On The Trail Of John Rain (雨) – Prelude

Posted on November 7, 2010 by tokyofox

I had a rare Saturday off work last month so took the opportunity to embark on my latest cycling challenge. Unlike my past ‘Cycling the Yamanote Line’ and ‘Cycling the A-Z of Tokyo Stations’ adventures this one involved no stations.

I decided to follow in the footsteps of half American-half Japanese assassin John Rain who is the creation of author Barry Eisler. There are six books in the series (and even his latest non-Rain book, ‘Fault Line‘, has a subtle reference to him) with four of them being set in part in Tokyo, particularly the first one ‘Rain Fall‘.

I came across a list of Tokyo locations on Eisler’s website a couple of months ago and since then I have been keen to go round these coffee shops, restaurants, jazz bars and hotels which have been name-checked and referenced throughout the novels.

Thankfully it was a lovely Sunny day and I left my apartment in North Tokyo at around 11.15am following the main road all the way to Nihonbashi which is about 14km away. Unlike the stations tasks this was to be a lot harder as I was reliant on the postcodes which are far from easy to use.

Unlike the UK there are no street names in Tokyo but rather areas and blocks within an area are numbered such as 1-29-21. The first number denotes an area of blocks known as chome which often need an ability to read the number in kanji (which I can thankfully do), the second number is the number of the individual block and the third one is the number of the house. Even Japanese people find it difficult to locate places as is shown by the number of them walking around with printed-out maps. I had never even thought about how to work out these addresses until a couple of weeks before this challenge and with so many places (about 20) to track down in one day a bicycle was very much needed given the huge number of times I would lose my way.

You can read ‘On The Trail Of John Rain Part I’ here.

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TF Film Review: Knight And Day (2010)

Posted on November 4, 2010 by tokyofox

When I first heard of this film a few months ago I had no real desire to see it and the critical reviews didn’t do too much more to make me want to see it. However, on one of the mornings last week I came across a show on Japanese TV which was heavily promoting this film and I guess it did what it intended as I got sucked in! Its big-name lead stars Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz were being interviewed at the Tokyo premiere in a way which as an English speaker I find frustrating to watch.

Of course I’m not so arrogant to think that there shouldn’t be translations for the many fans here in Japan but it does mean that the conversation (if it can even be called that!) just doesn’t flow with Cruise just saying one short line which is then translated by an out-of-shot woman and then he says another line and this process continues on and on.

 

Anyway, I realised after watching this preview show that this kind of film was maybe right up my street in terms of fast-moving action, a bit of comedy and a very simple storyline amid some exciting world locations. One of these places included Seville which made me happy as I went there at the start of this year and so already have photos of some of the landmarks which featured in the latter half of the movie.

Anyway, I watched this flick last weekend and particularly enjoyed it. Sure, the plot is a bit thin on the ground, has you questioning why some things are happening and is full of some action scenes which really are beyond belief. However, it’s good fun, fast-paced and its two main stars deliver what they were paid to do in terms of glamour, their celebrity power and commitment.

Tom Cruise plays a spy on the run called Roy Miller which was a surprising name as it was also the name of Matt Damon’s character in Green Zone earlier this year (an interesting comparison of the two can be seen here.) Of course Knight and Day won’t win any awards but it kept me entertained for its duration and I can’t really ask for any more than that.

Tokyo Fox Rating 7/10

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A Spook-tacular Halloween (2010)

Posted on October 31, 2010 by tokyofox

It’s getting more difficult to think of something original to do at Halloween in my classes. Last year I made a load of new Halloween flashcards and used Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ in a variety of different ways to help the students along with their English whilst (hopefully) creating an enjoyable atmosphere.

To be honest I wasn’t really gonna top that as it was only a few months on from Jackson’s death and so listening to one of his songs as a gap-fill or jigsaw listening was hot stuff. For adults I mostly just recycled that idea but I did also introduce the ‘Ghostbusters’ theme from Ray Parker Jnr. which, whilst no piece of cake, was a bit easier than ‘Thriller‘ especially when I gave some students the missing words albeit in the wrong order. Listening to this classic in turn led to a discussion on either the film, if they believe in ghosts or whether they had seen one and usually me teaching them the word sceptical which is what I am although I do like watching all that kind of nonsense.

I also managed to use my Simpson’s Horror Edition Halloween Top Trump cards a few times in the name of comparatives (e.g. Devil Ned is more evil than Zombie Skinner). As for the kids it was pretty much the same sh*t different year although I did come up with the idea of incorporating yet more Star Wars stuff into a lesson by making a Darth Vader mask.

Now, I know my Mum will at this point will be muttering something like “Well I still don’t understand what Star Wars has to do with Halloween!” but this annual festivity is about all things spooky and evil and very much includes science-fiction characters these days. The whole idea was not too dis-similar to that of Star Wars Celebration Japan in 2008 which included ‘The Vader Project’ which was where many different people and artists had come up with their own variations of the iconic Vader helmet.

          

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TF Book Review: The Bourne Legacy

Posted on October 21, 2010 by tokyofox

Whilst killing time in the Airport before my August Euro Trip I came across ‘The Bourne Deception‘ in the bookshop which surprised me as I had no idea the Bourne franchise was continuing. On my return I remembered to google it and found out that it wasn’t even the first novel to follow on from Robert Ludlum’s original trilogy which were of course made into three great films.

Eric Van Lustbader is now churning out novels about Jason Bourne although Ludlum’s name very much dominates the covers which I guess is the best way of shipping copies! He has written four books in four years which seems to be a bit excessive to me.

Anyway, I bought ‘The Bourne Legacy‘ on Amazon in September. This is the first one to follow on from the original trilogy and I set about reading it albeit through very sceptical eyes. I say this as I thought the originals were so perfect in going full-circle in terms of Bourne being found in the sea off the coast of Marseilles in ‘The Bourne Identity‘ and ending up in a Manhattan river in ‘The Bourne Ultimatum‘.

I consider my favourite franchises (Star Wars, Terminator, James Bond etc) to be very much of past decades (even though they continue to make new productions in this day and age) but the Bourne one is the most recent addition to that list and with a love for the character I couldn’t help myself from knowing what happened to him next.

The blurb on the back had me tutting straight away when I read that he was supposedly working as a Georgetown professor when he narrowly escapes a bullet from an assassin and two of his closest associates are murdered setting him up as the prime suspect as his legacy follows him. Now, I’m no literary critic, and though I did find it entertaining in parts, I wasn’t overly impressed.

The action scenes were quite good but Lustbader’s portrayal of our hero is clearly different in some ways to the tortured hero we know and love. There was no reference to age or skill limitations and Bourne seems to have turned into a cliche of himself with all these flashbacks and formulaic escapes. Although reading it was good escapism I hope they don’t ruin this franchise in the name of a fast-buck by making it into a film but it seems that that will not be the case.

You can see details of my Bourne travels through Tangiers here

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News Of My Flood Is Finally Leaked!

Posted on October 17, 2010 by tokyofox

I was woken up in the early hours of the 14th September by a dripping sound coming from my kitchen area. Initially I thought I had just left my tap on as anyone else would probably think. However, on closer inspection water was pouring through the roof but it wasn’t due to the heavy rain which had occurred the previous evening as that had stopped.

With very little in the way of buckets or pans in my place I was left to just stare and wonder what to do. I went upstairs to the apartment above where I was shocked to see water absolutely gushing out from under the door. I rang their bell a few times but no answer. I was starting to get a bit more anxious when my neighbours door opened and he could be seen trying to sweep out the water which was really coming through his roof and causing damage among his many items in that entrance foyer part of our apartments. I noticed that he had put down a few bin liner’s down to minimise the damage so I rushed back into my apartment and got some old unused bags from drawer and lay them down across the kitchen area in a way that would best catch and funnel the leaking water into the sink.

Eventually the landlord turned up and was able to turn off the water supply and enter the upstairs apartment which it turns out was vacant. An old pipe had gone rusty and then broke causing the mayhem that had resulted in us three guys having our sleep interrupted. Morning had already broken by the time things had calmed down. My neighbour had to have some new flooring put down, the guy downstairs from him had some damage to his ceiling and I was lucky to escape with nothing more than a couple hours less sleep!

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My 1st Time To Attend Japan’s No. 1 International Women’s Tennis Tournament

Posted on October 9, 2010 by tokyofox

Hoping to see the likes of Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, I went to the Ariake Coliseum (a real cr*p name I know!) in Odaiba on the 1st of this month to see the ladies semi-finals of the Toray Pan Pacific Tournament. I had bought a ticket in advance but Williams pulled out before the tournament, and Sharapova was knocked out earlier in the week by a 40 year old Japanese player who sadly didn’t go on to make it to the last four. That would have been good for the attendance but it wasn’t to be. I was in the end thankful that Continue reading →

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Sven The Fox

Posted on October 5, 2010 by tokyofox

Last weekend marked ten years since Leicester went to the top of the Premier League for a couple of weeks following a 0-0 draw away at Sunderland which I actually went to. How times have changed since then! None more so than the ridiculous number of managers who have come and gone in that time. 10 Managers as well as six caretakers to be precise!

Having ended last season in a blaze of glory hopes were high for the new season…..but then Nigel Pearson walked out for the glamour(?) of Hull after a fantastic two years in charge. Things haven’t gone well since then and Paolo Sousa seemingly had the team playing well but in hindsight he probably tried to change things to his style too quickly and no doubt he thought he would be given more time to impose his philosophy. That just doesn’t happen anymore and with one win in the first nine games he found himself out of a job.

Before that rumours had started to go round that our most successful Manager Martin O’Neill would return. Can’t say I ever believed it as the guy could get any job which comes up in the Premier League and going back to a club is never a good idea.

Then from out of nowhere Sven Goran Eriksson was the man being mentioned in the media and within a couple of days he was appointed. Some sceptics think its a publicity stunt due to the media circis that comes with his reputation both on and off the field. Time will tell if this is a good appointment but my thinking at the moment is that it can only be good as Sven’s track record is good and his high profile should attract a few bigger names. Where this leaves people like the recently signed Japanese player Yuki Abe I don’t know. I am watching his progress (or lack of it!) closely from here in Tokyo and hope that he in particular gets a chance to shine under Sven’s stewardship as I hope to see a Japanese kid or two walking around in a City shirt. Not as unthinkable as it once might have been!

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Euro Trip 2010 Pt XI: Split (Croatia)

Posted on September 30, 2010 by tokyofox

….and so we have reached the 15th and final part in this Summers trip to Europe. I arrived in Split at 11am after a four hour journey from Mostar in Bosnia & Herzogovena and after enquiring at a few private homes I soon realised that the price would be more than what I paid in Dubrovnik. Every owner seemed to be charging for the price of two people which isn’t so much use for a lone traveller! Eventually I found a place to stay the night and set off through Diocletians Palace and took the #1 bus to Solin to see its ancient ruins.

      

While certainly not on the scale of those in Pompeii they were still impressive and on top of that the place was almost deserted and I saw less than 10 people over the two hours I was there. At the end of Solin was a second century amphitheatre (my third on this Euro trip) and on the main road nearby was where I eventually took another bus on to Trogir which is a UNESCO World Heritage site with magnificent Romanesque and Renaissance arhcitecture. Having seen Dubrovnik’s old town only two days before I wasn’t overly amazed by Trogir or maybe I was just getting tired of seeing places on this two week trip.

     

If that wasn’t a busy enough day I visited Diocletians Palace again and then decided to fit in a quick trip to the popular beach behind my accommodation where I had a final swim whilst a band played next to it which was a good atmosphere for the twenty or so minutes I was there. After that I went back to Diocletians Palace for the third time to get something to eat and it was absolutely packed as there was some performance going on which I didn’t stay around for. My final image of Croatia and indeed the whole trip was of a sign outside the nearby supermarket showing no smoking, no dogs and no guns!

 

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Euro Trip 2010 Pt X: Mostar (Bosnia & Hercegovena)

Posted on September 27, 2010 by tokyofox

So having arrived in Mostar five hours later than I had hoped for I decided to spend the night there rather than leaving later that night. I don’t really like the idea of booking a ticket out of a place as soon as you arrive but sometimes it has to be done so I booked mine for the following morning.

Once that had been done I was then actually glad to meet a tout who walked me the short distance to Vila Sara Hostel where I would spend the night in a dormitory. Again, there (seemingly) wasn’t much more to this place than a touristy, cobbled shopping street running parallel to the river over which Stari Most (Old Bridge) crossed. Not just any bridge though as it was a reconstructed one due to the old one being destroyed on the 9th of November, 1993 as part of the Bosnian War resulting from the collapse of Yugoslavia. It now holds world heritage status and is the main feature of this place which I really liked. Some local boys even jumped off it in return for cold, hard cash from tourists. I would have liked to try this myself but I didn’t have my swimming shorts with me and I didn’t see any other tourists do such a thing.

 

The main street was lined with small cafes, restaurants, artists’ studios and souvenir shops selling a mix of tacky stuff as well as former-Yugoslavia goods. These included badges, coins, stamps and military stuff which I thought was quite fascinating as indeed was the Helebija War Photo Exhibition. Compared to every thing else its 2.5 Euro entry was expensive but I felt this was something that had to be done and there were some pretty brutal photos on show. The idea behind that being to show the real, raw face of war and its absurdity.

     

After that I ate some local food; cevapcici (minced lamb…or was it beef? I can’t remember!) which is like a kebab and is inspired by Bosnia’s Turkish heritage. It was simple, tasty, cheap and filling too and after that I explored a bit more with particular regard to buildings damaged in the war. I needed a few beers after all that and sat on the hostel rooftop chatting with some guys which was nice as its fair to say I hadn’t done too much socialising on the trip…or even had the opportunity to do so.

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Euro Trip 2010 Pt IX: Zagreb & Dubrovnik (Croatia)

Posted on September 24, 2010 by tokyofox

After Slovenia I had to spend about four hours in the nice but fairly unspectacular Zagreb while I waited for my night-train down to Split. One great thing about Croatia’s capital is that there is a legitimate free transport zone……not that that usually stops me from taking the risk in some of these European cities! I took a tram from the station in the lower town to the upper town which had a huge open square to just sit in and do some people-watching. A couple of pleasant churches were nearby and I walked up some steep steps to get a panoramic view of the city which was very adequate in all honesty.

 

I left Zagreb at 9.30pm and I was lucky enough to be in a cabin with just one other person which meant that we could have three seats each and get a fair bit of sleep during the eight hour journey. As soon as I arrived in Split I went next door to the bus station and took a fairly immediate bus down to Dubrovnik which pulled in at about 11am having travelled through some stunning coastal scenery on the Adriatic coast albeit with a quite rude Polish guy constantly leaning across me to take some poor quality photos through the window.

 

It seemed like I had been on the move for about 48 hours so my plan was to hit the beach in the afternoon to finally chill out by the sea and enjoy the 30+ degrees sunshine. Before that I had to find a place to stay which took a while which was mainly down to the fact that I underestimated the walk from the bus station to the outskirts of the famous old town!

Having got lost I somehow ended up at the YHA which was full but they said to just enquire at any house which had the word ‘sobe’ outside it. I enquired at the first house I saw, but the lady had no rooms available. However, she enquired for me at the neighbours house and within a few minutes I had myself a room in a house across from the YHA at a cheaper price. Furthermore, it was only about five minutes away from a beach which I went to straight away and I enjoyed some much-needed relaxation time on the pebble beach.

The enclosed ‘old town’ was my destination late afternoon and as marvellous as the marble streets and rose-tiled roofs were I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed with the place such were the rave reviews its received in recent times. I started walking up to the lookout point but for once I actually gave up on something as I was feeling tired and was content with the views I had already seen on the way up. I had an early night and left early to get on the 8am bus to Mostar in Bosnia & Herzogovena but was gutted to find out that it was already full so I had to wait around for five hours before the next bus.

    
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