You can read ‘Cycling to Tokyo’s Best 25 Sights…in 1 Day Pt I’ here.

With 10 of the Top 25 already covered I leave Hibiya Park and cycle the short distance to Ginza for the next three places. The Sony Building is first and easily found but difficult to photograph as it’s a tall building with the only real visible sign on the roof.

Ginza itself is next which is a bit of a problem as how does one sum up a whole place in one photo? The answer is Chuo-Dori and the Wako (seen in ‘Godzilla’) and Mitsukoshi department stores on either side of it.

Very close to that is Kabuki-Za which is sadly just a pile of rubble now as its been knocked down completely but will open again in a couple of years time. I am happy though as it means I don’t have to waste time setting up my tripod and trying to get my photo done in a busy place.

It’s 10:30 am when I leave Ginza behind and head further south intending to cross the bay for Odaiba. However, I see that both Hama Rikyu Gardens and Tsukiji Fish Market are close by so decide to get them out of the way as you never know what may happen over the other side of the bay. The former is pretty uneventful apart from sneaking my bicycle a metre past the no bicycles point in order to get a better picture.

It’s my first ever visit to Tsukiji Fish Market for I can never be bothered to get up at 5:00 am to go there and neither do I ever want to go there after a night out. As much as I like sushi my bed always wins out over it. Of course, there are no fish to be seen anywhere now as its about 11am and the place is just full of workers packing things away and racing around on trucks. I eventually find a sign saying Tsukiji in kanji and that’s that one ticked off.

As I cycle over the bridge what lies ahead are the two most difficult places in the top 25 list but I’m making good progress as its only 11:00 am. I am more worried about my camera battery dying! The crowds of people have disappeared and it’s a lot more peaceful and quieter (apart from the huge roads!) as I burn along unfamiliar territory in search of the Odaiba landmarks which as ever are hidden away behind other buildings.

I notice that my laminated order of places has slipped out of my back pocket which is annoying but not exactly critical to my mission. After a bit of a detour, I eventually reach the main view of Rainbow Bridge and the Statue of Liberty. I have to carry my bike up the steps in order to get it in the photos and then I take another short break at McDonalds as I realise I can burn off my cheeseburger and shaka shaka chicken with relative ease.

As midday strikes, I am back on my bicycle and bombing along the main road heading for Chiba with big, massive trucks breezing past me making me wobble a bit. Disneyland is technically in Chiba (albeit just across the border) and others would rightly or wrongly use this as an excuse to scrap it from their itinerary…….not that anyone else would bother doing such a cycle trip!!

I don’t really know but expect it to be about a 30-minute ride but after that amount of time, and having crossed a few steep bridges over rivers, I see a sign which makes my heart sink. 31km to Chiba is what it says! I begin to think that I have under-estimated this part of the journey and start to think about giving up on this particular location.

However, I cycle on with my energy draining out of me and am thankfully rewarded only minutes later when I see the Tokyo Disney Resort Hotel over the road in the distance and then the ‘Welcome to Chiba’ sign greets me and my lost hope changes to delight although I still need to get across there which is quite difficult. I have to go round and under the road but find that there’s no way of getting my bicycle up onto the walkway that leads from Maihama station to the Disneyland entrance.

I have had my fill of aggro from the authorities so settle for a few pictures at anywhere where there is a big sign for the place such as the car park!

‘Cycling to Tokyo’s Best 25 Sights…in 1 Day’ continues in Pt III