The last time I was in Tokyo, I went to a light exhibit by TeamLabs.  I don’t even know how to describe it, but it blew my mind.  Digital light effects, computer generated, interactive, magical,…..  Since then I have gone to everything like it including one in Singapore by TeamLabs.  None came close to comparing.  So first order of business for the day was to go to their second installation in Tokyo, Planets.

Planets did not disappoint.  There were three exhibits that included water.  One was wading in a koi pond.  The water was up to my mid calf.  The koi were digital light images on the water.  They interacted with you as you walked through the pond.  Some swam around you, others skittered off when you approached.  When they ran into each other, they turned into flowers that floated off.  Pure magic.

I could explain more of the exhibits, but I couldn’t do them justice.  The pictures and videos below are just an approximation also, but enjoy.

After, I went to the small cafe outside.  They had a “bar” where you could sit with the orchids from one of the exhibits and get a sake or a tea.  I got a tea.  I sat in a dark room with a couple while the vases the orchids were in lit up on a slow neon fade. My tea cup also lit up. It was an odd, not quite satisfying experience.  It also came with a free orchid (no flower, just the plant).  More odd.  Now I’m toting a rather large green thing around that I can’t take home with me.  I hope my friend that I will see later in the trip or the retreat center I am going to will like it.

After stashing my orchid in my hotel room, I decided to head off to a park near the Tokyo tower. I walked from the train station toward the tower and saw a shrine along the way. I stopped in a cafe for lunch. The tower was close so I decided to take some pictures around there before heading to the park. I went in and saw that tickets to the observation deck were not very expensive. I bought a ticket for entry to the top observation deck. I had an hour to kill before my ticket entry time. So, I went up to the mid observation deck and walked around about ten times. I got a coffee, snapped some pictures and watched a movie about the war and the building of the tower. The park I was aiming to go to didn’t look too impressive from way up high. In every direction I looked, there was just city as far as the eye could see. No end to Tokyo in any direction. Then I went up to the top deck in a very crowded elevator. The views from the top deck looked a lot like the views from the mid deck so I did a couple laps around and headed back down.

All of this took the better part of a day. It was so nice to have a planned activity followed by wandering. I decided to wander to a different part of the city in search of ramen for dinner.