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: Tyre Monster
Location: Continue reading
Most of my knowledge on British school dinners actually comes from the documentary series ‘Jamie’s School Dinners‘ (2005) which saw the celebrity chef on a mission to change the terrible habits of schools around the UK. He attempted to improve their quality and nutritional value which subsequently led to a broader campaign to improve them throughout Britain. My experience of school dinners was limited to just a few occasions as I almost always took a packed lunch. As a fairly fussy eater back then I was more than happy with that though!
Japanese school meals are very different and not just because there aren’t any Turkey Twizzlers in sight! They are much healthier which may explain the low child obesity rate in this country but as I don’t work in an elementary or high school I have obviously never been able to experience what they’re like here and how they differ. That is until now…
Kyushoku Toban is a kind of themed restaurant which serves up Japanese school dinners and my Continue reading
Yamanashi is one of 47 prefectures in Japan and it is probably most famed for it’s many high mountains including the awesome Mount Fuji which is of course the tallest in the country and one that they share with neighbouring prefecture Shizuoka. The capital of Yamanshi is Kōfu city which is where Jack (of Rambling Northerner fame) and I were last Sunday to see the J1 league match between Ventforet Kōfu and Albirex Niigata at the Yamanashi Chuo Bank Stadium.
Like our Mito trip in February, this was another early start and I left the Tokyo Fox Global Operations Centre just after 7am to get to Takao for a 9am rendezvous with Jack near the Continue reading
Avid readers of JSoccer magazine (Japan’s number one quarterly football magazine in English!) have been following the ground hopping of Tokyo Fox for the last few issues which has taken in stadia from all over the country (Okinawa, Hiroshima, Kobe, Kashiwa, Kashima, Sapporo etc). There have been three parts to the series so far and I’m keen for a fourth one too. That will include Mito Hollyhock, the two featured in this post and hopefully I’ll visit a couple more during the Golden Week holiday coming up at the end of April.
At the end of last season and the start of this one, I have mostly been to lower league grounds but last Sunday myself and Jack (of Rambling Northerner fame!) ventured on over to Yamanashi prefecture to see a J1 side. Ventforet Kofu play at the Yamanashi Chuo Bank Stadium in Kofu which is a Continue reading
Music festivals don’t come any more glamorous than the annual Coachella Festival in southern California which has been going since 1999. As a huge Oasis fan, I became aware in the early months of 2002 that they would be headlining this festival on Sunday 28th April which was amazingly the day after I arrived in Los Angeles from Fiji! I bought my ticket online at an internet cafe on my last day in New Zealand mid-April for US$90 and then just had to hope that I’d be able to find my way to the festival site! Thanks to the journal that I kept at the time (available online at afoxdownunder.wordpress.com) we can now take a look back on all that happened 15 years ago on an epic 24 hour round trip……
“I didn’t sleep very well and had to get up at 7:30 am where I checked out (having put my bags in a locker) taking the hostel shuttle to the bus station in the process. I then had a long wait for the #439 metro bus which unbelievably took Continue reading
Just a couple of stops from Haneda Airport is a major centre of Inari worship called Anamori Inari Shrine which I first visited in August last year. On that occasion I picked up a pamphlet about a shrine walking shrine tour of the Haneda area which gave me the inspiration for this latest instalment in the ‘On The Fox Trail’ series. People tend to do this eight gods of fortune tour around the New Year period as they pray for each type of luck that the shrines protect them against.
With rain imminent in the afternoon I made an early start and arrived at Kojiya station in Ota prefecture at 9am. I set off in the vague direction of the first place but Continue reading
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: The Elephant Slide
Location: Continue reading
Admittedly, I wasn’t even aware of this will.i.am and Justin Bieber collaboration until someone left a comment on the ‘TF Top 10…Music Videos Filmed In Japan‘ post saying to check it out. Not only did I quite like the tune but I was happy to see a fair few locales which have never featured in music videos. There were a couple of places I wasn’t aware of which I have since featured in separate posts on Tokyo Fox and there were a few Tokyo architectural landmarks that I did recognise.
The scenes in Japan were shot in Continue reading
For all its good points, Tokyo ain’t half one ugly looking city with buildings pretty much erected (and pulled down) willy nilly without any thought to the environment around it. However, amid all the chaos of such a concrete jungle there are a fair few examples of modern architecture which I am ever keen to photograph. Now, I am certainly no expert on such a topic but have enjoyed going around capturing the interesting and weird designs of some of these buildings.
This is the long awaited follow up to original ‘Tokyo Modern Architecture‘ post in July 2012 which included 10 different buildings including the two seen seen above. Here, in no particular order, is the next volume of Continue reading
One really doesn’t need to go too far in Tokyo these days to experience some kind of Americanism whether it be chain stores, slogans, music, movies or food and drink. However, just over the border in Saitama prefecture there is actually a small community known as Johnson Town which is a little piece of America in Japan… where all the residents are Japanese. Yes, really.
Just the name of the town is enough to bring a smile to my face but I was way more Continue reading
Tokyo Fox (東京狐) 