24 hours In Sendai

Posted on April 1, 2016 by tokyofox

Ahead of this trip I asked a number of students what to do in Sendai and true to form they all said to eat gyutan (beef tongue). Food in Japan really is an obsession and whichever part of Japan I mention the response is usually food-based. It had already been one hell of a long day by the time we arrived in Sendai on the back of visits to Zao Fox Village and Funaoka. After a short rest break at our hotel we popped out to get some gyutan and it was only by chance that we stumbled upon this popular restaurant (below) where you are limited to one hour.

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The Tall White Statue Towering Over Sendai City & Beyond!

Posted on March 29, 2016 by tokyofox

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There’s something about Daibutsu (buddha) and kannon statues which keep me coming back for more and more. As mentioned in a long forgotten post in May 2006, I have seen my fair share of them, and an extra few have been added to the collection since that post nearly a decade ago. Over the years in Japan I have seen the famous ones in Nara and Kamakura as well as the record breaking ones in Ushiku (the worlds 3rd tallest statue at 110 metres high) and Nokogiri-yama which is Japan’s largest. Obviously height isn’t a measure of what is large!

I’m not certain where the one in Sendai sits (or stands) in the scheme of things but Continue reading →

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A Quick Stop In Funaoka

Posted on March 26, 2016 by tokyofox

Whilst in the vicinity of Miyagi prefecture I thought we’d make a quick stop in Funaoka en-route to Sendai. Having left the awesome Zao Fox Village just after 1pm we managed to get a shared taxi without waiting and this time went to Shiroishi station (as opposed to Shiroishizao which is a stop on the shinkansen) and from there we took the Tohoku Line a couple of stops to Funaoka.

It wasn’t exactly a top priority but with no real urgency to get to Sendai, and having been recommended it by a student, I thought we might as well drop by Funaoka Castle Park to see a pretty tall statue (24 metres including the four metre stand) standing atop the hill. Well I say we, but in the end it was just me as my wife decided against it preferring to just relax in the station instead!

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The 300 metre long slope car was not in operation but it only took me about 10-15 minutes to hike on up to the top where a splendid looking Continue reading →

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On The Fox Trail……At Zao Fox Village (Miyagi)

Posted on March 24, 2016 by tokyofox

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The fox (kitsune in Japanese) has long been an important animal in local folklore and mythology. Inari is the rice god and so powerful that humans can only communicate with him by sending requests via his messengers; foxes, who were seen as protectors for they ate rodents trying to eat rice. Furthermore, foxes can change into beautiful women that bewitch men, they are believed to possess superior intelligence, magical powers, long life and they gain power as they grow older. It is for these folkloric reasons that the fox is such an intriguing and mystifying animal to many.

Of course, none of this matters too much to me as my main interest in foxes stems purely from it being the nickname of my beloved Leicester City Football Club. The fox image was first incorporated into the club badge in 1948 as the county of Leicestershire is famed for foxes and fox hunting. Having watched the foxes (which it has to be said is a name only ever really used in the media!) win again in the Premier League, and on the back of just three hours sleep we left Tokyo very early last Sunday morning to visit the spiritual home of Tokyo Fox.

Japan is the land of places devoted solely to one animal whether it be owl, cat or dog cafes, the monkey onsen, deer parks or islands full of rabbits or cats. We’ve been to some of those over the last few years but Fox Village in Miyagi Prefecture was the one I have very much wanted to visit ever since I heard about it a few years ago. Continue reading →

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On Screen #8 – Arabian Peninsula

Posted on March 20, 2016 by tokyofox

Mention the words Middle East and many westerners may well have negative thoughts  but replace those words with Arabia instead and far more evocative and romantic images are likely to come to mind. Filming in the area known as the Arabian Peninsula has been fairly limited but the world’s richest country, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has featured in recent times for a number of films.

The cities of Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the UAE have undergone substantial development over the last couple of decades. High rise ultra modern buildings have been popping up all over the place and nowhere was this more noticeable than in ‘Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol‘ (2011); the fourth instalment in the Tom Cruise movie series based on the 1970s TV show.

The 829.8 metre high Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the worlds tallest man made stricture and it quite memorably featured in one of the most hell raising scenes as Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) finds himself climbing around outside using high-tech adhesive gloves in order to access and hack the building’s security systems. Tom Cruise even did his own stunts.

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‘Sex And The City 2‘ (2010) was memorable but not for the on screen content. Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: Mount Takao

Posted on March 18, 2016 by tokyofox

The fire-walking festival near Takaosanguchi last Sunday may have been our main goal for the day but before that I thought we might as well climb Mount Takao with the idea being to take a different trail to what we did back in November 2012.

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There are all manner of hiking routes up Takao-san and back then we took the #6 route but this time we ascended via Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: Fire-walking Festival In Takao

Posted on March 15, 2016 by tokyofox

This time of year is a particularly good one for the slightly more quirkier of the many, many festivals that take place in Japan throughout the year. A great deal of the ones featured in the recent Tokyo Fox ‘Top 10……Quirky Japanese Festivals‘ post take place between February and April and last Sunday my wife and I attended (and indeed participated!) Hiwatari Sai a.k.a. the fire-walking festival in Takao.

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This festival is basically a cleansing and purification event where monks offer prayers for the usual things like world peace, protection from misfortune and good health. Starting at 1pm this one certainly took a while to get going. You could even say it was a slow-burner! Continue reading →

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London Filming Locations: The Living Daylights (1987)

Posted on March 12, 2016 by tokyofox

Very slim pickings here but in true Tokyo Fox style this post is bulked out by a few bonus locations and other bits and pieces relating to this 1987 film. Roger Moore was long past his best and after seven movies at the helm he made way for a new James Bond. Enter Welshman Timothy Dalton; the man designated with breathing a bit of new life into the 007 role. The raised eyebrow would be no more for Bond as Dalton’s interpretation of the fictional British Secret Service agent was more earnest.

The MI6 Headquarters have never really settled for just one consistent home over the years and for this film (and this film only!) Malaysia House at 57 Trafalgar Square plays the part of MI6 HQ. The nations capital appears on 22 minutes as a brief glimpse of Charing Cross tube station is shown before the “Universal Exports” sign (often used as the cover name for MI6) is shown hanging above the door to the Malaysian Tourism office (below) on the south side of the Square.

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Get Your Kits Out For The Lads – My Leicester City Replica Shirt Collection

Posted on March 8, 2016 by tokyofox

Ever since my 8th birthday I have regularly been getting the latest replica Leicester City replica shirts as worn by my heroes….as well as some less-liked players of course! Back in 1985 I spent £5 on what was already a dated Admiral away shirt (below) by the time I got home!

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Days later I got the new home one (below) for £ Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper Special: TF Top 10……Quirky Japanese Festivals

Posted on March 5, 2016 by tokyofox

It’s a well-known fact that things are done differently here in Japan, far different to Western countries, and this is particularly apparent by way of the the many, many festivals that take place around the calendar up and down the country. There are thousands of local festivals featuring traditional dances and so on which are interesting but as ever it’s usually the quirkier ones which attract the interests of the foreign community. The ones in this list are all within (relatively) easy travel distance from Tokyo metropolis which includes surrounding prefectures Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba.

Here, in no particular order, is the Tokyo Fox top 10……quirky festivals…

1. Kanamara Matsuri @ Kanayama Shrine, Kawasaki-daishi (Kanagawa)

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This is the quintessential quirky festival to attend on the first Sunday each April. Of course there’s some meaningful message behind it all about AIDS and fertility but that seems to get lost amongst the huge crowds that pack this small shrine. More details here

2. Nakizumo @ Senso-ji Temple, Asakusa (Tokyo)

Nakizumo - Sumo Wrestlers Making Babies Cry!  Nakizumo - Sumo Wrestlers Making Babies Cry!  Continue reading →

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