| Aqua City, Venus Fort, and Rainbow Bridge. While | | | | replica of France's Statue of Liberty wtching over |
| they may sound like the settings for the next big | | | | its Aqua City shopping center; Venus Fort, |
| battle of 21st century superheroes, they are in | | | | another shopping mall designed to resemble |
| actuality just three of the attractions which have | | | | eighteenth-century Venice; and Oedo Onsen |
| made Tokyo's Odaiba one of the city's most | | | | Monogatari, an Edo-period style bathing park built |
| frequented destinations. Odaiba stands on two of | | | | around a 1400-metre deep hot spring. The Odiaba |
| six islands which the Togukawa shogunate built | | | | Kaihin Park, near the Rainbow Bridge and the |
| and fortified to protect Tokyo Harbor from | | | | possessor of one of Tokyo's two sand beaches, |
| Western intrusion, which arrived in the person of | | | | is a favorite spot for romantic assignations, but |
| Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853. It received | | | | swimming in Tokyo's less-than-pristine bay is not |
| its name from the Japanese word 'daiba," for fort. | | | | recommended. For the technologically inclined, |
| When Japan experienced its enormous economic | | | | Odaiba has the Miraikan, Japan's Museum of |
| boom in the early 1980s, the third and sixth of | | | | Emerging Science and Innovation, the Fuji |
| the fortified islands were extended, and named | | | | Television Building, and the Toyota Mega Web. |
| Tokyo Teleport Town for the ultramodern | | | | Accessing Odaiba from either the Rainbow Bridge |
| business city which was to be constructed on | | | | or the Yurikamome elevated train will afford |
| them. The economic boom went bust, however, | | | | visitors some splendid views of Tokyo Bay. The |
| and in the 1990s, new plans permitting Odaiba to | | | | park-like grounds and private waterfront balconies |
| be commercially developed saw it quickly inhabited | | | | of the five-star Odaiba Nikko Hotel, the first built |
| by the entertainment and commercial enterprises | | | | on Odaiba, offer visitors an escape from the |
| which make it such a huge draw today. Among | | | | bustle of Tokyo with its. The Odaiba Nikko is a |
| Odiaba's most impressive attractions are the | | | | perfect spot for romantic getaways. |