odaiba on the completely automated Yurikamome train line (“Look ma, no driver!”), just one of a number of private and public transit lines that service the artificial island.
The entrance to Nekorama! (neko meaning “cat”), a feline-centric store located at ground level in the multi-story Decks Tokyo Beach mall.
I love a good turkey sandwich more than just about anything and turkey has to be one of the hardest meats to come by in Japan (as anyone who’s ever tried to explain Thanksgiving dinner to a room of confused Japanese first graders can surely tell you). So you can imagine how excited I was to happen across “Turkey’s Premium Turkey Sandwich”. You can probably also imagine how utterly despondent I felt after discovering that they don’t have a single turkey sandwich on the menu. The fact that I didn’t even feel even the least bit surprised by this speaks volumes about what a year in Japan can do to a man.
Some naughty high school students sneak a peek inside Condomania, also located inside of Decks.
The 6th and 7th floors of Decks are occupied by “Little Hong Kong,” a mostly food-centric, Japanese-style amusement park. One restaurant I spotted here offered dim sum treats on a conveyer belt a la kaiten sushi.
Here we see the Daikanransha, allegedly the second largest Ferris wheel in the world. Just past the Ferris wheel you can see “Palette Town,” yet another shopping mall that also houses "Mega Web," a large car theme park owned by the Toyota Corporation. The park is split into three separate “pavilions”.
Toyota uses these three pavilions, the “Toyota City Showcase,” the “Toyota Universal Design Showcase” and the “History Garage” to showcase not only their new products but also their corporate philosophy. If you’re able to stomach a little corporate propaganda, the pavilions are a good way to kill an hour or two in Tokyo without spending any money (the park is free and open to the public).
First up is the City Showcase; essentially a huge showroom chockablock with all of Toyota’s newest vehicles for the Japanese market.
The main floor of the City Showcase is dominated by “Hybrid Wonderland,” which in addition to showing off the newest hybrid cars and SUVs also attempts to “educate” visitors on how Toyota’s hybrid technology works. What’s so great about driving a hybrid car? Why, ask Mr. Hybrid!
I mean, if you really think about it, hybrid cars are practically living creatures…wait, what?

As many of you will know, Toyota makes a bunch of really sweet cars like this…

…but 90% of all Japanese people would rather drive this instead. I stood and stared at this car for about ten minutes but not even a single clown came out.
One of the coolest things about the whole complex was the “Ride One Corner”. Allegedly, you can take any Toyota car currently in production for a test drive for only ¥300. All you have to do is make a reservation on the Ride One website a day in advance (it’s worth noting that foreigners can participate too, provided they hold a valid driver’s license from a Geneva Convention member country).

Wait, who the hell chose the clown car?

Up next is the Universal Design Showcase. I’ll let the good folks in Toyota’s marketing department explain to you what exactly “universal design” is:

Tall, short, male, female, plump, slim, young, mature, elderly-we’re all so different in so many ways. This showroom offers you an opportunity to notice for yourself the importance of Universal Design, a design approach that strives to accommodate the differences in the ways individuals use a product. TOYOTA Universal Design Showcase: a place where we can all share ideas about Universal Design.

Basically, the Universal Design Showcase is a museum of Toyota design, demonstrating how Toyota vehicles have evolved over the years to incorporate elements of this so-called universal design.
Ah, the “Space Touch”. Just because we now have the technology to create a functional control panel that looks like something out of a 70s science fiction film doesn’t mean that we should actually make it. The unit uses an antiquated-looking hologram projection system to create a floating orb that serves as the car’s control panel. But wait, there's more. It’s also a touch screen, so you manipulate the orb by touching the screen. Wow. “Seeing into the Future?!” Hell no.
Here’s one of the dancing, neon wheelchairs as seen at last year’s Expo in Aichi. Formally, it’s known as “i-unit,” Toyota’s “future concept vehicle”. Memo to Toyota: adding the uber-hip “i” prefix to a quadrupedal segway doesn’t make it any cooler.
Finally we reach the last of the pavilions, the history garage. From what I saw, none of the cars in here were Toyotas. Don’t ask me why.

This is pretty funny, don’t you think? I sure think so.

You know, I’m not much of a car guy (could you tell?) but even I could get excited for the DeLorean. If only it could have taken me back to a time when turkey sandwich shops actually sold turkey sandwiches.