TF Top 10……Football Match Day Experiences In 2024 So Far (Part 1)

Posted on June 9, 2024 by tokyofox

 

In 2023 I went to 20 football matches in Japan which was double what I did the year before. Whilst I am highly unlikely to attend 40 this season (not that I want to!) I should at least equal last year’s tally. It’s certainly been a strong start (by my standards!) with 10 under my belt already. That total so far includes nine different grounds (including three I’d never been to before) in five prefectures to see football in six competitions so not a bad mix.

A few of these have had their own blog posts but the majority of them weren’t really Continue reading →

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My First Time Watching Gymnastics Was Rather Overwhelming!

Posted on June 5, 2024 by tokyofox

During each Olympic games, the likes of athletics and swimming are quite prominent which is probably because there are just so many events within those. After that, I reckon gymnastics is the next most important Olympic sport as it too has many disciplines under it’s banner.

Last year I attempted to attend as many different sports as possible. Overall, I saw 21 including 15 that I’d never previously been to. Athletics and swimming were among that sizable list but one sport that eluded me was gymnastics. Of course there were some gymnastics events in and around Tokyo but they Continue reading →

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6 Nights In Izu: A Blackout, Birthday Celebrations, Over-Tourism, Star Wars Day, Walking Adventures, J3 Football & The Birthplace of Long-Distance Calls!

Posted on June 1, 2024 by tokyofox

Heavy rain, cooler temperatures and no electricity for 24 hours meant our latest trip to Izu didn’t get off to a good start at all but thankfully things did get much better and it actually ended up being quite an interesting holiday featuring some new places.

As soon as the electricity was back on mid-afternoon we went out to regular haunt Mount Komuro to enjoy the clear blue skies and sunshine. It was my wife’s birthday on day two of our trip and, following a stressful morning of dealing with electricians, she opted to ascend the mountain by Continue reading →

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Twists & Turns Aplenty At Japan’s Title-Deciding Rugby Play-Off Final

Posted on May 29, 2024 by tokyofox

At the end of a long league season, it is my opinion that the team finishing top should be crowned as champions. However, some sports have some money-spinning play-off matches to decide who the champions are. Since the turn of the century, my home country England has used this system in slightly different styles to end the rugby season which more often than not has seen the team that won the regular season losing out in the Play Offs. Would the same happen in Japan?

Cup final day at the National Stadium

The Rugby League One Championship Play-Off Final was contested between the top two sides at Japan National Stadium on a sunny afternoon last Sunday. Saitama Wild Knights finished on top of the regular season with a 100% Continue reading →

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Izu Coastal Adventures: A Uniquely Coloured Torii Gate, Northern Izu’s Finest Beach & The Real Life ‘Shogun’ Setting

Posted on May 26, 2024 by tokyofox

One of the nicest times to visit the Izu Peninsula is spring time when the climate is warm and pleasant without the ridiculous heat and humidity of the summer months. Coastal areas in particular make for good trips from our base in Ito and this post features three different places I explored on our most recent travels in this wonderful part of Shizuoka Prefecture.

First up is the bay just to the north of Continue reading →

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The Tokyo Derby You’ve Never Heard Of!

Posted on May 22, 2024 by tokyofox

Ask any fans of Japanese football what the Tokyo Derby is and the majority of people would probably say it’s FC Tokyo versus Tokyo Verdy although supporters of current J1 table toppers Machida Zelvia may suggest otherwise! Hipsters may suggest that it’s Tokyo Musashino against Criacao Shinjuku in the fourth tier of the football pyrmaid which is  known as the Japan Football League (JFL). However, there is actually another Tokyo Derby one league down from there and I recently witnessed it live and in person.

It may have been the Tokyo Derby but it was actually played in one of the Continue reading →

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Surviving Without Electricity For 24 Hours In The Modern Day Is More Difficult Than You Might Think!

Posted on May 18, 2024 by tokyofox

They say history doesn’t repeat itself but yet again our most recent trip to Izu got off to a very bad start.

This picture was from December 2023. Just imagine a similar situation but minus the candles!

With sunny days on the horizon I decided to travel light but that did mean I felt a bit stupid and out of place dressed in just shorts and a t-shirt on the day we went to Izu in Shizuoka Prefecture. That was because the temperature had dropped a fair bit from previous days. It was Continue reading →

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I Went To The Most Prestigious Club Final In Asian Football For The 2nd Year In A Row!

Posted on May 14, 2024 by tokyofox

After surprisingly getting a ticket for the Asian Champions League (ACL) Final last year (although technically it was the 2022 final) I really was not expecting to go to another one anytime soon. However, when I noticed that Yokohama F. Marinos had made it to the semi final of this year’s tournament I began to think it was a possibility.

Marinos just about squeezed their way through the semi-final against Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai and so I waited patiently for Continue reading →

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Is It Worth Visiting The Japanese Fishing Village Which Was The Setting For The TV Series Shogun?

Posted on May 10, 2024 by tokyofox

Whilst watching the recent Disney+ TV show ‘Shōgun‘ I was surprised to hear the name of a familiar fishing village mentioned throughout the ten-part series. It is located a short distance north of our holiday home on the east coast of the Izu Peninsula but despite making dozens and dozens of visits to this region of Shizuoka Prefecture over the years we have never done anything more than pass through it without ever even thinking of going there. That changed on our most recent holiday but is it actually worth a visit?

The aforementioned TV series is the critically acclaimed adaptation of James Clavell’s epnoymous 1975 novel which was set in the complex period leading up to the turn of the 17th century. This historical-fiction is told through the perspective of English navigator John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) after he is shipwrecked off the coast of a humble  Japanese fishing village called Continue reading →

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

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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