On the Trail of John Rain (雨) Part IX – Phnom Penh

Posted on October 5, 2015 by tokyofox

Naturally John Rain is the main star of the Rain series of books and not surprisingly he has a string of allies and an even longer list of enemies. To date, the author Barry Eisler has released four short stories (via download only) featuring a selection of these characters and ‘The Khmer Kill‘ (2012) follows his closest ally Dox in Cambodia.

Dox is a freelance assassin and former Marine Sniper with a Southern twang who first appeared in the 2005 third Rain novel ‘Rain Storm‘ (now retitled as ‘Winner Takes All‘) proving himself an able and trustworthy partner for Rain and subsequently they have gone on to co-operate and even form a friendship in the Rain books which have followed. Continue reading →

Posted in Asia Travel, Books | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Super Sunday Soccer In Saitama

Posted on October 2, 2015 by tokyofox

There’s been a fair few sporting posts on Tokyo Fox recently, and here is yet another one but this should be the last for a while! For the third consecutive weekend, and just two days after watching the Toray PPO tennis in Ariake, I decided to check another football ground off the list of relatively-close-to-home stadiums.

As a Leicester City fan, I’ve been no stranger to watching second tier football over the years though that’s thankfully changed in recent seasons. I’m not sure what the English equivalent of J2 would be but probably around the Continue reading →

Posted in Sport | Tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Moving Out 2015

Posted on September 29, 2015 by tokyofox

The Tokyo Fox Global Operations Centre will have a new home from October. Yes that’s right, it’s time to up sticks again and move on after 2.5 years in our current residence. For the last couple of weeks, my wife and I have been busy sorting through our stuff and boxing it up whilst trying to throw some of it away. Some of my things are still in boxes from when I last moved out in 2013!

IMG_2656  Continue reading →

Posted in Japan Life | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The 4 Grand Slams May Have Finished But The Women’s Tennis Season Continues in Tokyo!

Posted on September 26, 2015 by tokyofox

The tennis season may be considered as good as over to some but there is still a bit of tournament action taking place outside of the four Grand Slams. On the back of the U.S. Open it always seems like the Toray Pan Pacific Open (TPPO) and the Rakuten Open men’s tournament (which follows in October) are a Continue reading →

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TF Top 10……Tokyo Movie-Related Places To Eat

Posted on September 23, 2015 by tokyofox

The combination of food and film usually conjures up images of an over-sized box of salty popcorn being consumed in a cinema but that’s not the only way of integrating the two. Among the many, many culinary delights of Tokyo city are some restaurants and places which have a connection with movies so here, in no particular order, is the Tokyo Fox top 10……Tokyo movie-related places to eat.

1. Lost In Translation (2003): Shabuzen @ 10-8 Kamiyamacho, Shibuya Creston Hotel B1, Shibuya-ku.

LIT1  6Nov2009 007  Continue reading →

Posted in Food & Drink, Japan Filming Locations, Movie Locations | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Late Japanese Sporting Drama!

Posted on September 21, 2015 by tokyofox

On Saturday night I was honestly in tears as a late winner provided a fantastic climax to a Japanese sporting event. That’s enough about the Cherry Blossoms last gasp victory against South Africa in the Rugby World Cup in England though! Instead, I am talking about matchday 11 of the J-League game I was at over in the city of Yokohama!

With five different J-League grounds under my belt this season I thought I would try and add a few more before the end of the J-League seasons in November. Although I’ve been on a tour of the stadium which hosted the 2002 World Cup final, I’ve never seen an actual game there so I decided to pop along to see home team Yokohama F. Marinos in action.

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

TF Flashback: A Long Daytrip to Spa Resort Hawaiians

Posted on September 18, 2015 by tokyofox

When a colleague told me recently that he was going to this place I was happy to respond and say that I had actually been there. What I didn’t realise was that it’s actually located in Fukushima prefecture which seems so far away now but back in 2004, and living in Chiba, it was just a ride away on the Joban Line. Continue reading →

Posted in Japan Travel, Tokyo Daytripper: | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Review: Films Inspired By Japan – Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. (1990)

Posted on September 16, 2015 by tokyofox

Yet another silly movie with p*ss-poor acting but I guess that’s what we’ve come to expect from a low budget independent production company like Troma. ‘Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.‘ is actually a spin-off from the Kabuki-Boy character seen in ‘The Toxic Avenger Part II‘ (1989) which is actually one of the films showing at the cinema (along with ‘Black Rain‘) in the background of an early scene involving the protagonist. Company founder Lloyd Kaufman jokingly mentioned he was making a movie about the character and Japanese investors became interested so you can blame this country for this comical sci-fi cop adventure seeing the light of day! Continue reading →

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On the Road for Friday Night Football North of Tokyo

Posted on September 13, 2015 by tokyofox

Dare I say it but I have actually quite enjoyed the recent international break following the fortunes of the like of England, Wales and Northern Ireland at the business end of European Championship qualification. It was also nice to see recent Leicester recruit Shinji Okazaki turn out for the Japan national team and he managed to get on the scoresheet a couple of times against Afghanistan.

However, the break from domestic football has brought about two weeks of almost non-stop heavy rain but thankfully the sun was finally out a couple of days ago (did it hold off all night though? Find out later!) as the J-League resumed live from Saitama with Friday Night Football featuring my Kashiwa Reysol boys from Chiba on the road at Urawa Reds.

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London Filming Locations: GoldenEye (1995)

Posted on September 10, 2015 by tokyofox

After a six year hiatus the James Bond franchise returned in 1995 with Irish actor Pierce Brosnan at the helm as the series was modernised a bit in the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War and this ended up providing background for the plot.

Following opening scenes in Switzerland (filling in for the USSR) and Monaco, the capital of England appears as we see the debut of the MI6 building, Vauxhall Cross (below) at 85 Albert Embankment. It would go on to appear in ‘The World Is Not Enough‘ (1999), ‘Die Another Day‘ (2002) and ‘Skyfall‘ (2012) and just so you know that it really is London, a red double decker passes by in the foreground on 36 minutes.

Screen Shot 2015-03-29 at 15.57.30  Dec2010-Jan2011 187  Continue reading →

Posted in James Bond, London Film Locations | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments