Okayama 2016 Pt V: Naoshima

Posted on September 1, 2016 by tokyofox

Japan is actually made up of over 6000 islands but only around 400 of them are inhabited with four major ones hosting the majority of the 127 million population. There’s always something exciting and a little exotic about going to islands and one island I’ve wanted to visit for a long time has been Naoshima which is famed for its art.

The island is dotted with calming concrete art installations which is something even I can appreciate and I am severely lacking in knowledge when it comes to this subject! I was quite surprised how long it took me to get to Naoshima from Okayama. Trains to Uno and the boats from the ferry port in Uno weren’t as frequent as I assumed they would be. Thankfully I got up early and had already ticked Korakuen gardens and Okayama-jo castle off my list before 10am.

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No sooner had I arrived on Naoshima and I was off to my first port of call whilst most people who had been on the boat went to the tourist information. I went to the Continue reading →

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On The Fox Trail……At Saijo-Inari Shrine (Okayama)

Posted on August 29, 2016 by tokyofox

This shrine didn’t feature in my Okayama guidebook and wasn’t high up the online lists of recommended places. However, I had read about Saijo-Inari Shrine in a book called ‘The Fox And The Jewel‘ by Karen A. Smyers which one lady very kindly sent me a copy of having read some of my fox/inari stuff on Tokyo Fox, particularly ‘On The Fox Trail……In Oji (Tokyo).‘

That heightened my interest a bit but I still wasn’t too sure about visiting it due to it’s location. It’s a bit out of the way but is in the vicinity of the Airport so knowing that I wouldn’t be returning to the airport to leave Okayama I decided that I would just take a taxi as soon as I landed.

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Subsequently, I was already at Saijo Inari before 10am and the weather was absolutely Continue reading →

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Okayama 2016 Pt IV: Korakuen Gardens And Okayama-Jo Castle

Posted on August 26, 2016 by tokyofox

Three is the magic number in Japan when it comes to rating and numbering things. The Japanese like to categorise in three’s and one such example is the trio of most celebrated gardens. Okayama’s Korakuen Gardens are considered to be one of the three finest gardens in Japan with the others being Kenroku-en in Kanazawa and Kairaku-en in Mito.

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As I was up early each morning I thought I’d take advantage of them opening early and so was there at 8am (they actually open at 7:30am) with just a few other people present during my time there which was so Continue reading →

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Okayama 2016 Pt III: Kurashiki

Posted on August 23, 2016 by tokyofox

It had already been a long, long day for me but time is money and all that, so with a couple of hours of daylight remaining I decided to squeeze in one more site before retiring to my capsule hotel for some much needed rest.

Following my lone appearance at Washuzan Highland Theme Park I ventured on to Kurashiki which is a city famed for its Bikan historical area just fifteen minutes away from Okayama by train on the Sanyo Line. It was 5:30pm when I arrived and ten minutes later I had already found my way over to the historical quarter located by the picturesque canal area.

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The entrance area possesses some scenic townscape preserving history from  Continue reading →

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Okayama 2016 Pt II: Washuzan Highland Theme Park

Posted on August 20, 2016 by tokyofox

Have you ever met anyone who went to an amusement park by themselves? Probably not as that is pretty sad, isn’t it! As you can probably guess though, that is exactly what I did on my first afternoon in Okayama!

Keen to experience the Sky Cycle ride which brought this theme park to my attention a few months ago I had no real choice but to go alone with my wife out of the way. With no idea when I may next be in Okayama I thought I had better take this opportunity even if I did have to fly solo!

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Washuzan Highland is actually some kind of Brazilian themed amusement park where the staff all Continue reading →

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Okayama 2016 Pt I: Staying In A Capsule Hotel

Posted on August 17, 2016 by tokyofox

Accommodation in Japan, particularly the big cities, often tends to be a bit more cosy when compared with other global places. All the amenities are usually there but it’s all very compact with very little room to manoeuvre around the bed. And then there are capsule hotels!!

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These extremely small rooms are not for claustrophobic people, that’s for sure! They are almost reminiscent of corpse drawers in a morgue! Continue reading →

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Review: Films Inspired By Japan – Ronin (1998)

Posted on August 14, 2016 by tokyofox

When I first sat down to watch this I felt slightly reassured by its well-known cast of Robert De Niro and the safe pair of hands that is Jean Reno. The former may be a legendary actor but that hasn’t stopped him from making some truly awful films. Thankfully, this wasn’t one as it is actually very good.

Warning: Contains spoilers!

This gritty tale of trust is set and filmed in France (Paris and Nice) and it is these settings, along with the musical score, which really drives this movie for me. It’s a slow but tense opening as the viewer tries to figure out what exactly is happening – someone has something some other people require and they want to get it. Yes, it really is that vague!

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Just after the half way point in this 121 minute film, there is a conversation between Sam (Robert De Niro) and Jean-Pierre (Michael Lonsdale) about the Ronin myth giving an explanation about Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: Chiba-jo Castle

Posted on August 11, 2016 by tokyofox

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“There’s a castle in Chiba!” is often the reaction of the Tokyo-ite folk I teach when the subject of castles occasionally pops up into conversation. I then confirm that there is indeed one and that I have been there a couple of times with the first trip being a long, long time ago during my Continue reading →

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London Filming Locations: Buster (1988)

Posted on August 8, 2016 by tokyofox

This soppy 90 minute film doesn’t half romanticise criminality and ignore the violent assault of the train driver that really happened on August the 8th, 1963 when the Great Train Robbery took place. Phil Collins stars as Buster, the loveable rogue who steals a suit at the start of the film from a mannequin before hailing a taxi across the road from Broadway Market (below).

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Buster and his wife June (Julie walters) live at 30 Beck Road (below) in Hackney which is seen after 4 minutes. Both Cambridge Heath and London Fields on the Overground Line are around ten minutes away on foot.

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Just after the half hour mark, Abady House (below) on Page Street in Westminster appears and one of these flats is supposedly Continue reading →

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On The Fox Trail……In Oji (Tokyo)

Posted on August 5, 2016 by tokyofox

It’s not only Leicester City taking the Premier League by storm that has made 2016 the year of the fox but also back in March I realised my dream of visiting Zao Kitsune Mura Fox Village in Miyagi prefecture and that was followed by a family trip to the stunning Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto in the wake of Leicester claiming the title.

The Oji Kitsune-no-gyoretsu Fox Parade featured in the ‘TF Top 10……Quirky Japanese Festivals‘ post back in March. A group of local residents, dressed in traditional costumes and wearing fox masks, walk between two shrines on New Years Eve each year culminating in celebrations around bonfires.

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With the new season nearly upon us, and hoping for some luck, I decided to follow the Fox Parade trail from shrine to shrine whilst decked out in the new Leicester shirt and with only my Filbert Fox cuddly toy for company. Starting in reverse, the morning began at  Continue reading →

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