Day 5 - Travelogue - Yokohama, Giant Gundam at Gundam Factory, Sky Cabin, Landmark Tower Shopping, Harry Potter Christmas Trees

Back to Day 4 - Nezu Shrine, Ameyoko, Ni No Kashi Candy Store, Yamashiroya Toy Store, and Ichiran Ramen in Ueno

After four days in Tokyo, I'm heading to Yokohama today for one of the must see things for me this trip.  I really wanted to see the giant, moving Gundam down at Gundam Factory.  While Odaiba has a Unicorn Gundam with limited animations, this RX-78 Gundam has a full range of articulated motion.  It is pretty much a mecha fanboy's dream to be able to see robot that is like 22 metres tall actually perfom a range of actual movements.  While it isn't a truly independent robot, it is still pretty cool.  I also thought this would be a last chance to see this robot as it was supposed to be dismantled in March of 2023, but the robot's run was extended for another year in February of 2023 (I guess they wanted to cash in on all those tourist dollars!).  The Gundam had been up for over three years now, but few people other than Japanese could see it because the country was closed to tourism due to COVID. 

The breakfast at the hotel (which I got at a good bundled rate with my room) was really good again this morning and there was even grilled mackeral.  I loaded up as I needed fuel to move between cities and be on the road for a fair bit to see the Gundam.

Nice range of breakfast foods.  Coffee not shown.

After breakfast, I visited a nearby Familymart to grab a SPAM onigiri for travel rations along with some drinks.  Checkout from the hotel was easy and I headed over with my suitcase to Tokyo Station.  I caught a local train there all the way down to Bashamichi station which was a few blocks from my hotel, the APA Hotel Yokohama Bay.  I left my bag there as I was an early arrival in the morning and caught a bus down to Yamashita Pier where Gundam Factory is.

A vending machine with mainly hot drinks shown in this picture.  There are a few soups and teas shown here.  The top left has some clam miso soup. It is winter here, and hot broth is always nice when it it cool out.  I was checking out machines to find a special tonkotsu broth drink, but hadn't found it yet.  These hot soups only appear in the fall / winter.

On the way to my hotel, I stopped to take pictures of two special post boxes at Bashamichi Station.  These Pokemon mail boxes have a life-size Eevee and male and female Pikachus delivering letters. Very cute and good for posing with.  There is also another Pokemon mail box by the main post office in the area.  These themed mailboxes might be here are Pokemon Go holds events in the nearby Yamashita Park.  There was a lot of Pokemon on this trip.

Eevee Post Box

Pikachu Post Box.  The post boxes are next to each other on the south side of the station.

My original plan was to stay in Yokohama to see the Gundam and also visit nearby Enoshima, an island with many shrines and gardens.  Enoshima is all uphill as it is like a short mountain with an observation tower, but I wanted to take it easy on my foot still, so I cancelled that excursion.  It turns out that fast trains (not bullet trains) out of Tokyo Station can get you to Enoshima almost as fast as heading there from Yokohama, so basing out of Yokohama for that isn't advantageous.  However, staying in the Yokohama Minato Mirai area is like a breath of fresh air after being in Tokyo.  The area is spacious and buildings are spread further apart so it seems like a very different environment than cramped Tokyo.  I really liked the change.

Google Maps made it pretty easy to figure out which bus to take and the timing, but give yourself an extra 10 minutes as the buses didn't seem to run exactly on time.  You could walk to Yamashita Pier from where I was, but the bus kept the strain off my foot more.  It was a short walk along the pier and harbour front to Gundam Factory.  You can see the giant Gundam from a long distance.

Gundam Factory with the fenced off Gundam gantry behind it.

The front entrance to Gundam Factory Yokohama.

Entry to the viewing area, exhibition space, and souvenir shop is only by paid ticket and you needed to reserve a time.  You also had to buy another ticket for a timeslot to go up on the gantry to see the Gundam up close.  The tickets can be bought online and getting in was a simple scan of a QR code you are issued.  My pace picked up as I went in as I had been waiting a few years to see this big Gundam animate.

They give you a simple Gunpla Model Kit as a souvenir.  Nice touch.

Seeing the RX-78F00 in the gantry was pretty cool.  It added a huge touch of realism to the robot.  The gantry looked really real as it was real, and so were many of the robot components.  The gantry is a real steel structure on a concrete base.  The huge I-beams and struts are overbuilt to support a massive amount of machinery, and elevator shaft, and to withstand typhoons and earthquakes.  It was all very elaborate for a temporary Gundam exhibition.  Way to go Japan!

Gundam in the gantry.  The stairs and walkways are real.  The robot is real too in a limited sense.

The gantries pivot away from the robot to let it walk out.

Wide angle view of the dock with people on the right for scale.

Smoke starts to billow out when the animation show starts.

The Gundam animates every 60 minutes (I think).  There is a full light and sound show with Japanese actors voicing lines and music.  It is very stirring and would look great at night.  I was there for 2.5 hours and watched the 15 minute Gundam demonstration 3 times.  The demonstration puts the prototype Gundam through test movements with a little something extra for Newtypes.

It begins to move forward and crouch down.

It slowly lowers (it isn't fast, but the whole robot is being moved by real internal motors that were designed for this specially).  There are hydraulics behind the robot to move it out, but the limbs have internal motors.

The actors voice out a test sequence script where something special happens to the robot.  The Gundam raises it hand and the head looks down.

A final pose.

It then stands up again.

The final pose points towards the future and the cockpit in the chest opens to show Amuro Ray.

Gundam pilot!

After watching the Gundam's animation sequence I sat down for a quick snack of canned coffee and the SPAM onigiri.  I like SPAM and this FamilyMart riceball is a popular seller for the convenience store chain.  Kind of like Hawaiian or Okinawan Musubi.  This isn't exactly a common Japanese staple, but it seems to have found a following of sorts.

SPAM riceball.

It has rice, fried egg, and SPAM.  Simple, salty, and tasty.

You go up the gantry on the right side with an additional ticket.

View from the gantry.  It looks so big and real up close.

You can see the hydraulics behind the robot to move it forward and support its weight as it crouches and rises.  The joints have their own powerful electric motors for movement.  You need sturdy gantry to support all this machinery.  It was impressive.  From the gantry, you get to watch the robot go through its animations up close for one cycle.

Exhibition area with a real industrial robot assembling models.

Souvenir model kits you can only get here.

More Haros you can buy here.

Crowd in front of another animation sequence.

You can see people up in the gantry on the right.

I went through the shop and exhibition area that had displays in English and Japanese.  There were quite a few engineering companies that took part to anime the Gundam. I watched the Gundam animate for a third time, spending over 2.5 hours there, and then head out.  It was a good time for me and I was all smiles.  The morning and afternoon was one of the cooler days, especially by the ocean.  I was ready to warm up a bit and I decided to have a slightly late lunch at McDonalds as I would have had to wait a bit for the bus back anyhow.  It was warm inside and I had a tasty, savoury Samurai Mac with smokey teriyaki sauce and onions.

Samurai Mac combo.

 It was 3 PM back at the hotel and check-in had started.  It was super crowded in there for the weekend.  Even with automated check-in, it took a long time and the lineups kept growing for some time.  Fortunately I was a little early and got through with less waiting than the later arrivals.

This hotel is setup like a resort with onsen baths, spas, pools, and luxury restaurants.  There are also two FamilyMart konbini upstairs in the hotel, just for the hotel guests.  Its a pretty nice hotel that is near the Landmark Tower and all of the shopping and amusement parks in the area.  The lobby is expensive looking with chandeliers and gold decor - I did feel a little out of place - but it was nice to be there.

My room was 23 floors up and had great views of the harbour.  I paid a little extra for a harbour view room.  The room was small, but comfortable with one of those modular bathrooms with the integrated shower / tub unit. 

Small, clean room with a huge flat screen TV.

View from my window.  The Yokohama Sky Cabin gondola station to the Landmark Tower / Sakuragicho Station is in the bottom left.

It was a short walk from my hotel to the island that contains the World Porters Mall, Red Brick Square, the Cosmoworld Amusement Park with its giant ferris wheel, and Nissin Cup Noodle museum.  Once on the island, a short walk took me to the Yokohama Air Cabin tram that links the island to Sakuragicho Station and the Landmark Tower.  The gondola ride is a 1000 yen in each direction, but it saves a long walk over some bridges and the views are really good along the way.  Ride it at least once, and it is even prettier at night as the whole area is lit up!  The Sky Cabin is a relatively new attraction and method of transportation that wasn't around the last time I was in this area.  It is a great new attraction.  A developer in Edmonton wanted to put in a gondola like this over the river valley here, but it wasn't able to get off the drawing board for various reasons.

The whole bay area is lit up and the ferris wheel has colour shifting LEDs that animate in various patterns.

The Sky Cabin trams with the Landmark Tower behind it.  There is a paid observation deck high up in the tower too.

The gondolas.  Due to COVID precautions, single riders got their own gondola.  Score!

Pretty views from the gondola.

The Sky Cabin stops here at Sakuragicho Station.  A long raised walkway, shown in the centre of the picture, takes you to the Landmark Tower on a number of slidewalks.  You don't have to walk too much!

At the Landmark Tower mall, I asked at an information desk about the Harry Potter Christmas Trees that were there for December 2022.  Harry Potter mania was in full swing with a high-profile stage play going on in Tokyo, a new Harry Potter Studio Tour in Tokyo, and Harry Potter pop-up gift shops in many malls in Tokyo and Yokohama.  The first tree was right in this mall and it was the biggest one. This tree had a wizarding world theme so various decorations were objects from the movies.  There were wizards flying through the air on broomsticks and there was a musical theme playing from the movies to choreographed light displays.  It was very pretty.  The second tree was in another mall and it represented a Quidditch arena.  There were stands for each of the houses and banners hanging from the ceiling.  Lights raced around to show the frantic pace of a match on flying broomsticks.  Of course there was a snitch.  This was the most entertaining tree with the lights choregraphed to different, stirring show music again. The third tree was tiny and it represented critters from Fantastical Beasts. Of course there was a big Harry Potter gift shop by the first tree and a smaller one for the Fantastical Beasts.

Big Harry Potter Wizarding World tree.

Tiny Fantastical Beasts tree.

Quidditch decorations.

The Quidditch Match tree.  Great music and light show.

The avenue by the malls was all lit up in blue LEDs for several blocks.  Very pretty.  Crowds slowly walked along enjoying the lights and a night out.

Avenue of blue lights.

The giant stainless steel sculpture by Landmark Tower.  Really cool looking

I had conveyor belt sushi that night. All of these places now have touch screens to custom order sushi.

Outside of the sushi restaurant.  There are three big malls in this area and each has a plethora to restaurants to choose from either in the upper levels or underground.

The Nippon Maru sailing vessel moored by Landmark Tower.

It was a pretty busy day and very enjoyable.  The Minato Mirai area here is a nice open space with wide promenades, parks, and spacious malls.  It is a nice change of pace from crowded Tokyo.  I rode the Gondola over and back and enjoyed the views in both directions.

There was lots of gold trim and chandeliers in my hotel!  I'm not wearing enough designer clothing for this!

Night view from my hotel window.  Having this view to relax by while laying on the bed next to it was really nice.  Tokyo is on on the horizon and you can see the Skytree if the air is clear.

 

Back to Day 4 - Nezu Shrine, Ameyoko, Ni No Kashi Candy Store, Yamashiroya Toy Store, and Ichiran Ramen in Ueno 

Go to day 6 - Yokohama , Nissin Cup Noodle Museum, World Porters Mall, Landmark Tower Shopping Area

The Japan Trip 2022 Posts

1. Planning My Tokyo 2022 Trip Highlights and Attractions (for Anime and Regular Tourists)
   
2. Highlights From My December 2022 Trip to Japan (with links to daily pages)
3. Day 1 - The First Night In Tokyo
4. Day 2 in Tokyo - Visiting Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Taking a Taxi 
5. Day 2 in Tokyo - Evening with Godzilla and Christmas Lights
6. Day 3 - Back to Shibuya for New Parco, Nintendo Store, Pokemon Center, Miyashita Park 
7. Day 3 -  Views From Shibuya Sky, Shopping at Tokyu Hands and Don Quijote
8. Day 4 - Nezu Shrine, Ameyoko, Ni No Kashi Candy Store, Yamashiroya Toy Store, and Ichiran Ramen in Ueno
9. Day 4 - Sensoji Shrine in Asakusa, Tokyo Midtown Christmas Illuminations, and Pokemon Store and Cafe Nihonbashi
10. Day 5 - Yokohama, Giant Gundam at Gundam Factory, Landmark Tower Shopping, Harry Potter Christmas Trees
11. Day 6 - Yokohama , Nissin Cup Noodle Museum, World Porters Mall, Landmark Tower Shopping Area
12. Day 7 - Kyoto Part 1, Kiyomizudera and Yasaka Shrine
13. Day 7 - Kyoto Part 2, Kodaiji Temple Night Illuminations and Yasaka Shrine at Night  
14. Day 8 - Travelogue - Kyoto Part 1 - To Fushimi Inari Shrine and The Mountain Summit 
15. Day 8 - Travelogue - Kyoto Part 2 - Kennin Ji Temple and Evening at Kyoto Station
16. Day 9 - Travelogue - First Visit to Nara for Deer, Pikachu Donut, Daibutsu Temple, Kasuga-Taisha, Kohfukuji Temple 
17. Day 10 - Osaka - Seeing Osaka Castle, Pokemon Center, and Dotonbori 
18. Day 11 - Seeing Himeji Castle, the Most Beautiful One in Japan, and the Umeda Sky Building
19. Day 12 - Osaka Aquarium (Whale Sharks!), Den Den Town, Shinsekai, and MOS Burger
20. Day 13 - Travelogue - Back to Tokyo - Akihabara - Shinjuku at Night
21. Day 14 - Underground to Ginza, Shopping, Ginza GoldFish Aquarium, and Tokyo Skytree
22. Day 14 - Tokyo's Underground Labyrinth 2 - Walking From Tokyo Station to Ginza
23. Day 15 - Travelogue - Museums Close Monday - Ueno Park - Narita - Flight Home

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