If you’ve already checked off viewing cherry blossom trees, quiet time at a temple or shrine, try taking a drive through an undersea tunnel to marvel at something outside of Tokyo.

Remember the movie scene in Titanic when Jack shouts, “I’m the king of the world!” as he stood at the bow of the ship? You can re-enact this scene safely in Tokyo Bay. Well, not exactly on a boat, but with the wind in your hair and standing at the top of this artificial island in the middle of the ocean it sure comes close. Welcome to Umihotaru!

 

Umihotaru is a pretty spectacular landmark, especially if you happen to visit during a breezy, sunny afternoon.

Trying to get familiarized with the facility, we followed the crowd up two flights of escalators. Low and behold, a large white sail appears above which opens up to the spectacular deep blue seas of Tokyo Bay.

It was very windy this day, but I was able to take a few decent photos of the Tokyo BayOasis signs thanks to the stabilization feature of my trusty camera. It’s a nice place to view airplanes landing at Haneda airport, point out the large white Wind Towers (Tokyo Wan Aqua-Line Kaze-no-To) towards Kawasaki, and pause for a moment to try and wrap your head around how the tunnel, this man-made island, and bridge to Kisarazu were developed and completed to success. Amazing!