TF Flashback: Travels Around Japan’s Most Southern Main Island With My In-Laws (2014)

Posted on May 5, 2024 by tokyofox

 

It’s been a decade since I last visited Kyushu; the most southern of Japan’s main four islands. Back in May 2014 my girlfriend (now wife) and I met up with her parents and Momiji the dog (god, rest her soul) to travel around Kumamoto Prefecture. First, we had a few days to ourselves in Nagasaki. When thinking of this city first thoughts often turn to the atomic bomb that was dropped on it in 1945. Urukami is the hypocentre of the explosion and there are a few bomb-blasted relics, monuments and paper cranes in the spacious concrete park.

The Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum was basically our first port of call and it was inevitably a chilling Continue reading →

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Show Your Star Wars Passion, Strength & Power By Visiting This Unique Collection of Artwork In Tokyo

Posted on May 1, 2024 by tokyofox

Before I knew all about the festivities taking place in Yokohama, my main focus for the ‘May the 4th be with you’ season (it’s no longer just a single day of celebrating one’s love of the sci-fi saga!) was just to visit a Star Wars art exhibition taking place in Tokyo.

Many Parco shopping centres in Japan have some kind of Star Wars related theme running through them at the moment but the one in Shibuya is holding a “Passion. Strength. Power” exhibition featuring a unique collection of work from about a dozen artists. Tokyo Fox was there on the opening day last Continue reading →

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The Countdown To Star Wars Day 2024 Has Begun With 11 Days Of Festivities In Japan’s 2nd Biggest City!

Posted on April 27, 2024 by tokyofox

Way back in 1994 on a Bank Holiday Monday I was listening to the radio in the UK when I first heard the “May the 4th be with you” line which in the last decade or so has really taken off around the world with various Star Wars-related events taking place to mark the occasion. Japan has got in on the act in recent years and now one can expect to see some kind of event or celebration of the franchise every year.

The day does fall nicely for people living in Japan as it is in the middle of the annual Golden Week holiday which means the vast majority of people (outside of the service industry) are not at work and able to partake in any activities should they wish to do so. Mind you, there is competition from proper, more traditional holidays like Greenery Day and Children’s Day.

The Star Wars themed stuff used to be only for the big day itself but in the last few years it has Continue reading →

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Modern Architecture Outside of Tokyo #6 – Nagoya

Posted on April 24, 2024 by tokyofox

 

For over a decade Tokyo Fox has focused on the modern architecture of Tokyo with a long-running ten part series featuring over 100 interesting-looking buildings. During that time I have also taken photos of some unique structures outside of the capital city but had no place to showcase them until now. This is Volume 6 which includes some weird and wonderful buildings in the city of Nagoya.

5. Nagoya Continue reading →

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Interesting Japanese Playground Structures #44 – Rocket Park

Posted on April 21, 2024 by tokyofox

Many of the parks and children’s playgrounds in Japan, particularly in Tokyo, are quite poor compared to other countries in terms of space, surroundings and a lack of grass. However, a handful of them do tend to possess extremely creative structures and they will be explored in this series.

Nickname: Rocket Park

Location: Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: A Great Buddha, A Floating Castle With Movie History, Ancient Burial Mounds & Ticking Off Another J-Stadium

Posted on April 18, 2024 by tokyofox

Five years ago I went to Japan’s hottest city of Kumagaya for an international rugby match and took in a few minor sights in the hours before kick off. As I came away from the ground a fellow niche-specialist Japanese friend asked if I’d seen the big Buddha statue in that area. As a fan of such statues I was disappointed that I was unaware of it but made a note of it for future occasion. That time finally came round a couple of months ago when I went back to this area of Saitama Prefecture.

Take the train for just an hour Continue reading →

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Naomi Osaka Is The Star Attraction In Tokyo As Japan Compete In The World Cup Of Tennis

Posted on April 15, 2024 by tokyofox

For the vast majority of the year, tennis is an individual sport (of course there’s doubles but I don’t take much interest in that form) but there are a few times each season when it’s a team game as the best players represent their country in the World Cup of Tennis. It may be a squad of five players but one big star player can almost single handedly carry a nation through the competition. Would that be the case with Japan?

The Billie Jean King Cup took place last weekend in various locations around the world including Tokyo where Japan were up against Kazakhstan. This tournament, as well as the men’s equivalent (known as the Davis Cup) has a very different style and atmosphere to the Grand Slam tournaments as the spectators can use Continue reading →

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TF Top 10…….Longest Bus & Train Journeys I Can Remember Doing!

Posted on April 10, 2024 by tokyofox

The journey to a place is something I truly believe is part of the travel experience and over the years I have amassed large amounts of time sitting on all kinds of trains and buses going to new places. Shoe-string budget travel is usually good for an anecdote or two and once you’ve recovered and got over the brutality it can put a smile on your face. British YouTuber Backpacker Ben often gets content from going on cheap and very long bus or train journeys which got me thinking about some of the ones I’ve done.

The rules are that this doesn’t include flights or car journeys and can include multiple forms of transport combined as long as the transit time is very limited. I’m sure there are one or two notable Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: Tomb Raiding Just North of Tokyo

Posted on April 6, 2024 by tokyofox

Late last year one of my friends posted on Facebook about driving round an area just north of Tokyo in the name of visiting various kofun (ancient burial mounds). The city they’re dotted around was a place I knew about from my last trip to a nearby area five years ago, and seeing his pictures prompted me to finally go there to see it all for myself.

Take the Shonan-Shinjuku Line north of Ikebukuro for about an hour and you’ll arrive in the city of Continue reading →

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TF Flashback: Family Fun, Filming Locations, Food, Football, Formula One, Footy & Friends Reunited In Melbourne & Sydney (2019)

Posted on April 2, 2024 by tokyofox

It’s now been over five years since I went to a country other than the one where I was born and raised, and that itself was in January 2020. Back in March 2019 I visited Australia for just under two weeks, and it was an unbelievably busy trip. The main reason for the visit was to see my eldest sister’s family, and my parents who were visiting at the same time. A few other family members as well as some friends from various parts of my past were also met. There is way too much stuff to include in this compilation post so this is just what I consider to be the best of the filming locations, sights, eateries, friends and family, old haunts and live sport!

On the back of an overnight flight, I had Continue reading →

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