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