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 , , , , , , , , | 12 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 , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

Parents In Japan 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 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 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 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

Dining Out: Hotel New Otani

Posted on May 22, 2016 by tokyofox

IMG_5672  IMG_5675

Believe it or not, I actually had no input when it came to making a reservation for lunch at Hotel New Otani which has an association with James Bond having appeared in one of the Sean Connery films back in the 1960’s. Needless to say, I was fairly happy for us to  take my parents there when they were back in Japan recently after a 11 year gap. My original thinking was for us to all have lunch at the Shinjuku Park Hyatt where we went on the day we got married and which was also a filming location in ‘Lost In Translation‘ (2003). However, that was all booked up so I left it to my wife to sort out and she ended up making a reservation for Hotel New Otani not that she had any idea about the 007 connection!
Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Food & Drink, James Bond, Japan Filming Locations | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Golden Week J-League Football In Kobe

Posted on May 19, 2016 by tokyofox

IMG_5873  IMG_5872

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 →

Posted in Family, Sport | Tagged , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Leicester City’s Asian Influence Helps Win Premier League Title

Posted on May 16, 2016 by tokyofox

000_AB7FG-e1462649236939  IMG_6028

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 →

Posted in Leicester City | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Riding On The Star Wars Rapi:it Train

Posted on May 13, 2016 by tokyofox

IMG_5783  IMG_5816

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 →

Posted in Japan Travel, Star Wars | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments