VISITING 'DIGIMON' LOCATIONS IN REAL LIFE

this past spring, i had the opportunity to go to japan for star wars celebration 2025. but of course, being the nerd that i am,

i couldn't just stick to one fandom to completely geek out over and decided to drag my husband around the odaiba area to visit some of the most iconic locations from 'digimon adventure.' (photos below)

i'm sure i'm not the only 90's kid who has fond memories of seeing new episodes every Saturday morning and reruns every weekday after school on fox kids. i truly don't think there is a better time in the entire history of the universe than the 90's, especially given the animation renaissance that was happening on television for adults and kids alike. what a time...

but i digress...

the point is, it was one of my favorite shows as a kid, and as a kid in a home where television was essentially the real parent of the household, i actually learned a lot from digimon and it remains kind of a pillar of my internal culture that makes me who i am. also, when you live in a trailer park in a small town of about 5,000 people on the oregon coast as a kid, it feels absolutely bonkers to be able to, as an adult, travel the globe to the very locations this show is based in. it would absolutely melt the brain of a young me to know i had this little adventure.

if you're in the tokyo area ever, definitely hop on the trains and head to odaiba. it's pretty much the hub of where all the digidestined from the 'adventure' timeline of digimon hail from and it is featured throughout their varying seasons and films, but it is an especially crucial and featured area in the first season.

i started with hopping on the train from tokyo disney and made my way to the tokyo big sight convention center. this building is where all of the parents are taken to when myotismon seals off odaiba bay and is featured in several episodes and also features the giant axe togemon memorably fights DARKtyrannomon next to. it's also incredible to see in person and i highly recommend it. it's also got an attached train station so it's incredibly easy to not only get to via train, but to hop on to the next train to get to our next location.

that would of course be the fuji tv station where matt's dad works and is also where myotismon takes kari and gatomon hostage in his efforts to find and destroy the eighth digidestined child. additionally, it's also the location of wizardmon's great sacrifice that allowed us to see angewomon for the first time. and if that weren't enough, it's also featured heavily in the final showdown with malomyotismon.

i definitely recommend this location even for just regular tourists for a few reasons. first, the location allows you to purchase a ticket to the observation deck which is the giant ball area up top and provides a phenomenal and photogenic view of the bay, the rainbow bridge and if weather allows, a view of mount fuji (and features all the locations from the show listed above both exterior and interior). also depending on the time, they may be filming tv shows on the ground floor that the public can walk up to the windows of the building and interact with the show, which is super fun. also, behind it is the giant gundam (i'll put it in a future post) that also tends to be a great photo/video op for tourists.

and of course the final locations i focused on are right across the street from fuji tv along odaiba beach. this area was featured a lot in 'tri' and 'last evolution kizuna.' you can take pictures at the observation platform like the team did or sit on the beach deck and look at the bay like tai and agumon. or, for regular tourism purposes, there's the statue of liberty which features the historical story of how japan got their own smaller version of the american one and the beach park where you can look at the jumping fish coming out of the water and maybe spot manta rays coming the shallow area. there's also some fun shops and restaraunts nearby and you can either go back on the train via the stations already traveled, or, you can do what we did and walk the upper walkways which go over the streets and freeways and provide not only a nice walk with beautiful views, especially toward the end of the day, but also a way to explore the area bit before hopping on a different station to go back toward tokyo.

of course we did much more with our trip to japan, but for the digimon side of things, odaiba is where i focused this time around. there are definitely other locations and numerous areas to explore from across the franchise, but for the 90's kids out there, i hope you appreciate these images from when i took my own digimon adventure and hope you get your opportunity too.

SEE PHOTOS DOWN BELOW.