Dark Tourist (Japan Special) Vol. 01

Posted on October 22, 2020 by

The 2018 Netflix series ‘Dark Tourist‘ featured New Zealand journalist David Farrier visiting eight different countries (including Japan) on a mission to visit all manner of places relating to humans suffering in some sort of way whether it be victims of crime, tragic events or natural disasters. Of course, this kind of morbid traversing is nothing new, and people have been visiting these places for many decades but this TV show did help promote the idea of such tourism.

Having visited some famous dark historical sights in the likes of Poland, Germany, Australia, England and Cambodia (to name a few), I have to admit that I am slightly fascinated by such tourism. Japan has a fair number of places historically associated with death and tragedy, and Tokyo Fox has collated them into a series. Each volume will show a mix of relatively unknown places alongside the far more famous (or infamous in some cases!) ones.

1. Vivid reminders of the tragedy of the Battle of Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: Japan’s Deepest Underground Station Is Probably It’s Creepiest Too!

Posted on October 18, 2020 by

A couple of years ago I visited the virtually-abandoned station just over the border from Tokyo but this one is a step up from that. Or rather it is 462 steps down as this creepy underground station in Gunma Prefecture is located deep beneath the surface.

Ever since I came across a video from Lisa Sometimes (Watch it here) a few years ago I have wanted to visit Continue reading →

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TF Flashback – Universal Studios Hollywood Tour (2002)

Posted on October 15, 2020 by

This year is the 35th anniversary of ‘Back To The Future‘ (1985) and to celebrate the greatest movie, Tokyo Fox goes way back in time to…… 2002! In early May of that year I visited America for the first time and, as a huge fan of the franchise, I was determined to go on the Universal Studios tour……not that I knew at that time what was there or what it was even about! I really don’t think I knew beforehand that it was a theme park!

A VIP ticket fortunately took my friend Alvin (from Holland) and I past the waiting queues and straight into the grounds of the studios where a Continue reading →

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Foxed In The Head: Cycling To All Inari Shrines In Tokyo’s 23 Wards – #5 Shinagawa

Posted on October 12, 2020 by

#5. Shinagawa

Cycling may be something that I love to do but I’m not really one who goes for a ride without some kind of aim whether it be to a restaurant, a sight or just my workplace. With that in mind, and desperate to get out on my new bike, I decided to cycle round ALL the Inari Shrines in Tokyo taking each of the 23 wards one at a time.

Inspired by recent interest in tiny shrines, this idea seemed like a good way of Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: The Town With Multiple Quirky & Mysterious Sights Just A Couple Of Hours North Of Tokyo

Posted on October 9, 2020 by

Travelling for a few hours just to see one little sight is something I’m usually happy to do so imagine my excitement when I heard about this town in Gunma Prefecture which has multiple interesting and quirky places of interest all within walking distance of each other and the station.

Kuki: this place really takes the biscuit!!

Head north from Ikebukuro on the Shonan Shinjuku Line up to Kuki (Saitama), change to the Tobu Isesaki Line and you’ll continue on into Gunma Prefecture. Follow that with a couple more changes at Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: The “Theme Park” In Gunma With A Sloping House, A Mysterious Cave & Not Much More!

Posted on October 6, 2020 by

The words “theme park” tend to make me first think of a place with roller-coaster rides but of course that’s not always the way as was certainly the case with this one just a stone’s throw from Japan Snake Center.

 

I think the woman on the ticket gate must’ve thought I was a Covid risk as she raced off to get the temperature check thing which she hadn’t bothered using on the Japanese couple entering just ahead of me. I was only sweating because I’d Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: Japan Snake Center – A Place To Avoid But Not For The Reason You May Think!

Posted on October 3, 2020 by

Whilst I may not be keen on coming across a snake in the wild I don’t really have a problem with just looking at such limbless creatures …… or even touching and holding them! As I was already in the Ota area of Gunma Prefecture I thought I might as well visit this snake institute that’s been around since 1968 as it seemed like a quite unique attraction with 200 species from around the world.

Once I was done at the Ota Yabuzuka stone quarry I walked south for 13 minutes to Japan Snake Center (3118 Yabuzukacho, Ota, Gunma). My research beforehand did tell me that it would cost ¥1000 for entry which is a little Continue reading →

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Binge Watching The 1985 Star Wars Cartoon Series ‘Droids’!

Posted on September 30, 2020 by

Whilst Star Wars content is fairly common in this day and age, there were some very lean years between ‘Return Of The Jedi‘ in 1983 and the special editions in 1997. However, there were actually some cartoons in the mid-eighties which were only seen by a limited number of people at the time. Thanks to the internet and YouTube, that has changed and now pretty much everyone can access the animated shows. Many people have no interest in watching them though as the reviews were not so kind!

In 1985 two cartoons were part of ‘The Ewoks and Droids Adventure Hour‘ on morning TV at weekends in America. The former lasted two years and the latter ran for just one season of 13 episodes (broken down into three story arcs) as well as ‘The Great Heep‘ hour long special in 1986 which was set before the final cycle of episodes.

I never saw these shows at the time (they were later shown on Children’s BBC in the UK) so have no Continue reading →

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Review: Films Set In Japan – Lost Girls & Love Hotels (2020)

Posted on September 27, 2020 by

The main protagonist here is a girl who is lost but she is quite far removed from the Charlotte character in ‘Lost In Translation‘ (2003) as this 97 minute tale shows a far darker and grittier side of life in this country which is very different to the more clichéd aspects of society that have been shown in many other films set in Japan.

 

A young, blue-eyed American female called Margaret (Alexandra Daddario) lives on her own in Japan whilst teaching Continue reading →

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Interesting Japanese Playground Structures #29

Posted on September 24, 2020 by

Many of the parks and children’s playgrounds in Japan, particularly in Tokyo, are quite poor compared to other countries in terms of space, surroundings and a lack of grass. However, a handful of them do tend to possess extremely creative structures and they will be explored in this series.

Nickname: Robot Park 

Location: 6-2-60 Continue reading →

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