“Even if it’s a light that can never be caught.”

I’d heard the ferris wheel in Palette Town is due to be torn down next year, so I made my next goal to ride it while I still could. I planned ahead this time, to get there one a day when the weather was fine.

The train out to it on the Yurikamome is a ride in itself, being high up so you get an interesting angle on the buildings. It’s driver-less, controlled by computers, so passengers can sit directly in front or in back. And the stop announcements were recorded by voice actors.

I liked this ferris wheel a lot – the brighly colored, round buckets, there isn’t a recorded vocal guide so I could enjoy being up that high in silence, and there are open grates so I could feel the impressive breeze.

That pointy thing is called the “Teleport Bridge” and yet I still had to walk across it:

The glass box sticking up is the upper part of the Toyota City showcase, with stacks upon stacks of cars available for test-driving: 

The train and a boat departing at the same time:

Odaiba is a man-made island originally built to hold cannons as defense against Perry’s Black Ships. How many islands are perfectly rectangular, after all?

I didn’t care for this building from the ground, but at a certain angle on the rotation you can see both the sparkle from the water in the glass and the reflection from the window in the water, and it’s actually quite pretty:

Around the wheel are all sorts of expensive and high-tech shopping. So I was surprised to find in the middle:

a slightly out of place farmer’s market:

Aww, who wouldn’t want to test drive this? 

Venus Fort, a shopping mall, is known for a painted ceiling which fades into sunset every half-hour. I was disappointed that it just got darker, there were no colors:

It wasn’t a place I was going to spend any money, but there was a young band performing who were endearingly enthusiastic, all smiles even as their set went over-time. According to the flyer, they’re called Centirental.

Then I waited outside for the real sunset.

The lighted-up wheel was pretty, but occasionally it went from a pattern to an attempt to spell out words, both in katakana and English letters, all indecipherable. 

So there’s that. I’d recommend visiting while you have the chance.

"On and on - does anybody know what we are living for?"

I dated someone once who loved roller coasters, and I was usually willing to go along for the ride. It's like eating pineapple - one of those experiences that seems like a much better idea before than when I'm actually doing it. When I'm safe on the ground, it looks like a great way to get a thrill without actually putting my life in danger. Once I'm in motion, however, especially at that moment just at the peak before the car falls over the edge, it seems like the most ridiculously dangerous decision ever.

Ferris Wheels are more to my tastes, though logically, there's probably just as much chance for a technical disaster on either. But on a Ferris Wheel I can at least pretend that I'm totally safe while still enjoying the thrill of being Really High Up - best of both worlds. I can arrive back at the platform without my hair mussed by the wind or my throat raw from screaming - it's a civilized adventure. And when I'm up there I can see a view of the city that I couldn't anywhere else.

For these reasons and more, I'm on a mission to ride the big wheels of Japan. At the start of this year, I hit the Tempozan in Osaka. This weekend, I finally got to the Cosmo Clock 21 in Yokohama (also 112.5 meters tall). Unfortunately, I picked a dismal day to do it, so I couldn't see any of the landmarks the recorded guide was talking about.

See what I mean about seeing the city from an angle you wouldn't otherwise? How else would I know there was a miniature golf field on top of that building -

Or a place where you could soak your feet in a stream while dressed in a yukata on top of this one -

Brought abruptly back to earth - as I disembarked I saw an older man and a high school girl in uniform boarding another car, the first time I've seen enjo kosai in action (or at least noticed it). It's possible they were related, but...

"'O what was that bird,' said horror to hearer."

On New Year's morning, I went up in Tempozan, one of the largest Ferris Wheels in Japan at 112.5 meters.

It's next to Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan, so I went there.

The One-Legged Duck, unable to swim in a straight line:

Very Large Fish:

and Very Small Children:

Someone needs to clean out this tank:

"Wh-what are you guys all staring at?"

Check out the fish getting a free ride.

Out front they had a parade of penguins: