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.

Screen Shot 2015-09-23 at 13.42.08  Screen Shot 2015-09-23 at 13.43.34

(*) 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 →

Posted in London Film Locations | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

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.

IMG_5170  IMG_5150

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 →

Posted in Quirky Japan, Tokyo Daytripper: | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Attending Two J-League Matches In One Day Pt II

Posted on June 16, 2016 by tokyofox

IMG_6232  IMG_6236

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 →

Posted in Sport | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Attending Two J-League Matches In One Day Pt I

Posted on June 13, 2016 by tokyofox

IMG_6184  IMG_6176

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 →

Posted in Sport | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

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

Posted on June 10, 2016 by tokyofox

IMG_5833  IMG_5830

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 →

Posted in Food & Drink, Japan Travel, Star Wars | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

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

Posted on June 7, 2016 by tokyofox

IMG_5921  IMG_5952

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 →

Posted in Family, Japan Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

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.

IMG_5901  IMG_5903

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

Posted in Family, Japan Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Parents In Japan 2016 Pt III: Osaka

Posted on June 1, 2016 by tokyofox

Although Kyoto was the main place to see in this area I decided that Shin-Osaka would be a more convenient and cheaper location to base ourselves in case we wanted to go to Nara, Kobe or Himeji which are all slightly easier to get to from Osaka. Our hotel was only a short walk from Shin-Osaka station but we didn’t discover that till the second day as on our arrival we struggled to locate our hotel. The rooms were tight to say the least but naturally included everything one could possibly need.

We headed out locally on the first night to see what Shin-Osaka had to offer. Not much it would appear but there were a few options and we eventually settled on a restaurant (below) specialising in kushiage (deep fried skewered meats and vegetables dipped in tonkatsu sauce) washed down with a few beers to celebrate the most momentous of days for any Leicester City fan.

IMG_5761  IMG_5763

It was an early start for me the following morning as I Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Japan Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Parents In Japan 2016 Pt II: Hiroshima

Posted on May 29, 2016 by tokyofox

IMG_5751  IMG_5732

Both my parents agreed that, family stuff aside, the highlight of their holiday to Japan was our day trip to Miyajima where we all climbed Mount Misen. On my last few visits to see the in-laws I’ve been seeking out alternative sightseeing spots to the obvious ones but this time there was no need for Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Japan Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Parents In Japan 2016 Pt I: Tokyo

Posted on May 26, 2016 by tokyofox

IMG_5660  IMG_5667

The start of the Golden Week holiday season in Japan coincided with my parents coming to visit us for the first time in over a decade. Nothing more than dinner at our new-ish place on the first day and the following day began with a longer than expected walk around the Imperial Palace (above), past the National Diet Building and on to a rather expensive lunch at the Hotel New Otani (below) in Akasaka-Mitsuke.

DSCN0000 (12)  IMG_5690

After lunch we left via Yotsuya station and went a couple of stops on to Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Tokyo Daytripper: | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments