TOKYO/ODAIBA.

This dude was bad, and he knew it. A Jheri curl AND leather Harley jacket!

Giant spider sculpture in Roppongi.

Harujuku, a happenin' place for people who like to shop and walk in very crowded conditions.

ODAIBA.

Odaiba is an artificial island in Tokyo Bay. "It's like going to the future", Azusa said. I can see what she means, with the weird sky scrapers, looping overpasses, and shiny apartment buildings. Odaiba was originally a part of a series of six artificial island fortresses designed for defense purposes in late the mid 1800s. The word "daiba" actually refers to the cannon batteries that were placed on these islands. Today, it's a popular tourist destination and it has it's moments on a sunny day.

Azusa! Our guide in Tokyo. You may remember Azusa as the friend I made in Bangkok, Thailand this past summer. See September (thanks for the correction, Kennel!) 2007 post for more.

This is a restaurant with a junior-highschool classroom motif. In fact the entire floor in this mall (called Deck's) is designed to look retro so that people from "our mothers' generation" can revisit their youth, said Azusa.

Also in this mall was an indoor test-driving course for tiny futuristic Toyoto cars. It'd be nice to have a picture of it, but I didn't take one.

Rainbow Bridge.

A street performer with the best spot in Tokyo.

The view from a giant ferris wheel that, at it's apex, is 110m high which was a Guiness World Record in 1999(?) according to the automated voice that spoke to us in the box.

I have no idea why the Statue of Liberty is on Odaiba.

Tokyo Tower. I was rooted to the spot as I saw the blimp racing toward the tower in what could only result in a fiery disaster, but actually, that didn't happen.