ODAIBA ISLAND, Introduction

Hi, my name’s Rick, and I’m your personal guide. Along with MyWoWo, I’d like to welcome you to one of the Wonders of the World: Odaiba.

Odaiba, the large artificial island connected to Tokyo by the Rainbow Bridge, was built in 1853 as a series of 6 fortresses to protect Tokyo from attacks from the sea. The term “Daiba” in Japanese refers to the cannon batteries placed on the islands; only the third one remains today, restored and opened to the public in 1928.

Odaiba was chosen as the futuristic showcase of the International Exposition held in Tsukuba in 1985, and over ten billion dollars was invested in the redevelopment of the island. Unfortunately, following the major economic crisis that began in 1991, by 1995 Odaiba had become an underpopulated wasteland, full of abandoned buildings....