Odaiba

We went to Odaiba, Tokyo today.

The train to Odaiba is fun because it’s driverless and it goes over “Rainbow Bridge”, but we went there by car today.

It had been awhile since our last visit to Odaiba. Kinda surprising how many more foreign tourists were there this time! I guess Tokyo tourist guidebooks feature Odaiba more prominently now.

Anyways, here are photo I took:

We ate たこ焼き (grilled octopus) for lunch.

The “lifesize” Gundam robot.

France gave Japan a 自由の女神 (Statue of Liberty) too.

Sunset over Tokyo Bay, Rainbow Bridge and 自由の女神 (Statue of Liberty)

I like 「台場一丁目商店街」 (Odaiba Retro Shopping Street), designed like post-WW2 Japan.

The “Odaiba Takoyaki (Griled Octopus) Museum”

In the evening, the lifesize Gundam robot is lit-up and moves a bit.

Gundam Pepsi

In Japan, Pepsi-Cola offers many different flavors and other campaigns.
Click here to look at all of the different posts I’ve written about the various flavors and other gimmicks Pepsi has offered in Japan.

And Gundam is popular in Japan. There is a life-size Gundam robot, Gundam cafe, Gundam cell-phones and many other Gundam-related campaigns in Japan.
Click here to see the posts I’ve written related to Gundam.

Of course, Gundam and Pepsi have teamed up.
Click here to see a post I’ve written about it.

Well, they’ve teamed up again.

Currently Pepsi-Cola in Japan is selling their cola in cans decorated with Gundam characters.

Here are the cans:

Happy birthday, Mr. Gundam

Do you know 富野由悠季 (Yoshiyuki Tomino)?

If you’re a big fan of the Japanese anime series “Gundam” you might know who he is…because he’s the creator of the Gundam series.

Today (2011 November 5) is Mr. Tomino’s 70th birthday. He was born on 1941 November 5 in 神奈川県 (Kanagawa Prefecture), just south of Tokyo.

I wrote a post with photos I took of the “lifesize” Gundam robot when it was in Tokyo (click here to read it).
Actually, I’ve written a number of Gundam-related posts.

Have you ever watched Gundam? Are you a “fan”?

Pepsi manga bottles

In Japan, Pepsi-Cola often teams with the Japanese company Be@rbrick and give away cell-phone straps of bears modeled after famous characters with purchases of their “Pepsi-NEX Zero Cola”.

In the past they have offered Be@rbrick bears modeled after Paramount movie characters, and Star Wars characters.

Be@rbrick has also offered in Japan figures modeled after the rock band KISS and MOS Burger staff.  (MOS Burger is a Japanese fast-food chain).

Well, Pepsi Japan has currently teamed up with Be@rbrick again.
For a limited time, they are giving away cell-phone straps of Be@rbrick bears in the image of Gundam with purchases of Pepsi NEX Zero Cola.

(Since the 30th anniversary of Gundam in 2009, there have been a number of Gundam tie-ins…such as the Gundam cell-phone.)

Another limited time only campaign that Pepsi Japan is currently offering is specially designed bottles of Pepsi NEX Cola with the “One Piece” manga characters on the label.

This is to help promote the new One Piece 3-D animated movie titled 「麦わらチェイス」 (“Sugiwara Chase”).

There are five different labels available.

(There was a “One Piece” campaign in Japan about thirteen months ago for the previous “One Piece” movie titled “Strong World”).

Is Gundam popular in your country? How about “One Piece“?
Does Pepsi sell “NEX Zero” cola where you live? Do you like it?

Yamato and Gundam

A live-action movie version of the Japanese anime 「宇宙戦艦ヤマト」 (“Space Battleship Yamato“) has recently hit the movie theaters in Japan.

It stars Japanese sex-symbols Takuya Kimura and Meisa Kuroki (whom I wrote about in this post).

Japanese movies usually have theme songs by Japanese artists but this movie’s theme song is titled “Love Lives” and is performed by Steven Tyler (lead vocalist of the American rock band “Aerosmith“).

Here’s the official trailer which features a bit of the song:

And here’s the entire song:

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Last year I wrote a post about “Cup Noodle” in Japan giving away miniature Gundam figures with purchase of their instant ramen.

Well, Nissin Cup Noodle has teamed up with Gundam again.
In Japan you can buy a special, limited-time-only Cup Noodle that comes with a plastic reusable “Gundam” ramen cup.

The package of the Cup Noodle with the Gundam cup

The Gundam cup and the package of ramen noodles

Gundam Phone

If you’re a fan of 「ガンダム」 (“Gundam“), there has been many things in Tokyo that you would love…the “life size” Gundam robot, the smallest Gundam, the Gundam Cafe, and now a 「ガンプラケータイ」 (“Gunpla Cell-phone”).

This phone is made by the Japanese electronics maker “Sharp” for the Japanese cellular phone company “Softbank“.
The phone is to commemorate the 30th anniversary of 「ガンプラ」 (“Gunpla”), which stand for “Gundam plastic models“.
This new Gundam cell-phone comes decorated with decals and parts similar to a Gundam robot, Gundam inspired applications, a unique charger and a plastic model of a Gundam robot.

I won’t be buying this phone…I’m not much of a Gundam fan, and my cell-phone is kinda old but it still works so I’m not in the market for a new one.
Anyways, it’s a Softbank phone…I use Japan’s biggest cell-phone service provider—DoCoMo.

How about you? Would you buy this? What type of cell-phone do you have now?

Gundam Cafe

Last summer I wrote a post about the “life-size” 「ガンダム」 (Gundam) robot that was in Tokyo.

A photo I took last summer of the giant Gundam.

Well, yesterday the “Akihabara Gundam Cafe & Bar” (also called simply 「ガンダムカフェ」 (Gundam Cafe)) opened in the Akihabara area of Tokyo.

"Gundam Cafe" logo

This cafe / bar is near the 「電気街口」 (“Electric Town” exit) of 秋葉原駅 (Akihabara train station).

It’s called a “cafe and bar” because from 8:30AM – 5:00PM it’s a cafe with lunch meals and coffee on the menu, and then from 5:00PM til closing it becomes a bar and serves dinner and alcohol.

They also sell souvenirs such as Gundam Coffee, Gundam ashtrays, Gundam coasters, せんべい (rice crackers),　ガンダム人形焼き (Gundam “Ningyou-yaki” (which is a traditional Japanese snack)) and 「ガンプラ焼き」 (“Gunpla-yaki” (which is a たい焼き (traditional Japanese bean-filled snack) in the shape of a Gundam robot)…

「ガンプラ焼き」 ("Gunpla-yaki")

Smallest Gundam

In Tokyo right now, until the end of August, is the biggest Gundam robot ever made.
I wrote a post about it (Click here to see it).

Well, from 2009年8月31日(月) ～ 2009年11月30日(月) (Monday, August 31 – Monday, November 30 (2009)), 日清カップ・ヌードル (Nissin Cup Noodles) will give away the smallest Gundam figures ever made.

Just like the giant 18 meter tall Gundam robot in お台場 (Odaiba, Tokyo), these figures that come in the top of the noodle package are in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of Gundam‘s debut.

The Gundam figures

Only 1000 of this red and white figure will be made (making this one the most valuable):

Only 1000 of this figure will be available

鉄人２８号

I wrote a post on 15 June about the giant 18-meter (59-feet) tall Gundam robot in Tokyo (Click here to read it.).

But soon it won’t be the only 18-meter tall robot in Japan…in August, construction is set to begin in 神戸 (Kobe, Japan) on an 18-meter tall 「鉄人２８号」 (“Iron Man #28“).

The Gundam robot in Tokyo is temporary and will be removed next month (August 2009). But the 「鉄人２８号」 (“Iron Man #28“) statue is set to be completed in October 2009…and will remain there permanently.

The reason that this statue will be in 神戸 (Kobe) is because the creator of the 「鉄人２８号」 (“Iron Man #28“) manga, Mitsuteru Yokoyama, was born in 神戸 (Kobe) in 1934 and he died in 東京 (Tokyo) in 2004…so this statue is a tribute to him.

The story of 「鉄人２８号」 (“Iron Man #28“) is about a Japanese scientist who tries to make a giant robot to help Japan win World War 2. His first twenty-seven attempts weren’t successful…but the 28th one was. But by the time the scientist created the 28th Iron Man robot, Japan had already surrendered and the war was over. So he gave the 18-meter robot to his son, who used it as a crime-fighting robot.

The 「鉄人２８号」 (“Iron Man #28“) manga debuted in 1956 and some people say that the American comic book character “Iron Man“, which debuted in 1963 was an uncredited copy of the Japanese character.

ガンダム

Today, my wife and I went to お台場 (Odaiba, Tokyo).

お台場 (Odaiba) is a man-made island in Tokyo Bay that is most famous for the beautiful view that it offers of Tokyo’s skyline, the driverless train that connects the island to the downtown Tokyo, the shopping centers, the ferris wheel, the unique Fuji TV‘s headquarters, and the 自由の女神像 (Statue Of Liberty) there.

Fuji TV head-quarters

「自由の女神像」 (Statue Of Liberty) at Odaiba

Also, in お台場 (Odaiba) is the “Himiko” Tokyo Cruise boat that looks like a spaceship.
It was designed by the famous anime artist 松本零士 (Leiji Matsumoto).

"Himiko" Waterbus ship

My wife and I bought some 持ち帰り (take-out) 牛丼 (rice and beef) from the “Yoshinoya” Japanese ‘fast-food’ restaurant and a couple beers from a convenience store and had lunch near the “Himiko” ship.

From there, we went to the nearby 潮風公園 (Shiokaze Park).
This park is popular for family barbeques (BBQ). You don’t even need to bring anything to have a BBQ there…you can rent everything you need: utensils, plates, charcoal*, and even the food* (*the charcoal and food are sold…not rented, of course).

The reason that we went to this park today was because they have displayed an “actual size” 「ガンダム」 (Gundam) robot! It stands 18 meters (59 feet) high!

This 「ガンダム」 (Gundam) robot is on display in Odaiba until August 31 in honor of the 「ガンダム」 (Gundam) anime series’ 30th anniversary. (The anime debuted in 1979).

When we went there today they were still working on the “actual-size” robot, but it looked about finished.

Here are some of the photos I took:

Also, last year at 上井草駅 (Kami-Igusa train station) in Tokyo (not far from 新宿 (Shinjuku, Tokyo). there is a brass statue about three meters tall of the same 「ガンダム」 (Gundam) robot.

The reason this statue was built there is because the anime studio that draws 「ガンダム」 (Gundam) has their headquarters there in 上井草 (Kami-Igusa).

「ガンダム」 ("Gundam") statue in front of 上井草駅 (Kami-Igusa Stn).