TOKYO, Japan — It’s pretty clear with several Olympic venues and hotels filled with Olympic staff and athletes that the island of Odaiba is at the heart of the Olympics in Japan, but there’s an iconic statue there that may have some people wondering if they ever left the United States.
While Odaiba is 6,736 miles from the Statue of Liberty in New York City Tour, according to tour guide Masaharu Nozawa, the island has another Statue of Liberty that looks like it could be standing by Ellis Island, except it’s right next to Tokyo.
“It’s in front of the Rainbow Bridge overlooking Tokyo Bay," Nozawa said.
From the way the Odaiba Lady Liberty is positioned just off a pathway and in front of Rainbow Bridge, she looks like she’s much taller than she is. However, it is only 40-feet tall, a seventh the size of New York’s 300-foot-tall statue.
But the one in Japan is at the center of the Tokyo Olympics and in a place that will still get a lot of attention even with a ban on fans.
“Most of the new Olympic stadiums are located near here,” Nozawa said.
The statue was built in 2000 and is replica of one France loaned Japan in the late 1990s for a year.
The Japanese people loved it, so after it was returned to France they built their own. It’s been there ever since, blending historic Tokyo with modern Tokyo.
“A nice contrast with old traditional city of Tokyo and modern city of Tokyo,” said Nozawa.
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