On The Fox Trail……At Jozan Inari Jinja Shrine (Matsue)

Posted on January 19, 2019 by

Other than a few major Inari Shrines in Kyushu and a possible return to Zao Fox Village when it’s snowy, the end is nigh for this ‘On The Fox Trail…’ series. Or so I thought!

Whilst searching for things to do in Matsue I came across this shrine which is located just beyond the castle but within the moat and it’s grounds. Beforehand I knew this shrine possessed a load of foxes but I just assumed it was only the small white ceramic figurine foxes that can be purchased as a token of good luck. However, it turned out to be a lot more than that and proved to be Continue reading →

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Paying The (Much Higher) Price For Taking The Bus From Hiroshima To Matsue!!

Posted on January 16, 2019 by

  

When sketching out this five day trip of western Japan I thought I’d spend a day in Hiroshima to recover from the epic 16 hour local train trip from Tokyo. Having been to Hiroshima countless times though, there was nowhere I really wanted to go other than the pizza vending machine, so I decided that I should move on and explore pastures new.

10 hours was all I actually spent at my in-laws apartment but Continue reading →

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16 Hours On Local Trains To Hiroshima Just To Eat Pizza From A Vending Machine!

Posted on January 12, 2019 by

Eating pizza in Japan is something of a rarity for me because the likes of Dominos and Pizza Hut are just so ridiculously expensive. For a long time now I’ve considered that there is something of a gap in the market for a more reasonably priced pizza and maybe, just maybe this vending machine in Hiroshima is trying to fill that void. Continue reading →

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From Tokyo To Hiroshima By Local Trains For Just ¥2370 (£17/$21)

Posted on January 9, 2019 by

  

Hiroshima has two of the most admired tourist attractions in all of Japan and is a very popular place for international travellers each year. It is four hours away from Tokyo via Shinkansen (bullet train) or just 90 minutes by plane. Given you have to get to the airport and check in an hour before they basically end up taking the same time. They are the most common ways to get between the two cities but there is another way of doing it and I don’t mean by car or bus! Continue reading →

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Seven Gods Tour In Saitama (Plus Yoshimi Hyakuana Revisited Again!)

Posted on January 6, 2019 by

When feeling a little down on their luck the locals often try to restore their fortune via a pilgrimage to honour the seven lucky gods of Japanese folklore. There are over 20 of these fixed temple courses in Tokyo alone complete with stamps to collect along the way as nothing is complete without such a thing in Japan. Such trips are admittedly more popular around January when people want to get New Years off to a positive start.

These seven lucky gods have popped up in Tokyo Fox posts over the last few years whether it be in Yugawara (Kanagawa) or Maebashi (Gunma) but this time I’d be visiting them right up in the north of Saitama about 35 kilometres south of the latter. I can’t say I was full with too much excitement for seeing those guys again but I was quite interested in the mission of getting round the three areas and five temples to locate them. This actually all came about after I asked a friend about one of the temples and he provided me with this map (below)!

I should confess that I actually attempted this feat way back in August. The night before I had been to watch Kashiwa Resyol beat FC Tokyo 1-0 at Ajinomoto Stadium with Scottish Neil which was then followed by a few 9% alcoholic drinks outside a nearby convenience store. I ended up passing out Continue reading →

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Great Scott! Back To The Future Legends Appear At HollyCon Tokyo #18

Posted on January 3, 2019 by

  

When I went to HollyCon Tokyo #5 back in August 2015 I thought I’d be going to a load more events after that. However, I was never too enamoured by the guest list (mostly comprised of actors from American TV series which I don’t watch!) until I heard about who would be present at HollyCon #18.

Christopher Lloyd (Dr. Emmett-Brown) was back in Japan again and with him were Tom Wilson (Biff Tannen) and Lea Thompson (Lorraine Baines McFly). The latter was originally going to be at HollyCon #5 but for whatever reason she cancelled it and was replaced with Claudia Wells (Jennifer). Getting your 30 seconds with the stars is a fairly Continue reading →

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TF Top 20……Tokyo Fox Hits Of 2018

Posted on January 1, 2019 by

So 2019 has only just begun and already Tokyo Fox is looking back!! For about nine years now there have been exactly ten new posts on here each and every month and these are the twenty from 2018 which got the most hits…excluding sponsored or TF Top 10 list posts! Of course those entries from earlier in the year had more time to accumulate hits so don’t read too much into it all as it’s basically just another filler post to kick start the new year!

1. On The Fox Trail……At The Oji Fox Parade – When I first checked 2018’s stats a few weeks ago this post was down in third position but on the day of the more recent Fox Pageant there were a few thousand hits on this article which propelled it towards the top spot. More details here

  

2. On The Fox Trail……At Tokyo’s Most Hidden Shrine – I don’t know who is googling words like “Tokyo hidden shrine” but there must be a sizeable number of people doing that for this post to be Continue reading →

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