Day 3: Odaiba
Odaiba is a man-made island in Tokyo that was used as a fort to protect against attacks from the sea. Now it’s a popular entertainment and shopping district. We spent the day visiting the Oedo-Onsen-Monogatari (a hot spring resort) and Joypolis (an indoor amusement park), then returned back to Akihabara for a late-night dinner at Japanese Denny’s.
But first we get lost and find the Sony Building
The website for the Onsen stated that there was a direct shuttle somewhere near Odaiba Station that would take us directly there. We had some difficulty finding the shuttle and had to ask kind strangers for directions. On our way there we also found the Sony Building.
The shuttle schedule said it was a 45 minute wait. So we ended up taking an Uber to the Onsen instead. (Yes they have Uber in Japan!)
Oedo-Onsen-Monogatari
The Onsen was pretty damn cool. You store away your shoes in lockers and pick out a Yukata to wear. For the rest of the experience you go barefoot. You enter locker rooms where you change into the Yukata yourself (there are signs that instruct you on how to wear one). Outside they have the Ashi-Yu (Foot Bath) and public bath houses which are separated by gender. Inside they have games, restaurants, and other massage services that you can purchase. They don’t allow entry to anyone with tattoos (which is a common policy in Japan).
The Ashiyu (Foot Bath)
We decided to try the foot bath first. Apparently, walking on a path of tiny rocks underwater hurts much more than you’d think. Walking the foot bath was just pain. Not painful. Just pain. I can kinda see how it was supposed to be ‘relaxing’. Like maybe if I did it everyday, and there were less people, and if I could walk super slowly, and the soles of my feet hardened up. Other than that…it was a cool experience. But it was less of a foot massage and more just straight-up pain. We walked the entire path.
The Skin-Eating Fish Bath
At the end of the Foot Bath was a Fish Bath, also known as a Fish Foot Spa or Fish Therapy. For $10/person we got to have Garra Rufa, or “doctor fish”, eat away the dead skin of our feet (which seemed like a fantastic idea after walking the foot bath). After all the pain I endured from the foot bath, the only thing I could feel was a sweet tickling sensation from the fishies which I enjoyed very much. Kevin on the other-hand freaked out a little.
“It felt like tiny bubbles.”- Kevin
Foot Massage
Despite the fact that I was already experiencing foot pain even before walking on rocks and letting fish eat them, I had the bright idea of putting further strain on my feet by wanting to get a foot massage. Now the foot massage itself was pretty fantastic — the best foot massage I’ve ever received. The mistake would come a few hours later when all the strain that I had voluntarily put on my feet decided to scream at me for the rest of the night.
Indoors
After our foot adventures, we explored a little inside the Onsen. They had many stores, games, and restaurants inside. We played Taiko Master a couple of times and shopped around. My feet where aching so much that I needed to sit down every 30 minutes. Around 4pm, we had the choice to return to Akihabara or explore more of Odaiba. We wanted to make the most of our trip. So despite the rain and the pain, we headed for Joypolis.
Joypolis
We took the bus from the Onsen to Joypolis, an indoor amusement park with many Sega-based rides. Memorable games/rides included:
- Gekion Live Coaster — a weird mix of a Sonic roller coaster and a rhythm game
- Tower Tag — a multiplayer VR shooter where we went 12–0 (Kevin scored 11 of the 12 points)
- Transformers: Human Alliance Special — a shooter that rotates 360 as you shoot
- Storm G — a game where you have to sync your attacks with your partner as you do 360 rotations
There was also a Resident Evil ride called Biohazard which was a horror walkthrough ride. We passed it though because my feet were too weak to walk. Overall, we were surprised at how VR and motion-focused the rides were. Definitely different from the rides back here in a more tech-embracing way.
Denny’s
We got back to Akihabara around 11pm and we hadn’t eaten dinner. Our hotel had a Denny’s upstairs (which also opened 24/7) so we decided to eat there after showering. And yes, Japanese Denny’s and it is much much better than American Denny’s by far. We crashed after dinner.
