Kasai Rinkai Koen

Summer's been raging on with furious Tokyo heat and most of my friends have undertaken various trips outside of the country. I really had no excuse not to check out Kasai Rinkai Park, located a 10 minutes train ride away from my mighty apartment of Hermit Fortress.

 Actually, the park is also one station down from Disneyland, which unfortunately kind of puts it in its shadow. Lots of people actually haven't heard of this place, despite it being, you may quote me on this, probably the best park I've been to in Japan. It's actually pretty awesome. (And yes, if you put 2 an 2 together, I live 12 minutes away from Disneyland. Surprise! And I still haven't gone yet.)
 There's enough here for you to spend the day. Complete with an aquarium, a birdwatching area and a giant Ferris wheel, the park really has a little something for everyone, be it couples, families, or the odd guy who'll do it solo-dolo.
 I didn't go into the aquarium, which apparently features tuna a lot. I guess that'll come in handy when the species go extinct from over-fishing and they have the last 10 or so. They can then sell them to a rich Japanese guy for loads.

How awesomely scenic!

Personally, the birdwatching area really took me. Surrounding a vast marsh, the area is protected by wooden enclosures through which people can look. Some of the birds will actually come pretty close! There's a whole variety as indicated by the various signboards adorning the place, but it's a bit of a sport for the patient man, which I only rarely am. Still, in the 40 minutes or so I spent, I did manage to catch sight of a few bird-things here and there. (No really, I don't know what's what. Anyone care to help me identify the thing on the left?)

The view from the Diamond and Flower Ferris wheel

 The Ferris wheel, named the Diamond and Flower Ferris wheel after its decorative illuminations, was the world's second tallest at the time of its construction in 2001 (it's still 10th now and the current tallest in Japan) and provides a good view of the surrounding area - including the Disney resorts. From what I gather, you can also see Mount Fuji on a clear day, but I had no such luck. Its whole rotation takes 17 minutes, which is advertised as "maximum kiss time." That's pretty cheeky.



And that was my tour of Kasai Rinkai Koen! Go there! It's nice!