Dining Out: Zakuro

Posted on April 7, 2011 by tokyofox

A couple of Sunday’s ago I went to ‘Zakuro’ which is a Persian restaurant in Nippori. My friend Peter found this place online and thought it might be interesting for a night out……and it was……although we probably won’t be rushing back! Call me boring but I don’t really like places where fun is supposedly created for you. Part of our 2000 yen course (plus 1000 all-you-can-drink) included not just a huge selection of food but also a belly dance.

I’d never seen a belly dancer live before and this particular dancer was very beautiful. I think she danced for about four songs but when the owner of the place (providing commentary and lines which he no doubt repeats every time!) pulled a girl up on stage to dance with the professional I knew the writing was on the wall for me or Peter as the only foreigners in the place.

Inevitably it was me who got pulled up ‘on stage’ (well, the middle of the floor where the dance was taking place!) which was of course embarrassing as I have no dancing ability. I don’t think anyone cared about that though or really took any notice of my ‘moves’. Another guy joined in and we tried to bend as far back as possible whilst on our knees and then he walked off so I followed too. In hindsight I should have taken over the dancing by performing the legendary David Brent dance from series two of The Office!

 

Peter was chosen next (above right) with some other random girl to do some pointless blowing out candles on a birthday cake activity (it was no-ones birthday!) though it did provide some entertainment as rather than feed each other (via linked arms) they chose to shove it in the face of the annoying host…albeit in a joking way.

The layout of the place was very basic with everything on the floor including the table which can make it difficult for us westerners who can’t stretch our legs out under the table a bit like in traditional Japanese restaurants. The walls were covered with belly dancer costumes and other middle-eastern attire and on walking in I knew it would be the kind of place where they try and get everyone up and dancing! As for the Iranian/Turkish/Uzbekistani food, it could only be deemed as alright. I didn’t falafel (feel awful!) the next morning but it was nothing special and believe it or not if it had been better I would have enjoyed this middle-eastern experience more.

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Review: Films Set In Japan – Walk, Don’t Run (1966)

Posted on April 7, 2011 by tokyofox

Set during the Tokyo Olympics of 1964 this was Cary Grant’s final film appearance and it sees him arrive in the Japanese capital on business but he is unable get any accommodation. Whilst at the British Embassy he sees an advert for an apartment which he soon fast-talks his way into sharing with Samantha Eggar. After a couple of days he then decides to sub-let his half of the place to a member of the USA Olympic team and then he tries to play cupid.

I picked up this film for a few quid whilst I was back in Britain over the Christmas period and finally got round to viewing it recently. The reason I watch all the films featured in the ‘set in Japan’ category on this blog is for the locations. Asakusa senso-ji temple is at the start of the film just to set the scene and once it gets underway we see the British Embassy, Yoyogi stadium, the outside and lobby of Hotel Okura and the streets of Toranomon. The film offers a rare glimpse of life in 1960’s Tokyo which I’ve heard just doesn’t really exist anymore.

Its a light, romantic comedy where the plot flows along gently with, in my opinion, the best scenes being when its just Grant and Eggar working their way round the absurd bathroom schedule. Grant provides further comedic timing when distracting Eggar’s fiancee on a boat trip as he tries to provide matchmaker. After that I feel it gets a bit silly and its maybe no surprise that Grant decided to call it a day at the end of this!

‘Walk, Don’t Run’ was perhaps one of the first true Hollywood films to be made in Japan and inevitably shows the usual exaggerated scenes of bowing and disgust at the thought of eating raw octopus which have popped up time and time again through international films set in the land of the rising sun. Overall, its a nice, little movie to fill a couple of hours when but walk, don’t run to see it!

Tokyo Fox Rating 7/10

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London Film Museum – Star Wars Special

Posted on April 3, 2011 by tokyofox

It seems kind of ironic that the highlight of the London Film Museum for most visitors is a Hollywood production! The main reason Richard Richard and I went there was to get our photo taken with droids C3P0 and R2D2 on a Star Wars set called the Rebel Blockade Runner, a.k.a. the Tantive IV which featured in ‘Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope’.

  

The cost of this was not included in the entrance fee so you have to cough up £7 for one photo or you can get two for a tenner. We went for the latter. The photographer will take a load of photos and then you select the ones you want but you can only get the copies in printed format. We scanned the photos when we got home and Richard Richard added the colour to the lightsabers.

                  

There are plenty of other Star Wars exhibits on display such as Han Solo in carbonite (from ‘The Empire Strikes Back’), Boba Fett, Darth Vader and stormtrooper mannequins, lightsaber and air-blaster props, production storyboards, behind the scenes photos and so on.

 

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London Film Museum – Batman Special

Posted on March 31, 2011 by tokyofox

As I’ve mentioned on here in the past I have always been a Batman fan when it comes to the super-heroes and there were a fair few items of memorabillia relating to that franchise in the London Film Museum. Richard Richard were very happy to have our pictures taken with a plastic Batman mannequin.

 

The most noteworthy item may well be Christian Bale’s batsuit (below) from ‘Batman Begins‘ (2005).

 

In addition to all that I also visited a couple of filming locations from the last couple of Batman films. Below is Criterion at 224 Piccadilly which is visited by Bruce Wayne in ‘The Dark Knight’ and is actually a French restaurant owned by Marco Pierre White.

 

The eye-lid entrance of CityPoint (above) on Ropemaker Street was the shooting location in ‘Batman Begins‘ where he arrived with a couple of playmates.

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London Film Museum

Posted on March 28, 2011 by tokyofox

I’d never even heard of the London Film Museum until one of my friends here in Tokyo took a trip there in the Summer on his visit to the UK. I decided then that the next time I was in England that I would go there so having arranged to meet my mate Richard Richard I thought I would combine the two. On an afternoon back in December we turned up at the museum which is next to the London Eye and diagonally opposite Big Ben. Richard Richard even managed to haggle the price down (usually 12 pounds) with the man selling tickets outside which was something I’d never dare to do in England but I was very grateful to save a couple of quid.

It was a huge place but I wouldn’t say it was as chock-a-block full of stuff like I expected. In fact, if it wasn’t for the Star Wars and Batman stuff I’d have been a bit disappointed. Those two franchises will get their own article in the following couple of blog entries. Apart from them highlights included being able to sit on the sofa with the Simpsons, the tardis and daleks from Dr Who (iconic things but a show I’ve never really got into), a room to make you feel like you were tiny and various costumes and framed exhibits from the likes of  Jason Bourne, Superman, Terminator,  007, Austin Powers, Indiana Jones and so on.

                 

Of course there were lots of other exhibits and special areas designated to ‘Charlie Chaplin’, ‘myths & legends’, ‘London on film’, ‘Zulu’ as well as special horror, war and comedy rooms.

Posted in Films, London Film Locations, TV Shows | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Review: Films Set In Japan – Monster (2008)

Posted on March 27, 2011 by tokyofox

It may be called ‘Monster’ but this 2008 movie was anything but a hit. It went straight to dvd release and having watched it the other day it is very clear to see why. The film revolves around two American reporters who are in Tokyo to interview some guy at the Ministry of Environment about global warming. During this interview, what they think is an earthquake occurs which it turns out are caused by a monster reminiscent of a giant octopus that has been dormant for centuries.

This film supposedly takes place in January 2003 but the two girls are dressed as if its summer wearing sleeveless tops. The film is told documentary style as if the video tape has been discovered after the whole ordeal which means you get 86 mins of grainy youtube-style handheld footage with the damaged film effects kicking in every few seconds by way of static and jump cut distortions. This kind of filming may have worked elsewhere but it just gets annoying here and even gives some people epileptic seizures.

I wasn’t aware of the storyline before I watched it so it’s just a coincidence that it has earthquake links given the tragic circumstances relating to the catastrophe on 11th March. There are scenes at the start of the film which are obviously filmed in Tokyo (Shibuya and at a hotel, probably in Shinjuku) but the caption giving the location is clearly not Shinjuku Gyoen as there is no giant wooden torii gate there. It can only be Meiji Shrine and it is there that you get to see people in the background walking around normally which is a little strange surely when the girls are in such a panic whilst the city is supposedly being terrorised by a monster.

Talking of which, you can see more of the monster (though you can sure hear it by way of sound effects in the background constantly) on the dvd cover below than you do in the whole film where you only see a tentacle or two swinging about for a few seconds here and there. The two girls switch camera from time to time and fill out the movie by running around “Tokyo” (which looks more like L.A.), crying, panicking, getting their faces dirty and generally running for cover in a country where the language barrier does them no favours.  The plot is paper-thin, the camera-work is awful (even by amateur standards), the ‘effects’ are repetitive and it relies far too much on gimmicks (its a tape of lost footage remember!) to try and cover up its many flaws with the main one being that this is a monster movie without much of a monster in it.

Tokyo Fox Rating 1/10

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Tokyo Radioactive Water Shock!

Posted on March 24, 2011 by tokyofox

Thought I’d try a bit of my own sensationalism for the title of this article a la the British tabloids. If the big earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant radiation problems weren’t enough we now face further radiation concerns over the tap water in Tokyo.

A report came out in the last couple of days saying that the amount of radiation in the water at Tokyo’s purification plant now exceeds the legal safety limits for infants which is 100 becquerels per litre. The legal amount for adults is 300 and the readings were around 200. It should be added that Japan’s standards are far more strict than in Europe. Again I am not taking these warnings too seriously just yet but it has affected my thinking a bit. It’s been said that a little water is not harmful but continued usage could result in health problems. I have to say that I did drink far less than usual after my run this morning and it was whilst I was out then that I saw the tap water in the park had been fenced off and the toilets were also closed (they are usually open 24hrs a day). I didn’t take note of what the signs said but I am sure it is to do with this government warning about radiation levels. Hopefully the water will be given the all-clear soon for all people as I do drink quite a lot most days and I don’t wanna have to buy bottled water which I have never really seen the point of. All tastes more-or-less the same to me.

I was back at work on Tuesday and Wednesday and it was pretty much business as usual although I did have to do a load of extra lessons yesterday as my colleague, who was working his notice, decided he might as well just bail out of the country last week when it was in ‘crisis’. The supermarkets, whilst still not fully stocked like in the past, are slowly returning to normal by way of bread and milk usually being available. The earthquakes keep on coming with there seemingly being one most mornings recently to wake you up. There has been over 700 after-shocks since the big quake on March 11th and the constant slight shaking of my apartment and the schools mean I have been feeling almost sea-sick at times. As I’ve stated many times there is no need to worry about any of this. It all seems very menial compared to the plight of the people further north.

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Nuclear Power Plant Crisis

Posted on March 18, 2011 by tokyofox

There’s no doubt that the goings-on at the Fukushima nuclear plant are of grave concern to all, particularly those nearby and one cannot pay anywhere near enough respect to the people working around the clock to try and get the situation under control. They are putting their lives on the line while it seems the rest of the world is in a panic.

    

It’s now a week since the big earthquake and I am STILL in Tokyo, some 200km away from Fukushima. Over the last few days panic has taken place but not in Tokyo itself. No, instead this has come from the media in the West who seem intent on sensationalising the story with some highly inaccurate nonsense including the woeful ‘Get Out Of Tokyo’ headline in British tabloid ‘The Sun’.

Of course this sells papers or gets viewers and then people from home get in touch with loved ones here and put pressure on them to leave. I’ve seen it happen a fair few times already with people leaving for peace of mind which is fair enough but according to the Japanese media is not necessary. The British embassy continues to state that there’s “no real human health issue that people should be concerned about” in areas outside of a 30-km radius from the Fukushima plant but it seems people don’t even get to that bit as they can’t get past the ‘think about leaving’ part. It’s almost like all the governments are competing with each other to show how well they are looking after their people.

I am fine and in good spirits. So too are most of Tokyo’s citizens. Sure there have been occasional blackouts, delayed trains and certain food shortages. Big deal. That’s nothing that most people can’t handle. Of course if it continues thats a different story but given that I could get most food items at the supermarket earlier it appears that there is no longer a problem in that sense. The real story is not the supposed Tokyo doomsday scenario being reported but that of the people way up north who are still suffering in terms of warmth, medicine and food aid. It goes without saying that the Fukushima nuclear plant is also the real story before someone points that out.

Of course some of you will be thinking I am being stubborn by not leaving but that is not so. I am paying close attention to the rolling news on both NHK and CNN and IF I feel its time to get out I will but I don’t feel any need to move on at this present moment. Perhaps ironic given that I am usually the first to get out of Japan when given more than four or five days off in a row. However, this is a different situation. Thanks once again for your messages, love and concern.

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Japan Earthquake – The Aftermath

Posted on March 14, 2011 by tokyofox

When I wrote my entry the other day I was on the wine as I needed to relax after such an eventful day. I thought that things would start to get back to normal in part the following day which shows how ill informed I was. I went bed just after 2am and no doubt slept through many after-shocks that night before my boss woke me up by phone at 06;19 telling me that my company was gonna be closed all weekend. Since then I have been pretty much glued to the rolling news coverage of the event on CNN and NHK. Given that mobile reception was non-existant on Friday the social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have been a godsend in getting messages to people and to discuss what’s going on which leaves one not feeling so isolated from it all. Its good to talk and that is exactly what a few of us did on Saturday night in an almost empty bar in an area which had become a ghost-town. I even managed to get a seat going home which never happens!

Apart from the after-shocks, which keep on coming even as I write this, I am not directly affected by anything now but there is the knock-on affect. Like Homer Simpson (who is an inept nuclear power factory worker for those wondering what that reference is all about), I still don’t really know anything nuclear power so I won’t go on about that. I’ll leave that in the capable hands of the TV networks.

Blackouts from the electricity companies, who get their power from up north, has been the hot topic of confusion in the greater Tokyo area over the last 24 hours or so. They announced that certain zones would have no electricty for a few hours at select times of the day. I can’t say that I was in too much of a panic at the thought of no electricity for a bit. Having said that I thought I’d better get my phone, PSP and iPod charged but as I was doing that I discovered that as I live in Tokyo I wouldn’t be affected as its the area’s of greater Tokyo which would suffer blackouts. Anywhere there was much confusion as to what city was in what zone and so on and I think in the end there was no need for them. That may be because certain convenience stores, restaurants and supermarkets were operating today using reduced-electricity. Personally, I would have just switched off all the neon lights in the likes of Shinjuku, Ginza and Shibuya. As I’ve mentioned on Twitter the anime porn shop next to my regular supermarket was fully lit with its flashing signs outside.

There has been growing anxiety amongst the Japanese which has led to lots of panic buying. All shops I’ve been in over the last few days have been completely devoid of bread and water but that doesn’t really bother me as I drink tap water and have been on a bread-free diet for a few months now. I just hope that people are limited by the shops as to what they can buy as some are just getting greedy and buying far, far more than they need. I took a break from the news earlier to go for a run and during that I saw at first hand the long lines of cars waiting to get petrol. One of the stations I also regularly use was completely closed.

I cannot stress enough how fortunate I am amid this crisis so far. Sure, I experienced the big quake (and its hundred and hundreds of after-shocks) and suffered a bit of damage to my wall but overall I feel pretty helpless and, like the engrossed viewers around the world, I am just watching the coverage from afar. Thanks once again for all your concern but it really is being wasted on me. It doesn’t get any easier seeing all these video’s of the tsunami and as time goes by more and more shocking videos are emerging. It really is

 

horrific stuff and my heart goes out to those affected by it.  However, the Japanese have emerged from terrible disasters time and time again and I have no doubt they will eventually be able to move on and rise again.

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Japan Earthquake Catastrophe

Posted on March 11, 2011 by tokyofox

Now before I start I should say that this is ‘my story’ and it in no way compares to the horrors seen in Sendai. Friday is usually my day off but today I was doing a cover shift in one of my schools. At about 2.50 pm I was coming to the end of a lesson and I had the students doing some pairwork exercise when they started to make noises and mentioned the word earthquake (no more than that as they were quite low-level students).

As there had been a couple of quakes in the days before that I’d not even noticed, I was pretty blasé about this one. However, it really shook the room more than anything I’ve ever experienced with things falling off shelves and so on. I still wasn’t taking it so seriously but decided to go downstairs from my position on the sixth floor where the streets were quite busy with people who had evacuated their buildings.

Over the following couple of hours there were many sizable aftershocks which sent a ripple through the school including a lesson between five and six pm with four 10 year old kids. They even got under the table for protection at one stage which is what you’re often advised to do in such a situation.

The last few lessons were cancelled and I left to take the train home but the station was closed as indeed were all stations in the region. I went back to the school where luckily the school manager had a car to take myself and my colleague James to a nearby station (which took over an hour despite only being a short distance away) where I then walked for 15 minutes to the station where my bicycle was parked.

It was only when I cycled home that I began to realise the extent of the situation (for there was no TV at work) as the streets were absolutely full of Japanese workers walking home long distances. I learned that I had got off pretty lightly. I tried to get some food at the convenience stores but they were all empty of bento boxes (meal sets) so I had to settle for a pot noodle.

I hadn’t even given my apartment much thought but when I walked in it was a bit of a bomb site (difficult to tell from the picture below) and as if the place had been tipped on its side. Stuff on the shelves was littering the floor but there was no real damage although I did later notice a few fairly big cracks in the walls, particularly under the window frame which was being hidden by my curtains. Even as I write this 10 hours after the original quake the room is still shaking almost constantly (albeit only very slightly) with a bigger shake occurring every 15 minutes or so.

As I watch the rolling news of this catastrophe on CNN I see the devestation that this 8.9 magnitude quake has caused and is indeed still causing. Horrific stuff. Thanks for all the messages of concern and please know that I am safe, well and in good spirits. It is way worse for many out there who are stranded and stuck in offices or on the streets for the night. I wish them all well.

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