Golden Week J-League Football In Kobe

Posted on May 19, 2016 by tokyofox

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Watching J-League matches close to home is hard enough at the best of times due to work, family and kick off scheduling so to take in a game whilst away from Tokyo needs a fair bit of luck. Fitting in games around sightseeing, travel and other commitments is never easy but somehow I’ve managed to get lucky in Hiroshima (last year in Golden Week), Sapporo (last June) and Kobe this Golden Week can now be added to that list.

Under it’s former name; the Kobe Wing Stadium, three World Cup group games (Russia 2-0 Tunisia, Sweden 2-1 Nigeria, Brazil 2-0 Belgium) took place during June 2002 and furthermore it has been announced as one of the venues for 2019 Rugby World Cup. This was a bonus for me as I have Continue reading →

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Leicester City’s Asian Influence Helps Win Premier League Title

Posted on May 16, 2016 by tokyofox

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Miracles happen, they really do. Who in their right mind ever thought Leicester City could ever even challenge for the Premier League title let alone go on and win it in such style! Not me, that’s for sure! For 32 years I have supported the team of the city I was born in and I never, ever believed we had any chance of achieving what has recently happened. I thought the best we could ever really do was to win an FA Cup or perhaps make it into the top six but even those dreams seemed beyond us given the way football has gone in recent years with the so-called big teams always having the financial clout to dominate. My beloved Leicester City have changed all of that though and the story of our title success has gone global and given hope to so many other clubs.

Leicester has the highest proportion of Asian Indians or British Asians anywhere in Britain and it’s football fans have a lot to thank other parts of Asia too for their success starting inevitably with  Continue reading →

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Riding On The Star Wars Rapi:it Train

Posted on May 13, 2016 by tokyofox

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On September 4th last year it was #ForceFriday and the journey towards ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ (2015) began. From that date onwards, all manner of marketing promotions and tie-ins relating to the saga were introduced in the run up to the much anticipated December release.

Among the thousands of promotions in Japan were the ANA R2D2 and BB8 airplanes and, continuing the transport theme, there was also the Star Wars Rapi:it train. However, this was Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: Narita-San Shinshoji Temple (Chiba)

Posted on May 10, 2016 by tokyofox

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There’s far more to Narita than the Airport but making the effort to travel over that way is another thing. I’ve wanted to return to the Narita-San temple complex for many years but have always felt it too far to go just to see some temples! In my mind the best option was to visit the town before taking an evening flight but that never quite happened. However, when we finished sightseeing in Sakura earlier than expected, the chance was there to visit Narita before continuing on to Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: Sakura Tulip Festival (Chiba)

Posted on May 7, 2016 by tokyofox

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There’s been a few posts recently on Tokyo Fox about sakura (cherry blossom), and though this one is also about flowers, it’s actually about the city in Chiba called Sakura. The reason Scottish Neil and I left Tokyo so early on Sunday a couple of weeks ago was to make the most of our day trip and take in a couple of sights before watching Kashiwa win away at Kashima.

We arrived at Keisei Sakura station in Chiba just before 10 am which by chance was perfect timing for Continue reading →

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TF Flashback: Universal Studios Japan (2005)

Posted on May 4, 2016 by tokyofox

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The ‘Back To The Future‘ ride at Universal Studios Japan (USJ) will close on 31st May 2016 meaning that the ride will become completely extinct as the ones in Florida and Hollywood closed in 2007 much to my annoyance as I really wanted to ride it again. On my last visit in 2011 I was unaware that the ride had been replaced by ‘The Simpsons‘ ride but I guess I should just be grateful that I did get to experience it on my first trip in May 2002.

For my Christmas holidays in 2005 I went on a brief tour of Japan that started in Fukuoka, continued on to Hiroshima and finished in Osaka albeit with plenty of side-trips to the likes of Kyoto and Nara too. I stayed at Keisuke’s for five nights and on our first day Continue reading →

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London Filming Locations: The Da Vinci Code (2006)

Posted on May 1, 2016 by tokyofox

It’s ten years since this Ron Howard-directed film adaptation of Dan Brown’s controversial 2003 novel was released to fairly negative reviews from the critics. Personally, I have mixed feelings about this American mystery thriller having reviewed it after watching it on it’s release in May 2006. I went into it cold and without expectation as I hadn’t read the book.

Filming took place in France, Malta and Scotland as well as in a handful of English counties including Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Hampshire, Surrey, West Sussex and London too. First up is the French police station on 50 minutes; the interior of which was filmed on the first floor of the Farmiloe Building (below) on St John Street in Smithfield. This place has been used in a fair few films such as the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy where it was Gotham City Police Station, and the director also used the place in ‘Inception‘ (2010) as the pharmacy.

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The circular designed Temple Church (below) on Inner Temple Lane is Continue reading →

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Away Day Travel To Ibaraki Prefecture

Posted on April 29, 2016 by tokyofox

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“Look at these scenes, just look at these scenes” exclaimed the BBC commentator John Motson in excitement as the Republic of Ireland equalised in injury time against Germany at World Cup 2002. (Watch the clip here.) The climax of that group match was one of the most memorable moments of the tournament for me, and it took place in Kashima where I went last Sunday.

One day I’d like to have visited all the Japanese stadia used in 2002. Admittedly, the Sapporo Dome was the main one for me with Saitama Stadium 2002 and the Nissan Stadium in Yokohama not too far behind. The Kashima Soccer Stadium falls into the next category as one that is still just about possible to get to on a day trip.

Two weeks on from our trip to the Todoroki Athletics Stadium, Scottish Neil and I decided to go on a real away trip a few hours away to Continue reading →

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Leicester City References In English Lessons

Posted on April 26, 2016 by tokyofox

As someone who teaches English as a foreign language in Japan I have to get my kicks how I can when it comes to amusing myself. In the past I’ve incorporated books, music, songs, toys, Star Wars, Kung-fu Panda and learning to read via penalty shoot outs into my lessons. Leicester City can also be added to that list albeit in slightly more subtle ways!

Up until a couple of years ago, practically none of my students had ever heard of Leicester or Resuta (レスター) as they call it. However, following the Richard III car-park discovery story, Princess Mako (a member of the Japanese Imperial family) studied museology at the University of Leicester in 2014 which resulted in some students actually being aware of my birthplace. In June 2015 Japanese striker Shinji Okazaki joined Leicester City and then amazingly, against all the odds, they have gone on to take the Premier League by storm this season which has brought the name to the attention of a few more than usual.

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Generally speaking though, very few students have ever heard of either the team or the city. The nearest we get to acknowledgement is when Continue reading →

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A Little Known Shinjuku Eye-Con

Posted on April 22, 2016 by tokyofox

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Shinjuku was revealed to be the the world’s busiest train station a few years back in a top 50 list that was pretty much monopolised by Japan. It’s not until the number 24 position that a non-Japanese station appears by way of Paris’ Gare du Nord! Of course it’s a little uncertain how the data was calculated and how accurate it is as India’s stations are not represented in the chart despite reportedly handling millions of passengers every day.

This place really is more than just a station and it is often included in lists of top attractions in Tokyo with so much to see and do beyond the train side of things. Though the “attraction” featured in this piece only takes a minute to see (not really sufficient enough to merit it’s inclusion under the usual Tokyo Daytripper banner!) it is worth Continue reading →

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