Location: Odaiba / Shiodome / Shinbashi
Top Things to do in Odaiba / Shiodome / Shinbashi
What to do and see in Odaiba / Shiodome / Shinbashi, Kanto: The Best Museums
Tradition collides with pop culture in Tokyo, where you can reverently wander ancient temples before rocking out at a karaoke bar. Wake up before the sun to catch the lively fish auction at the Tsukiji Market, then refresh with a walk beneath the cherry blossom trees that line the Sumida River. Spend some time in the beautiful East Gardens of the Imperial Palace, then brush up on your Japanese history at the Edo-Tokyo Museum. Don’t forget to eat as much sushi, udon noodles, and wagashi (Japanese sweets) as your belly can handle.
Restaurants in Tokyo
1. Kawasaki Robostage
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 21 reviews
"Kawasaki Robostage" aims to propose new forms of human–robot coexistence and collaboration towards the coming robot society. The showroom targets both the companies considering utilizing robots as well as the general public. Anyone can come to see,experience the marvels of robots and deepen their understanding of robotics. *Opening Hours* Tue, Wed & Fri 13:00~18:00 Sat, Sun & national holidays 10:00~18:00 *Closed* Mon & Thu *Open if a national holiday We will have irregular operating hours due to maintenance and exhibition renewal.
Reviewed By badmintontim - Hastings, United Kingdom
This is not so easy to find but is a great place to visit as it is interactive and fun for all ages - do go in as even though a lot of the outside is in Japanese, it is free to enter and one can interact with the robots that are generally used for other tasks in the real world, such as car manufacture or medicines and travel in a VR reality as well! The staff are really friendly and we came away with portraits drawn by a robot as well - all free of charge! Definitely recommended Enjoy
2. Gallery 916
3. teamLab Borderless
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,324 reviews
teamLab Borderless is a group of artworks that form one borderless world. Artworks move out of the rooms freely, form connections and relationships with people, communicate with other works, influence and sometimes intermingle with each other. Create new experiences with others, immerse yourself in borderless art, and explore the world with your body. In a vast complex, three-dimensional 10,000 square meter space, 520 computers and 470 projectors create a completely new world, the likes of which have never been seen before. Closed day: June 22nd, 25th, July 9th, 23rd, August 10th, 27th.
Reviewed By DouglasA587
teamLab Borderless (The Odaiba Edition of teamLab), was our first experience of this kind of interactive digital light and sound exhibit. We've visited our fair share of classical, modern and interactive galleries. But this was something quite different, as evidenced by the throngs off people waiting to get in at 10am (opening time), and the queues 10 deep, 50m back outside the door when we left at 1pm. Other reviews and their own website give you the general sense of what's happening: clever use of light and sound in a dark space, some of them with interactive, and even physical elements (like climbing through the 3 dimensional bouldering wall). But that doesn't capture the magic of being there in the dark, wondering what new and beautiful creature is about to come dancing around the corner. There's mo map and genuinely a surprise around every corner. We went around and around to make sure we left no nook undiscovered. Although initially you feel lost and perhaps a little overwhelmed, after a while the layout starts to make sense. For all that, we couldn't visit one of the most famous rooms, with the lanterns, because by the time we got to it, there was an additional 1 hour queue that we decided was too much on top of 3 hours already spent. I do recommend pre-booking online and turning up at opening time, or even 15 minutes before so you're in ASAP when it's as empty as possible. There are coin operated lockers, and luggage locks, so dump your stuff. Having bags around is a drag. Even though you'll be captivated from the first large open area, do head straight to the Lantern room, and consider doing the upstairs section early because it has more elements to queue for. Young (and old) kids will also get more of a blast upstairs where everything is interactive and designed more for the younger (although me and my wife did our crayon drawing that got turned into a digital life-form that we happily chased around the floor). Also take advantage of the En Tea House early, which is located on the upper floor. This isn't not your ordinary Japanese tea experience and is really a full exhibit in its own right. Don't just take the tea, but take the ice cream set. Hint: the tea and the ice cream behave differently. We pre-booked and arrived at opening time on a Christmas Sunday (Dec 21) and the queue was already full but they were selling tickets at the door. They only sell a certain volume off tickets for the day, and when we left at 1pm, they were selling tickets that could only be used from 3pm. Despite the crowd control, it was quite busy inside, although the area is larger than I thought, so it easily swallows several thousand people I would think. Many people say they took one or two hours. We were there 3, and I think we could have stayed longer just to soak up the ambience. It's easily accessible from the Tokyo Teleport station, or the Aomi station. Both are on private lines, so you need an IC card or special ticket, since they are neither JR nor Metro. TeamLab also have a similar exhibit in Shanghai and another "Planets" exhibit in Tokyo which we didn't go to, but looks more for kids.
4. Mori Building Digital Art Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 12 reviews
Reviewed By JulesAmsterdam - Toronto, Canada
A must see in Tokyo! Really cool experience and great for all ages!! Be sure to buy your tickets well in advance.
5. Japan Sake and Shochu Information Center
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 39 reviews
A small musium in the center of Tokyo to experience national beverage of Japan "Sake and Shochu." JSS Information Center is run by Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association which includes most of the breweries all over Japan as its members. Information about sake and shochu making and how to enjoy them are available through videos and panphlets. Also, well trained stuffs are ready to answer your questions. We always have about 100 items of various types of sake and shochu for you to taste and buy from all over Japan. The menu changes once in about 3 weeks, so every time you visit the place, you will find all new products and enjoy tasting it at very reasonable price. If you are interested in Japanese food culture and history, this is a nice place to spend about 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Reviewed By DragonPrincess - Melbourne, Australia
Although I have drunk both, I have no knowledge of sake or shochu so planned to start our trip in Tokyo here to learn about the intricacies of both drinks. The girls are very friendly and were tolerant of all my questions. I had not idea that there was such a variety of styles of sake. There are 120 sakes that could be tasted here and I had no idea what to try, but the girls worked out what I would like and recommended some of the lighter and fruitier styles for me to try. My partner had different flavours to try. We sat at one of the tables and read the pamphlets provided and tasted and studied the drinks. I found it really interesting and would highly recommend people to visit this place. Although there were tourists there, there was also a few locals just sitting having a few drinks.
6. Tokyo Port Museum
7. The Okura Shukokan Museum of Fine Arts
8. National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation Miraikan
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 1,080 reviews
Reviewed By HenknAnnie - Brisbane, Australia
Located in Miraikan, 2 Chome-3-6 Aomi, Koto City, Tokyo, Japan on what appears to be reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay is this amazing museum and research centre covering 7 levels of working and static displays of technology and innovation. Entering on level 6 the first thing one sees is a real rocket engine (with the bonnet off), three generations of super high frequency receivers, a massive photo multiplier arrangement (you can walk through it) studying Neutrinos (A neutrino is a subatomic particle that is very similar to an electron, but has no electrical charge and a very small mass). There is a model of a bathyscape like submarine and a full size model of the Space station that you can walk through and see all the amenities within.. Further down the hall is a large earth sphere with thousands of little TV screens; the view is what the space station “sees” in real time and it changes as the space station circles the earth. There is a circular walkway around the earth sphere so you can “simulate” yourself as being the space station. On another floor there are the robotics displays; from a human robot (a fully clothed one disguised as a Geisha) to little autonomous single person ride-on vehicles. Another area has a medical operating theatre with remote mechanical arms and a TV screen showing the efforts being made. The kids have a great time trying to break the (artificial) vein in the grip of the robotic pliers. One of the most significant finds is actually outside the museum; it is a Cosmic Yakusugi cedar tree, one of five to survive from 2000 seeds germinated on the space station by a Japanese astronaut and donated to the museum. One thing to remember; when purchasing entry tickets, they cover only the permanent exhibition. There was a special exhibition on Woolly Mammoths which required a separate ticket, so if you go, remember to ask if there are any other tickets required for special exhibitions.
9. Weather Science Museum
10. Advertising Museum Tokyo
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 59 reviews
Reviewed By sandwich7
I loved this museum. Very interesting exhibits on advertising in Japan, right from back in the Edo era, in a very modern and well designed museum with plenty of interactive exhibits. I especially enjoyed the 'interviews' with the advertising gurus of old Japan. Almost everything seemed to have an English translation. Then they had this wonderful exhibition of all the entries in an advertising design competition - this was extremely well put together - and I found myself sitting for a little while to watch some of the adverts! You can also vote for your favourite if it takes your fancy. The staff were extremely helpful. A few times somebody appeared out of nowhere and randomly pointed something interesting out to me, which I really appreciated a lot. The whole place is not very big but I spent probably just over an hour going round as there's a lot to look at. This place is very hard to find is the main issue. If you head to the Shiodome shopping centre (which is itself not that easy to spot from street level!) and then go down to the bottom floor, you will find the museum alongside all the nondescript shops. Despite at no point until you're very close to it seeing any evidence whatsoever that it's going to be down there... do not be discouraged, but keep walking! It's worth it, and also it's open until 6pm so it's a nice way to spend the end of an afternoon.
