Godzilla discovered in Tokyo back-street
Posted Tuesday, December 19, 2006, 3:42 PM by Lonely Planet
Tokyo remains a very exciting slap in the face for first-time visitors, and like all the best cities it's stuffed full of surprises. On my recent trip there while kangarooing from Lonely Planet's London office to our Melbourne HQ I found myself on the trail of one of Japan's most famous son's. A casual glance at the new edition of our Tokyo city guide revealed three cryptic words on a map, not referenced in the text or index... Statue of Godzilla.
Enough to get any kitsch obscura fan twitching.
So, hot-footing it into the backstreets of Ginza, Tokyo's upmarket shopping paradise, I spent a very pleasant hour getting totally lost, but eventually discovering the beast himself. This Godzilla isn't towering over the top of the Roppongi Hills tower, in fact he looks almost cute. But seeing something new, following a chance tip and going on an eccentric quest proves very worthwhile; it's the best of city travel. Have you done anything similar you'd recommend? Discovered something unique amidst a sea of better known landmarks?
Also in Tokyo, the latest craze is for Rodeo Boy. This exercise machine is like a kind of miniature bucking bronco, and riders look like they're doing something pretty filthy while getting fit. More travellers should stopover in Tokyo.
- Tom Hall
Labels: Asia and Pacific, Inside Lonely Planet
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3 Comments:
Cool, I'd love to see Tokyo.
I'll definitely go look for the beast
when I finally go there.
And that rodeo thing? Weird.
We were told it was in Hibiya park and thus spent 2 hours getting completely lost. Finally we asked a cop and he pointed it out. Awesome find.
That's a statue of the original 1958 Godzilla. See the resemblance?
http://japansugoi.com/wordpress/rare-japanese-godzilla-trailer-from-1954/
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