Odaiba
The Entertainment Island in Tokyo Bay
Odaiba is an artificial island in Tokyo Bay, in the south-east of the capital center. It is mainly home to offices and shopping centers and spreads on a polder built as soon as 1853. Odaiba is also an urban resort and the ideal place for an entertaining weekend with family or friends.
Odaiba includes three areas named Daiba, Ariake and Aomi, under the supervision of Minato and Koto wards.
The origins of this artificial land date back to the end of the Edo period (1603 – 1868), under the Tokugawa shogunate. Western powers pressured Japan to engage into trade relationships but the feudal government did not want to end its isolationist policy called sakoku. In 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry called in the capital’s port and required Ieyoshi Tokugawa to open the country’s borders. Without clear answer from the shogun, he promised to come back. Ieyoshi then decided to bolster the bay’s defenses to avoid an invasion and had several small artificial islands built and armed with canons. At the times, Commodore Perry did not get past Uraga port, located in Yokosuka at the entrance of Tokyo Bay.
An artificial island dedicated to entertainment
The concrete peninsula became famous in the 1980s, when it started to develop at the economic level. Its main attractions are:
- Tokyo Big Sight, an international exhibition hall,
- Fuji 🗻 TV headquarters, whose building shelters an observatory on Tokyo Bay,
- Museums: Miraikan, Small Worlds, Unko Museum, etc.,
- Large arcade games such as Sega's Tokyo Joypolis, or the Panasonic Showroom (closed in 2024).
The stroll from one large shopping mall to another (Aqua-city, Decks, DiverCity) is pleasant, as well as its small beach 🏖, that can boast a humble replica of the Statue of Liberty.
Odaiba fixtures that are now closed
- At the end of summer 2022, entertainment venue Palette Town definitely closed down. It included facilities such as the great Ferris wheel Daikanransha, Venus Fort shopping mall, Toyota Mega Web (City Showcase, History Garage and Ride Studio)
- The teamLab Borderless Museum was relocated in 2023 from Odaiba to the newly built Azabudai Hills complex, in the Tokyo Tower’s area. A new open-air teamLab complex is set to open in the seaside district of Ariake in 2032.
- The giant Gundam robot standing in front of DiverCity Tokyo Plaza, one of the most popular view of Odaiba since April 2011, was dismantled at the end of summer 2026.
It is easy to spend a whole day in Odaiba, especially on weekends or holidays, when families come to spent time with their young children and / or do some shopping.
The Rainbow Bridge between Tokyo and Odaiba
Many travelers go to Odaiba with the Yurikamome monorail 🚝 Line that runs on the bottom platform of the famous Rainbow Bridge. If you get to the front of the train 🚅 (which has no driver), you can enjoy the view all along the ride.
The Yurikamome Line is operated by a private railway company (not compatible with the JR network) and connects in about 30 minutes its two terminuses, Shimbashi and Toyosu. Of its 16 stations, Odaiba-Kaihinkoen, Telecom Center and Aomi serve the main attractions of Odaiba.
The Rinkai train line goes through Shinagawa in the south of Tokyo and crosses part of Odaiba to the Shin-Kiba station, in Koto ward.
Odaiba is also accessible by boat, cruising on the Sumida River, with departures from Asakusa.