I took off on a train in the morning for the 250 miles back to Tokyo from Hiraizumi. I realized there were still a lot of things I still haven’t seen here, so I have to turn up the pace. It was afternoon by the time I checked into my hotel (Hotel Juyoh again). I headed to the Odaiba area of Tokyo. I took the Yurikamome Line which runs really high up in the air giving some good views of the city. The train goes over Rainbow Bridge and arrives in maybe the most futuristic area of Tokyo. I should note it takes about an hour to get anywhere in Tokyo since it is such a large city and everything is spread out in different districts. So it means I can only see so much per day.
First stop was the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (also called Miraikan). The first thing I noticed when arriving, the staff directs you to ticket machines. Then to gain entry to an area, you scan your ticket to go through a gate on each floor. Inside, there’s lots of robots, a mechanical representation of the Internet (with tubes!), some cool International Space Station equipment, and anything else cutting edge. I missed the demonstration of the Honda Asimo robot though. Too bad I didn’t have much time here.
Next was a walk over to Toyota Megaweb. Free entry inside. They have a showroom of cars, some cool Hybrid engine cutaways, and some concept vehicles. I was able to ride in an autonomous driven car for about $2. They have a track that curves around inside and outside the building with magnets embedded in the concrete. Similar to what I worked on in the University, but surprising here in Japan they have so much confidence they will let you go in one alone! You get it, press the Start button, and the steering wheel starts turning by itself and the car navigates the track.
I walked around the area some more. I noticed in one of the malls a robot or something just moving down the hall. Not really sure what it was doing, but "Only in Japan!"