Dining Out: Vingt Et Un Restaurant Ship In Tokyo Bay

Posted on February 19, 2017 by tokyofox

Rarely does any year go by in Tokyo without me finding myself on a boat in Tokyo Bay but it’s usually for a night time all-you-can-drink cruise party rather than this recent experience which was a lunchtime affair. For six months we had had some free tickets lying around the house entitling us to go on a restaurant ship and finally we used them on the very day they expired.

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As ever in Japan there was a souvenir shop on board to pass through en-route to our seats where we were served up seven French courses though I always think it’s a bit of a joke to Continue reading →

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Live Ice Hockey In Tokyo!

Posted on February 16, 2017 by tokyofox

For a short time in the early 1990’s I was actually quite into ice hockey which was mainly due to often playing ‘Blades Of Steel‘ on my mates Nintendo 64 and that in turn led to me paying far greater attention (than usual) to the sport at the Winter Olympics of 1992. The fast paced action and regular bouts of fisticuffs made it quite an appealing spectacle. I was aware of an ice hockey league in Japan many years ago but was instantly put off on hearing that the nearest team were up in Nikko in Tochigi prefecture.

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That all changed a couple of weekends ago though when a couple of games were played in Tokyo at the ridiculously named DyDo Drinco Ice Arena near Higashi-Fushimi station along the Seibu Shinjuku line. When Jack, the man behind the Rambling Northerner website, mentioned it to me a few weeks back I was immediately keen to Continue reading →

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On The Fox Trail……At Toyokawa Inari (Aichi)

Posted on February 13, 2017 by tokyofox

After the slight disappointment of the Inari shrine centres in Osaka I was a little bit more apprehensive about visiting Toyokawa Inari whilst in Nagoya on a whistle-stop tour of the area. Discovering the night before that it was actually 90 minutes away from the city didn’t fill me with too much confidence either but as I woke up really early I thought I’d make the effort and I was ultimately glad I that I did.

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A quick google search of the place before I checked out of my capsule hotel proved that an interesting experience would be in store. I took the 6:30 am Tokaido Line train to Toyokawa via a quick change at Toyohashi and was consequently at the temple shortly after 8am.

The formal name of the temple is Myōgon-ji and it was a ten minute walk down the road  from the station. This is the head branch for the other one is known as Toyokawa Inari Tokyo Betsuin and that can be found in Akasaka. Neither of them are shrines at all but are actually Continue reading →

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Nagoya Filming Locations – The Hunted (1995)

Posted on February 10, 2017 by tokyofox

It seems that Nagoya was a prime spot for international filmmakers in the early-mid 1990’s with a few movies using Japan’s fourth biggest city as the base to tell their stories. There was ‘Mr Baseball‘ in 1992, ‘3 Ninja’s Kick Back‘ in 1994 and then this one came along in 1995.

The limited DVD extras reveal that filming started in Nagoya as it was felt that they needed to be immersed in Japanese culture from the offset rather than delaying it until the end of production. The filmmakers spent two weeks shooting at various locations including the shots which appear in the initial scenes of the movie as the opening credits roll. I’m still very sceptical as to whether or not it is Nagoya-jo Castle (below) which appears 2 minutes in.

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Across the road from Nagoya-jo Castle is the City Hall (below) which is Continue reading →

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Sightseeing In Nagoya

Posted on February 7, 2017 by tokyofox

The city of Nagoya is one that my wife and I have wanted to visit for many years now but we never seem to quite get as far as booking anything as there always seems to be a better option. That didn’t mean I couldn’t go alone though so with her going back to work a few days before me, I had some time to myself so decided to stop off in both Osaka and Nagoya on my way back to Tokyo.

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About 15 minutes walk from Kanayama station is this quirky sight which I wanted to see so Continue reading →

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Dining Out In Nagoya

Posted on February 4, 2017 by tokyofox

Despite having been told about the delicacies of Nagoya many times in the past, I couldn’t really remember what any of them were as I made my way to Nagoya via the cheaper three hour local train ride from Osaka. Thankfully, a quick google search brought me to a site explaining what the essential local dishes were and I was adamant to try as many as I could during my short time in the city.

No sooner had my train pulled into Nagoya Station and I was meeting up with my ex-student Yuki for the first time since March last year. My capsule hostel (below) was just a few minutes walk from the station so we first went there and I checked in, dumped my bag and headed straight back out to sample some local food and drinks.

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Not too far from Guest House Wasabi (under 2000 yen for the night) were plenty of places to spend a very rare Friday night out for me. Yuki and went to a couple of places and we tried a range of culinary delights including  Continue reading →

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Nagoya Filming Locations – Mr Baseball (1992)

Posted on February 1, 2017 by tokyofox

Thanks to two sports stars it was actually the city of Nagoya which helped open my eyes to the country which would become my home many years later. One of those was former Foxes favourite Gary Lineker who played for Nagoya Grampus Eight during the inaugural J-League season in 1993.

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The other was the fictional baseball player Jack Elliot (Tom Selleck); an aging Major League baseball player whose only offer was from the Chunichi Dragons in Nagoya. There may be better and more famous movies about Japan but Continue reading →

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A Day In Osaka

Posted on January 29, 2017 by tokyofox

Osaka-jo Castle and some local food have pretty much been part of my itinerary on my previous three trips to Osaka but this time I was just stopping off there for a few hours whilst going between Hiroshima and Nagoya. This layover-like trip (6-7 hours) was to include none of the classic Osaka suggestions for things to do as I was in town to seek out some lesser known wonders of Japan’s second city.

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My primary concern was the two Inari shrines featured in the ‘On The Fox Trail……In Osaka‘ post but in between that duo of places was another Continue reading →

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On The Fox Trail……In Osaka

Posted on January 26, 2017 by tokyofox

There’s a map of Japan on the inside cover of ‘The Fox And The Jewel‘ (by Karen A. Smyers) showing all the major Inari worship centres of the country. There are 14 in total with two in Osaka so as I was going between Hiroshima and Nagoya on the way back to Tokyo, I decided to stop off there to visit them along with some other things.

After a very early morning start I was at Shin-Osaka station just before 9:30 am and within an hour I was then on the outskirts of the city in the foothills at Hyōtanyama Inari Shrine (8-1 Hyotanyamacho, Higashi-Osaka) once I’d managed to get my bearings.

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Despite being a shrine guarded by foxes it seems that the star of this place is actually a Continue reading →

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A Day In Yamaguchi Prefecture

Posted on January 23, 2017 by tokyofox

The bordering prefecture of Hiroshima is a sizeable one covering a vast area consisting of some fine places that I have earmarked as future travel destinations. Without a car though some of them are very difficult to get to but not these ones although the first place was certainly further away than I originally anticipated.

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On my arrival at Shinnan-yō station mid-morning I quickly glanced at the map outside the exit and promptly set out to locate my prime destination which was Kawasaki Kannon a.k.a. the breast temple. That quirky place was located at the top of some steep steps and as I looked out across the city there were some fine views including Continue reading →

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