Future Perfect

If you could have told my 7 year-old self that in 2006 I would be living in Tokyo, I would have wet my pants with excitement.

“Wow. Tokyo in 2006. Imagine that: there’ll be teleporting stations and everybody will be living in pods in the sky”

Well, not quite. But not far off.

Yesterday, I went to Odaiba. In Japanese, it means “fortification”, and is a kind of semi man-made island type-thing off the South West coast of Tokyo. Apologies for the inelegant phrasing, but to be honest I’m not exactly sure how it came into being.

Odaiba is, for the most part, a glimpse of the 21st Century as it was seen by people in 20th Century: gleaming skyscrapers; sleek criss-crossing transport networks; impossibly-wide concrete boulevards with obtuse modern art sculptures positioned at junctions of pedestrian walkways.

I bloody loved it. There’s something about the cold, clinical precision and antiseptic perfectionism that appeals.

Similarly, it puts you in a cinematic frame of mind. Indeed it’s reminiscent of those films whose vision of the future was not dystopian - eg Blade Runner - but rather utopian; a perfect, sleek, stylised future. Look at films like Gattaca, A.I and Equilibrium......and also have a good look at your iPod.

And to my 7 year-old self I would say this: there is indeed a place called The Teleport Station. I’m not sure what happens there, although I’m guessing it’s not teleporting in the real sense.

Also, although people don’t live in pods in the sky, they can get a great view over Odaiba and across Tokyo Bay from the brushed steel observation pod atop Fuji Television’s HQ.

Here are some lovely photos. They're above this post because as we all know, you read a blog from bottom to top.

I bet you've already looked at the photos, haven't you. Tsk.