A Day at Sega Joypolis

It's Summer break, meaning the high school and students have come pouring out of the floodgates and into the theme parks. What with the Tokyo heat, waiting in a long line under the beating sun couldn't be any harder at the moment. But thankfully, there is a decent alternative to those who want a theme park experience away from crowds and the heat.
 Joypolis, in Odaiba, is an indoor theme park run by the video game manufacturer, Sega. Now, indoor theme parks in general are decidedly a lot less thrilling that their outdoor competitors, but after reading a few good reviews about the place, I decided to make the trip and have a look at it for myself.

These guys were a big part of my college days!

Granted, Sega doesn't have a brand as powerful as Disney's, but they do have a few recognizable characters, so at least they aren't starting from ground zero. Though Joypolis is far from being meant for gamers like myself, quite a few of their iconic franchises do have an attraction or two based on them. Fans of Sonic the Hedgehog, House of the Dead, and Ace Attorney, for example, might be happy to find such attractions, and merchandise geared to their fans.

 Although the Sega brand doesn't leverage as much power as it used to back in the days, in Japan, they still run arcades, which makes them a pretty penny. As such, though, many of the attractions and rides at Joypolis are very arcade-game like, and no doubt some of them are simply improved versions of existing games. Fortunately, this actually happens to work quite well for them.

A racing game in Joypolis

For example, rather than giving you nothing but a steering wheel and a pedal, one of the racing games at Joypolis gives you the whole damn car. So as you're looking into the screen and racing opponents, you actually feel the impact of every crash, and are jolted by sharp turns and sudden stops. It makes for quite an immersive experience. This is actually Joypolis's bread and butter: seeing as the theme park is all indoor, these rides are actually really clever in their usage of space. There are other variants to this formula of course: one similar racing game put me behind the controls of a flying vehicle. Every time I did a barrel roll, the actual machine I was sitting in would rotate and spin me upside down. Let's just say I wouldn't recommend eating heavy meals prior to testing such rides.

Not that all of the rides in Joypolis are a rehash of this formula though. One of the rides I walked into had a similar premise at first, having me sit down in a cart with gun-controls and shoot through hordes of zombies, but with an unexpected twist. Imagine my surprise when the cart was launched out of its tunnel and went barreling through the inside of the theme park, corkscrewing across a set of rails. Somehow, I didn't even notice when I had walked in that the ride was a miniature roller coaster.
 Another of Joypolis's stronger attractions is Half-Pipe Tokyo, where riders are placed on a platform that moves back and forth on a set of U-shaped railings. There's a surprisingly good combination of height and speed, but on top of all that, the riders have a pedal underfoot which allows them to make their platform spin in circles if pressed at the right time. The amount of spins is tallied up and counted and measured against other riders, so there's a little bit of competition and challenge involved in the experience as well.

All in all, I think where Joypolis lacked in gigantic roller coasters and enormous haunted houses, it made up for by allowing visitors a unique experience where they chose how much they were spun or thrown around or flipped upside down. And though the concept of pressing a button and having something happen is very familiar for someone who plays video games, I felt like the theme park did a good job of making such attractions approachable and friendly for just about everyone, from hardcore gamer to average high school girl.

 You'll be pleased to know that the admission price is just a little above half that of one of the bigger theme parks like Tokyo Disney or Fuji-Q Highland, so hey, it's an easy recipe for a good time.

Plus, Odaiba's a pretty cool place to hang out in general!

Oedo Onsen - Relaxation Theme Park

 When you think "Theme Park", surely the word "relaxation" doesn't come to mind. I mean, unless you let off steam by sitting in a roller coaster. I respect that too. But of course, if there were such a thing as a theme park based on the idea of having a relaxing time, then you could probably find it in Japan, where there is a word for "death from over-working." It just so happens that the Oedo Onsen indoor theme park offers just that: a sweet escape for people hoping to get away from their routinely stresses. 

Bryan, Ty and I in our yukatas.

 After running a 7 year old boy's birthday party at the job, I was in need of just that, so I headed down with my workmates Ty and Bryan to have a look.
 Upon entering the theme park, each person is given a yukata (traditional Japanese clothing) as well as a bar code bracelet, making it so that people can make transactions without having to carry around a wallet, since the yukata is pocket-less. Wearing the yukata is actually quite comfortable, but it also serves a double purpose - with everyone walking around in traditional Japanese clothes, you do feel like you're taking a trip back in time.

The footbaths.

 The idea of an onsen in Tokyo is actually quite peculiar, given that hot springs are usually found some ways outside of the city. As you would have guessed by the name of the place, having an onsen is actually the main attraction of the theme park. This is made possible by pulling hot spring water from incredible depths. The result is actually quite authentic, even though these hot spring waters lack the natural benefits of some of the other "purer" springs, which are filled with minerals that do wonders for the skin and health in general. The full body baths don't allow for mixed bathing, but there is an exterior section to the theme park that has foot baths. Within those are small rounded stones you're meant to walk on to massage your feet. It's actually horribly painful. If you have a little extra money to spare, you can pay 1700¥ to get your feet suckled by little fish. That's practically the price of admission (2200¥) so we opted not.
 That aside, Oedo Onsen is full of food stalls selling a wide range of food, from ramen to fish on rice, as well as games of the kind you're likely to stumble upon in Japanese matsuri-type fares - catching goldfish with a paper net, pop-gun shooting galleries, etc. It all contributes to the atmosphere and make the place a viable option for a date, despite that the baths are separated like I stated above.

 For those who want to take their relaxation to the next level, the second floor of the indoor theme park is strictly dedicated to reclining chairs with televisions attached. The room is dimly lit. As you would expect, the sounds of people snoring fill the air the moment you enter the room.
 That about summarizes Oedo Onsen, really! I do reckon it's a great place to bring foreigners visiting Japan, or to go on a double-date alongside another couple. Or to just do what I did and go with a few friends of the same gender and let loose.

Tokyo Disneyland

Yesterday was my birthday, and, as it tends to happen, I turned a year older. Sweet. 
As it turns out I've been treated to a visit to Tokyo Disneyland!
It was a good time. And really, if you've been to a Disneyland outside of Tokyo, it's probably very similar, except with less Asian people walking around. The stores probably wouldn't sell Disney-themed chopsticks, either, I guess. But for all other intents and purposes, you would probably have had a very similar experience to the one I had if you went to the ones in California, Florida, Hong Kong or Paris. But I hadn't! I was a Disneyland virgin until just now. All things considered, that's kind of surprising, seeing as I live four train stations away from Disneyland.

You can't deny the castle's got quite an impact.

The obligatory picture.

 Japanese people living in Tokyo have all been to it at some point or another. Whenever I told people I had never went, it would kind of come to them as some sort of shock.
 Many teenagers and young adults make it part of a once a year thing to visit the resort. Tokyo being so big, the result of this is Disneyland being the 3rd most visited theme park in the world. You can kind of guess about the two first, right? I'll spare you the trouble, they're its sister parks in California and Florida.
 Just like its sister parks elsewhere in the world, Disneyland is split into different parts: World Bazaar (the equivalent of Main Street in the USA), Adventureland, Westernland, Critter Country, Fantasyland, Toontown, and Tomorrowland.
 As an added bonus, I was given a sticker to put on my coat saying it was my birthday, so that most of the staff I came across would say "Happy Birthday!" I tended to forget I was wearing it until I was reminded every twenty minutes or so. "Oh, thanks!" I would reply meekly. I could imagine how it would really make a big difference for a child.

The Incredibles!

Unlike many other big theme parks, the focus in Disneyland is on theme rather than thrills. For instance, I feel like you wouldn't give a shit encountering the mascot of Six Flags, but the Disney characters have a certain weight to them. See Donald Duck, standing right over there? Millions of people around the world would scream or do crazy things to stand beside him. Your heart kind of has the right to skip a beat at the sight of him, and the same goes for all the other characters, too. I was particularly cut off guard by the Storm Troopers. It took me a second to remember Disney owned them, too.

"It's my birthday too."

 I did get a chance to try lots of the main attractions, such as the all-in-the-dark roller coaster Space Mountain (130 minute line included), the very well-known It's A Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion amongst a few others, but it seems to me like the most exciting thing about Disneyland is just the joy of, well, being in Disneyland amongst a bunch of other people having a good time, and just basking in the overall general atmosphere.
 No where else do you get to see a bunch of young people wearing funny hats in pairs or in large groups. Woop, there go the Daisy Duck headband girls, and the potato-head boys over there, and the expectedly frequent Mickey-Minnie couple. It's not every day you get to see a hundred little girls dressed like princesses gathered in front of a fantasy castle. Looks like someone's childhood dreams are coming true.
Of course, I bought a hat too. Fantasia, hurray!

Share a highlight? Well, every evening around 7:30pm, Disneyland hosts the Electrical Parade, a 25-minute long parade with intensely illuminated floats. It was kind of cold, sitting down in one spot in the frigid night air, but I forgot all about it once the parade started. Every float carries its own character and matching music, and it's pretty amazing to see how well the actors play them. It's just genuinely fun to see who'll pop up next, and how ridiculously good-looking the actors and actresses are. Holy shit, Prince Charming.

After that, we were about to head home, when suddenly, fireworks.
That more or less concluded my visit to Tokyo Disneyland, and I'm glad I got the chance. I mean, I really wouldn't have been able to go alone. It'd have been quite lonely.

Oh, pro-tip: don't go on a weekend. I can't imagine how much worst the lines would've been. Probably very.
On a side note, if you're a very big fan of Disney, you may or may not already know that Tokyo is the only city in the world to have a DisneySea park on top of its Disneyland park. I haven't been there, but that's an adventure for another day, eh?

Lions and White Tigers and Bears

When I asked my brother what he wanted to do in Tokyo, his list was quite bare.

1. See the Daibutsu
2. Buy shoes
3. See a white tiger

 As it figures, and I only learned of this recently, there is a place a little out of Tokyo where they do hold a white tiger, and that happens to be Tobu Dobutsu Koen - Tobu Zoo. So, sure as hell, we went.

Now, see, the zoo itself actually doubles as a theme park and is located in quite a suburban zone. In spite of the first and due to the second, the park finds itself pretty damn empty on weekdays, asides from old couples and the odd family on vacation. I was actually surprised they kept the theme park running, and as I reckon, most people go in for the zoo.
 And shit, as it so turns out, the zoo is quite nice - it better be, for two and a half times the entry fee of Ueno Zoo, not to mention the long train ride.
 But the zoo is spacious, well kept, and heck, the animals seem a hell of a lot healthier. I don't see lions and bears on a regular basis, but now that I've been to both zoos, even a pedant like myself can tell that the ones in Tobu look hell of better nourished and generally less...stressed out? Than the ones in the big city zoo.

What I also thought was pretty cool was the interactive exhibits one could just walk into a mingle with the animals in. Of course, they don't have these for tigers or elephants or crazy animals like that, but they did do it for the squirrel monkeys and kangaroos. Now if you're Australian, that ain't a thing because you have the damn beasts jumping around your backyard any way, but I've never touched a kangaroo before. They're fuzzy. And they're pretty ugly up close.

And of course, the star of the exhibit, much like Ueno has its pandas, was the white tiger we came for. Almost as interesting as the beast itself was the swarm of middle-aged women around the enclosure. We did come at the right time, though, seeing as the tiger had just recently produced four cubs and we got to see them wrestle and nestle with each other. No doubt it won't be too long before those are sold to some other zoo in another country, so the time was ripe indeed and it was satisfying for the eye.

Tokyo Dome City

Hail to you, champion.

That rubber banana was my birthday present.

Today we briefly pulled into Tokyo Dome City, in part to celebrate Julian's 26th birthday. Twenty six! And he still has a face like a baby.
 As far as theme parks go, Tokyo Dome City isn't particularly huge or glamorous, and neither is it trying to be. It's kind of a side-attraction, relative to the more important Tokyo Dome itself, which hosts many of the large scale events within Tokyo, such as baseball games featuring the home team, the Tokyo Giants. But for what it is, it's a cheery place and fulfills its role quite well.

Actually, what had really drawn Ken and I to the place from the beginning was the haunted house attraction. These flash-illuminated pictures don't really do much justice to the meticulous set-up of the place, but I enjoyed the anticipation the place built up as to what would pop out next. Notice the difference from the props you would find in a western haunted house! Gone are the mummies and Frankenstein and in come the creepy dolls and ghosts with long, hanging hair. Though brief, the visit was quite enjoyable. It'd be fun to work as staff here.

Of course, Tokyo Dome City has its other rides and attractions. A roller-coaster that doesn't look half-bad at all, Ferris wheel, arcade, parlor games and a couple of water-based ones as well. And it's all nice considering you don't have to pay to get in the park. One ride or game will bring you down 600¥, with a 5-ticket package going for 2500¥. Without the entry fee, you don't feel obliged to spend your whole day here, and that's nice.