Due to my football commitments over the weekend in Fujieda and Shimizu, it was a few days before my Golden Week holiday started properly in terms of spending some quality time with my wife, her parents and of course Momiji the dog! First up was a drive down to the southern most point of the Izu Peninsula with some stops along the way.
Shirahama Beach provided a brief stop and it was quite stunning with its Continue reading
Route 135 is the main road that runs down the east coast of the Izu Peninsula and there are all manner of interesting places and sights dotted along it. With its large and imposing statue out the front, this museum caught my eye as we were driving down to Shimoda and Minami-Izu. On the way back, my parents-in-law stopped off (by chance) for a macha flavoured ice cream right next door to it so I took the opportunity to explore the shabby looking building whilst the rest of the family returned home.
It really is difficult to detail the contents of such a museum as it’s just so packed with random stuff akin to a recycle shop or collectors bedroom! There is very little in the way of Continue reading
After just a few hours in Shizuoka prefecture I was on a train heading back over the border to Kanagawa prefecture to visit Yugawara which is actually just the one stop from Atami. The reason being that I wanted to visit Fukusen-ji Temple (191 Izumi, Atami-shi) which was about twenty minutes away on foot.
Located just across a river, there were some steps leading up to this temple which included a quaint thatched roof on the main building and some wisteria flowers. I was only there for one thing though and that was to see the Continue reading
It was a gloriously sunny day when my Golden Week holiday started in Atami en-route to stay with my parents-in-law in Ito which is about 25 kilometres further down the east coast of the Izu Hanto Peninsula. My wife would be joining me later that night but I was free till the evening and armed with our suitcase which I dumped in a locker outside Atami station and then proceeded to walk for about 45 minutes up to the castle.
The views across the harbour are supposed to be reminiscent of Mediterranean Europe (above) and they were indeed very impressive on a fine day. Atami-jo Castle is located on top of a hill and I actually Continue reading
As mentioned in my last J-League post, I said that I hoped to go to a couple of Shizuoka-based games whilst in the vicinity during the recent Japanese Golden Week holiday. Having arrived at my parents-in-law’s holiday home in Ito only the night before, I left them all behind on Saturday 29th April to go on a fairly lengthy journey to Fujieda to see a J3 match between Fujieda MYFC and Kataller Toyama. Shizuoka prefecture is quite a large one so this was still a two hour plus trip and that was just between the relevant stations.
It was a fine day and Mount Fuji was clearly visible from the train window en-route to Fujieda station which I arrived at just after 11am. I then had to Continue reading
When it comes to planning what to do with my free time, I’m fairly organised but there are occasions when spontaneity does come into the equation and one such moment came on the back of our (pre-planned) trip to the school dinner restaurant in Shin Okachimachi. My wife and I were walking through Okachimachi leading to Ueno station and en-route we saw Owl Nest Cafe which my animal-loving other half couldn’t resist and so we Continue reading
Transportation has always been a major part of Star Wars films and animation with all manner of starships, tie fighters, starfighters, landspeeders, podracers, speeder bikes, shuttles and so on featured throughout the saga. At the end of 2015 I was lucky enough to see two of those iconic starfighters docked at Changi Airport in Singapore but this time I was able to see one of ANA’s specially decorated Star Wars planes actually in motion.
The R2D2 and BB-8 planes were introduced by ANA in the build up to the much anticipated release of ‘The Force Awakens‘ (2015) and there was also the Star Wars Rapi:it train in Osaka which I rode on Star Wars Day (“May the 4th be with you” and all that!) last year.
Whilst I was in the Haneda area ‘On The Fox Trail…‘ at the end of March, I thought it would be worth seeing if any of the Star Wars planes would be at Haneda Airport that day. I asked a friend who knows all that kind of stuff and by luck the Continue reading
The infamous Aokigahara, known as Suicide Forest in Yamanashi prefecture, has inspired a few films in recent years such as ‘The Sea Of Trees‘ (2015), TV movie ‘Grave Halloween‘ (2013) and then there was this horror and by that I am referring to it’s genre although many people would say that word sums up this 93 minute film!
The film opens with Sara receiving a phone call from someone saying that they saw her twin sister Jess go in to Aokigahara forest; a 35-square-kilometre forest lying at the north-west base of Mount Fuji. She goes to Japan and it’s Yasukuni Dori time as she is driven down the famous 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: 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
Tokyo Fox (東京狐) 