#Odaiba

The group checked out Tōkyō today. We already knew the stops though, so we decided to bail early and explore the city ourselves for the rest of the day.

We did check out the Meiji Shrine and Roppongi Hills together, however. For an extra 500¥ we got access to the roof terrace of the Mori Tower this time, where you can take fantastic photos of Tōkyō.

At the Imperial Palace, we finally went our separate ways. We headed to Tōkyō Central Station first, where we bought tickets for our onward journey.

After that, we headed to Odaiba, where a life-size figure of the Gundam battle mech is currently on display. We also visited the Statue of Liberty again. The photo we took here back in 2010 isn’t possible anymore today, because new buildings block the clear view of the old landmark, the Tōkyō Tower.

While wandering around, we spotted a pet shop selling little dogs. The prices left us gobsmacked. One of these little four-legged friends costs up to 400,000¥. Maybe that’s not a bad thing, though, because anyone dropping that much cash on a dog will think really hard about buying it beforehand.

The group visited Nikko today, but we had our own plans.

We took the train to the suburb of Mitaka and visited the Ghibli Museum of the animation studio of the same name. For a ticket, you get a short strip of film from an anime (that’s what Japanese animated films are called). Unfortunately, taking photos wasn’t allowed inside the museum, except on the green roof terrace, where a huge robot from the anime Laputa stands.

Afterwards, we travelled to the district of Odaiba, an artificial island in the south of Tōkyō. Here you can take a rather special photo, namely of the Statue of Liberty, the Rainbow Bridge and the Tōkyō Tower, which looks like the Eiffel Tower.

It was pretty exciting to be out on our own for the first time, but it worked out surprisingly well. Tomorrow we’re heading out with the group again, specifically to the Fuji National Park.