Sunday, March 9, 2014

Travel to Japan: Fujiko F Fujio Museum & Odaiba

KAWASAKI CITY

Fujiko F Fujio museum is located in Kawasaki City, 20 mins from Shinjuku to Noborito by train. This museum has become another must-have-visit-place in Japan since its opening in September 2011, particularly Generation Y who's growing up with Mr Fujio's master piece, Doraemon.



You can buy the museum ticket at Lawson (convenience store in Japan). Since the ticket machine is operated in Japanese, you might ask Lawson's staff to help you buy the ticket. She/he surely will be happy to help you. You just have to give some information, such as: day/date and time you'll be visiting the museum, ticket qty, and your name. The museum provides 4 entries schedule per day (10.00/12.00/14.00/16.00) and it's closed on Tuesday. Be aware that the tickets most likely to sold out during weekend and holiday, so it's a wise move to buy the ticket as soon as you reach Japan. As for me, I bought the ticket in Lawson Osaka 5 days before my visit date to the museum and the 10 and 12 o'clock tickets are already sold out because it was a holiday.

There are two alternatives to reach the museum once you arrived in Kawasaki City, get off at Noborito Station and take the museum's shuttle bus for 10 mins ride or walk for about 15 mins from Mukougaoka Yuen Station. To ride the shuttle bus you should pay 200 yen and you can pay with Tokyo transportation card (Pasmo/Suica). This shuttle bus operates every 10-15 minutes. Since we're not in a hurry to catch our 14.00 o'clock schedule that day, me and my friends chose to walk. After wander around for 4 days in bustling city like Tokyo, spend a Monday afternoon in a quiet and peaceful Kawasaki City could be a good refresher for us. We found lots of Mr Fujio's manga characters along the way too!

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The Fujiko F Fujio museum is a 3 stories building with a open rooftop garden on its third floor. We're not allowed to take pictures in the exhibition room I, History Road, Fujiko F Fujio's Study, exhibition room II, animals' room, and Fujiko F Fujio Day Off corner. There's a cafe/restaurant on the third floor but the waiting list was too long for me to wait. An English audio guide is provided for you at the entrance gate, so you'll be able to hear Fujiko F Fujio's life story through his various artworks inside the museum.


At People's Plaza you can enjoying various games and arcades. There's also a mini theater playing some Fujiko F Fujio original short movies, the ticket will be given to you along with the audio gate at the entrance. The movie starts every 20 mins. Manga's corner where you can read Fujiko F Fujio's comic books is located near this area.








Maybe some people wonder why such a popular museum like this is located in a suburban area outside Tokyo. Fujiko F Fujio moved to Kawasaki City in 1961 and he created most of his mater pieces like Doraemon and P-Man in this city.



Fujiko F Fujio Museum
Admission fee: 1000 yen
Closed on Tuesday, except during Japan's big holidays (Golden Week, summer, year-end and new year holidays)

How to get there
Take JR/subway to Shinjuku Station
From Shinjuku JR Station, take Odakyu Odawara Line train and get off at Noborito or Mukougaoka YuenStation (20-30 mins). Don't take Rapid Express and Tama Express train because they won't make a stop at both stations. You can take Express, Semi Express, Section Semi Express, or Local train.

ODAIBA

The last stop of the day: Tokyo Bay area, ODAIBA!
What to see in this area? As for me, I want to see the big Gundam and mini Liberty Statue! Other than that, you still can go shopping inside Venus Fort (in Palette Town), Diver City, Aquacity, or Decks. There's also LEGOLAND Discovery Center, Madame Tussaud wax museum, and a trick art museum inside Decks. The Rainbow Bridge and Ferris Wheel look so pretty at the night time.



There's a big open air area around Odaiba surrounded by shopping malls and attractions that I mentioned earlier. So here's my route: got off at Aomi Station then walked around inside Pallette Town entertainment complex, visited some stores in Venus Fort, took a peek at ZEPP Tokyo music venue and Ferris Wheel which are attached with the shopping mall, crossed the open air area to Diver City and saw the biggest Gundam Statue, filled my empty stomach with the yummiest Gindaco Takoyaki at Diver City food court, walked toward decks and the beach to see the mini Liberty Statue and Rainbow bridge, took the train back to Asakusa at Daiba Station.


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I found a Lego Store inside Venus Fort and bought some keychains. Take a look, how can you resist this massive lego keychains collection?

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Purti loves Buzz Lightyear (p)
Was I the only one who didn't know there's a chain takoyaki restaurant named Gindaco before visited Japan? All I know about takoyaki back then was I have to eat these fried yummster balls in Osaka. On my last night in Tokyo, I accidentally found this stall inside Diver City food court and I really like to take another bite of Gindaco Takoyaki with scrambled eggs and teriyaki sauce on top.. おいしいですね!


6 pieces for 500 yen, 18 pieces for 1500 yen (p)
I felt satisfied with my decision to visit Odaiba when the sun has set. Bright pretty lights were everywhere! The lights on Ferris Wheel keep changing too, I love it!



On my way back to Daiba Station, I went through Decks and found this cute cat gate. I just found out that it's the biggest cat cafe in Japan called Nyan De Nako.


Decks Tokyo Beach Island Mall, 3 F
open daily 10 am to 9 am (last admission on 7 pm)
admission 2,300 yen/person, book tickets online for 800 yen disc

Decks Tokyo Beach Island Mall, 3 F
open daily 10 am to 9 am (last admission on 7 pm)
admission 2,000 yen/person, book tickets online for 500 yen disc

Tokyo Trick Art Museum
Decks Tokyo Beach Island, 4 F
open daily 11 am to 9 am
admission 900 yen

Ferris Wheel
Pallette Town Entertainment Complex
open daily 10 am to 10 pm
admission 900 yen

Most shopping malls open daily 11 am to 9 pm
Most restaurants open daily 11 am to 11 pm

How to get there
From Tokyo Station: take JR Yamanote Line (outer loop) to Shimbashi Station, transfer to Yurikamome Line and get off at Aomi/Daiba/Odaiba Kaihinkoen Station (+/- 25 mins)
From Shibuya Station: take Ginza Line subway to Shimbashi Station, transfer to Yurikamome Line and get off at Aomi/Daiba/Odaiba Kaihinkoen Station (+/- 25 mins) - if your start point is Shinjuku Station, take JR Yamanote Line to Shibuya (+/- 30 mins)
From Asakusa: take Asakusa Line subway to Shimbashi Station, transfer to Yurikamome Line and get off at Aomi/Daiba/Odaiba Kaihinkoen Station (+/- 35 mins)

(p) pictures courtesy of Purti

6 comments:

  1. ga nyobain naik ferris wheel dan yurikamome train put?

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    Replies
    1. gak berani naik ferris wheel, takut ketinggian hahaha yurikamome train itu kereta yg lewat yurikamome line maksudnya? pokoknya kereta di yurikamome line itu beda sih, trus keliatan bgt view rainbow brigdenya, bagus bgt! :)

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  2. Hai, salam kenal ya.. aku mau tanya nih:
    1. kalo mau beli tiket fujio museum kan ada schedule masuknya jam 10, 12, 14, 16 nah kalo aku beli yang masuk jam 12 itu maksudnya kita hanya dibolehin masuk jam 12 ya? Kalo kita udah sampe jam 11an kita bisa langsung masuk gak? Atau kalo kita sampe jam 1an udah lewat jam 12 masih bisa masuk gak?
    2. Aku mau tanya jarak dari gundam sama liberty itu jauh gak kalo jalan kaki?
    3. Kalo Tokyo Tower itu deket gak dari posisi gundam dan liberty yang ada di odaiba?
    Maaf kalo aku banyak tanya, soalnya aku buta jepang dan rencana mau kesana tahun depan hehee..
    Thank you :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for share! jadi pengen liat doraemon lagi :'(

    Watch movie

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  4. Hi Putri,

    Can I use my ICOCA card to pay for the shuttle bus ride to Doraemom museum? If not and if I don't have a Pasmo or Suica Card, can I pay in cash?

    Thanks for your help!

    Regards,
    Eggie

    ReplyDelete
  5. I like the place, it's very beautiful
    thank you for the meaning, very helpful
    Next

    ReplyDelete