TF Top 10……Jason Bourne Filming Locations

Posted on July 1, 2016 by tokyofox

The self-titled Jason Bourne movie hits cinema screens at the end of this month (in most countries but not Japan of course!) and marks the return of Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass for the first time since 2007. In the meantime there has been ‘The Bourne Legacy‘ (2012); a story taking place at the same time as ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’ (2007) with Jeremy Renner in the main role.

‘Legacy‘ was fine but didn’t really feel like a Bourne movie, try as much as it did to build a story round ‘Ultimatum‘. It is the original three which are the true heartbeat of the Bourne films and so I have cobbled together ten locations from that trilogy (plus a bonus one from ‘Legacy‘) which were filmed in the likes of New York, Paris, Berlin, London, Prague and Tangiers.

Here then, in no particular order, is the TF Top 10……Bourne filming locations…

1. Bourne’s Paris Apartment @ 104 Rue du Jardin, Paris (France): The Bourne Identity (2002)

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Bourne and Marie arrive at Bourne’s apartment which is 104 Avenue Kléber and not 104 Rue du Jardin as portrayed in the film. It’s here that Continue reading →

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On The Trail Of John Rain (雨) Part X – Paris

Posted on June 28, 2016 by tokyofox

Throughout the Rain series of feature-length books, anti-hero John Rain is the principal persona but he has often been ably assisted by a supporting cast, and some of those characters have been the main feature of short spin-off stories. These have followed Larisson, Delilah and Dox; the latter of which I covered last year when I was in Phnom Penh in Cambodia.

Delilah stars alongside the main man himself in a download-only (Kindle or audiobook) story called ‘Paris Is A Bitch‘ (2011) having first appeared in the 5th Rain book ‘Extremis‘ (originally published as ‘The Last Assassin‘) in 2006. She is a smart, sexy and sophisticated Mossad operative fluent in Hebrew whose profession is to seduce potential terrorists and help attain information about them before they are assassinated.

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She and Rain were bound by a mutual understanding of Continue reading →

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The Rise Of Rugby In Japan! The Brave Blossoms Play Scotland In Front Of A Record Crowd In Tokyo

Posted on June 25, 2016 by tokyofox

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Japan’s Brave Blossoms late injury time win over the giants of South Africa last year was undoubtedly the greatest shock in the history of the Rugby World Cup. Not only that but it was one of the biggest giant killings in sport and it is one that I never tire of watching. It rarely fails to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end whether I’m watching the last few minutes on YouTube or listening to the radio commentary clips.

Since then rugby has taken off and grown in popularity a fair bit. It now Continue reading →

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London Filming Locations: Mike Bassett England Manager (2001)

Posted on June 22, 2016 by tokyofox

Leicester City are playing Norwich City in the Mr Clutch Cup Final at Wembley Stadium. From the film’s opening scenes it’s obvious that those teams playing in a final can only be the work of fiction!! (*) Mike Bassett (Ricky Tomlinson) is in charge of the latter as they triumph 3-2 propelling him to fame and eventually the England hotseat.

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(*) Now that opening line was actually drafted a couple of years ago when I originally compiled these limited filming locations for this fly-on-the-wall mockumentary. Who on earth thought that my beloved Leicester City would ever go on to win the Premier League of all things. The kind of thing that no film scriptwriter would even come up with!!

There have been many football films over the years and to be fair they’re usually pretty Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: Iko-ji Temple Benten Cave

Posted on June 19, 2016 by tokyofox

Even though I’ve now been in Tokyo for over a decade I still love seeking out new and unknown places to write about here on Tokyo Fox. You win some, you lose some and though this one is probably closer to the latter, it was still an interesting experience of sorts just to go searching for it.

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Having sought out the “Eye on Shinjuku” I then took the train to Keio Yomiuri Land using some train tickets given to me by a student which enable me to travel anywhere along the Keio Line for free. The only other time I’ve visited this area was Continue reading →

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Attending Two J-League Matches In One Day Pt II

Posted on June 16, 2016 by tokyofox

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Hiratsuka was the location for our second match of the day in Kanagawa prefecture. I hadn’t really considered it’s actual distance from Yokohama for it actually took another hour from there and I was quite shocked at it’s geographical location when I later looked at a map.

Regular buses to the Shonan BMW Stadium were thankfully on hand (it would’ve been a 40 minute walk otherwise) from bus stop #11 (I think!) and about ten minutes later we were dropped off in Continue reading →

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Attending Two J-League Matches In One Day Pt I

Posted on June 13, 2016 by tokyofox

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Multiple matches on television has long been a common way of life for many football fans. It used to be just the World Cup when you could consume 2-3 games on the telly in one sitting but these days it’s possible to do such a thing on most days of the week if you so wish.

Watching back-to-back matches on the TV is one thing but taking in two live games on the same day is another. That is exactly what Scottish Neil (he of Shirokuma blog fame!) and I did recently though. Continue reading →

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Dining Out: Oki The Vegetable God’s Sushi Restaurant In Osaka

Posted on June 10, 2016 by tokyofox

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When catching up on the hours and hours of Star Wars Celebration footage on YouTube last year I was a little surprised to see a Japanese guy feature in the coverage from Anaheim in the USA. He was on one of the fan panels with a talent for carving all manner of Star Wars characters and starships from vegetables and he spoke pretty good English too!

His name is Oki and, following his Star Wars-related appearance, I did a bit of online stalking and made contact with him via Twitter. I often re-tweet his pictures and because of that we have messaged each other a little bit. Once I knew I was going to be in Osaka with my family in the Golden Week holiday season I got in touch with Oki and said I’d like to Continue reading →

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On The Fox Trail……At Fushimi-Inari Shrine (Kyoto)

Posted on June 7, 2016 by tokyofox

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For the last couple of years this wonderful place has been voted by foreign tourists as the number one site in Japan and it’s quite easy to see why but it hasn’t always been that way for this is actually a fairly recent addition to the essential Kyoto sights. When I first went there though there was Continue reading →

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Parents In Japan 2016 Pt IV: Kyoto

Posted on June 4, 2016 by tokyofox

Going to Kyoto in the Golden Week holiday season was one event that was filling me with dread ahead of our trip to the ancient city, and though it was inevitably busy it was never quite as bad as I had imagined it would be. The original idea was to do Kyoto on May 4th but once we extended our hotel stay by another night the better day was to be the 5th as that was the last day of the holidays and therefore many people would be travelling that day.

Within minutes of arriving at Kyoto station we had boarded the #205 bus and was on our way to Kinkakuji a.k.a. The Golden Pavilion (below) not that we had any idea how long it would take to get there! It was basically a one-road journey but due to the traffic (which actually wasn’t anywhere near as it can be in this city) it still took about 20 minutes to reach. The actual name of this place is Rokuon-ji Temple and, despite the crowds and the conveyor-belt nature of walking around it, it never fails to impress. Unlike other places in Kyoto though, this tends to be a fairly short stop on the tourist trail.

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It was quite easy to take a bus back to the station after that and from there Continue reading →

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