Odaiba is a man-made island in Tokyo and it has been quite some time (over 15 years) since Candy last visited. We were headed to the area to visit Oedo Onsen Monogatari and decided to stay in the area and explore the city a little more. Odaiba is a very popular tourist attraction and it is also known to be a popular date spot. The island is super clean and during the planning of this city, it was built to give it a futuristic vibe. Here are the top 5 things you must do in Odaiba:

1. Oedo Onsen Monogatari - Hot Springs Theme Park

We were drawn to Odaiba because we wanted to visit Oedo Onsen Monogatari. It's a hot springs theme park and it's an awesome way to experience some of the traditions in Japan. The theme park even provides you with a yukata (summer kimono) to wear so that you get the full experience! You could easily spend the whole day here if you have time, but since we only had one day in Odaiba, we spent about 3 hours here.

2. Diver City Tokyo Plaza and the 20 Meter Unicorn Gundam Statue

Diver City Tokyo Plaza is a huge shopping mall with many shops, activities and restaurants. You'll find many familiar stores like Uniqlo, H&M and Zara. You'll also find the famous twenty meter "life-size" Unicorn Gundam that Odaiba is known for. Gundam is an old anime cartoon in Japan and is still popular today and is a pop-culture icon.

3. Cafe De Miki - Hello Kitty Cafe

Within Diver City Tokyo Plaza is an adorable Hello Kitty cafe. We are "kawaii cafe" junkies and we just couldn't get enough of all the Hello Kitty cuteness at Cafe de Miki. Make sure to get their coffee with the Hello Kitty art on top.

4. Odaiba Illumination and Rainbow Bridge

The Odaiba Illumination is a gorgeous light display with amazing backdrops of the Rainbow Bridge, Tokyo Tower and Tokyo Skytree. There are several light illuminations throughout the area and it's available all year round when the sun goes down. We visited during the Christmas season, so many of the light displays had a Christmas theme.

5. Fuji TV Light Show

While we were walking around and enjoying all the lights, the famous Fuji TV building began to light up and started playing classic Fuji TV theme songs. The lights were fun to watch as it was going along with the music. We grew up watching a ton of Fuji television drama shows, so it was very nostalgic. We can certainly envision this as a conversation starter if you happened to be walking around the area with your date. Even if you aren't familiar with any of the songs, you would definitely enjoy the building's light show. 

There are several other fun attractions in Odaiba to check out like the Tokyo Trick Art Museum, Legoland, and Miraikan (National Museum of Science and Innovation). We were really bummed that we missed out on the Tokyo Trick Art Museum, so we'll have to save that for our next visit to Tokyo!

If you're looking for a place to stay in Odaiba, we highly recommend Hilton Tokyo Odaiba. This is the perfect location as it is centrally located and within walking distance to many of the activities in Odaiba. It is also right next to the train station, so if you wanted to explore elsewhere, it's an easy commute. We loved our stay here and the rooms were very spacious with an amazing breakfast buffet. 

P.S. Take the Yurikamome train line into Odaiba as it was a gorgeous ride into the city.