July 8th
I spent another night dreaming of flying on a spaceship to a
far away galaxy full of alien planets. I got up to brush my teeth and looked at
myself in the mirror. “You better lay off the anime for awhile.”
Not an easy thing to do living in the land where the whole
phenomena started. I picked up the phone and called Midori. “Hey, you busy
today? I want to visit the future.”
She laughed. “Have fun.”
“No, I’m serious. I’ve been dreaming a lot about what life would
be like in 2040.”
“Then we must go to the place for future living.”
“Right, like that’s some place in Tokyo.”
“Actually it is. Take the train to Shimbashi station then ride the monorail to Teleport
Town. Meet me in front of the upside down pyramids at two o’clock. Click.”
At first I thought Midori was kidding. Then I remembered
hearing about a man made island in Tokyo Bay where they built the city of the
future. I hoped the two-hour train ride would be worth it.
From the moment I set foot in the town, I knew I’d
discovered some place special. Glittering glass architecture formed a futuristic
fantasy. I found Midori standing in front of the building with the upside down
pyramids. “Doesn’t this look like something from 2040?”’
“I have to admit I’ve never seen anything like it.“
“The pyramids are a convention
center.”
“Very cool. But no spaceships.”
She looped her arm around mine. “Just wait.”
She led me down by the water. At first I couldn’t believe
what was bobbing up and down on the river.
It looked like some kind of spacecraft. I blinked twice. “Am I
dreaming?”
Midori gave me a smile. “This is the spaceship Himiko. Want
to go for a ride?”
She didn’t have to ask twice. I ran down the gangplank.
Inside the ship looked just as futuristic. The interior was flooded with light from
the endless rows of windows.
I sat down in one of the molded plastic chairs and felt like
a kid going to Disneyland for the first time. “Wow, this is amazing.”
Midori pointed to the anime figures standing in front of a
partition. “I knew you would like it. The Himiko was designed by Leiji
Matsumotto, the creator of Galaxy Express 999.”
“I knew those characters looked familiar. I’m in anime
heaven.”
As the ship sped along the river, I closed my eyes and dreamed
I was flying through space.
Midori nudged my shoulder. “Are you okay? You’re not feeling
sea sick?”
I opened one of my eyes. “No, I’m fine. But you might not be
feeling so good if you stop me from fantasizing again.”
