TF Top 10……Alternative Sights In Tochigi Prefecture

Posted on October 24, 2023 by tokyofox

 

The surrounding areas of Tokyo offer plenty of choice when it comes to day trips from the capital. Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama all have great places within 60-90 minutes travelling distance and Ibaraki prefecture (particularly Tsukuba city) is actually just 45 minutes from Akihabara. What to do though when you feel you’ve covered much of what those prefectures offer? The answer is Tochigi. Nikko is the most famous attraction and then there’s Kinugawa Onsen too. Main city Utsunomiya is famous for its gyoza dumplings but this list, in no particular order, is all about the less famous sights in the region.

1. Pyramid Continue reading →

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Cobra Kai Inspired Me To Go To A Real Karate Tournament But How Did Reality Compare With Fiction?

Posted on October 21, 2023 by tokyofox

It’s fair to say that the Karate Kid films in the 1980s had a profound affect on my life, and since the Cobra Kai series began in 2018 it has become my all-time favouite TV series. Of course it’s not only about karate but that is a staple. However, it is a sport which I’ve pretty much never watched outside of this franchise so it was time to change that and see what it was like in reality.

2023 has been a year of watching many different live sports including a fair few I’ve never previously seen in the flesh. Karate was one of those and so when I heard that the 13th World Continue reading →

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Alphabet Dating In Japan With My Wife Who Really Was Still Completely Unaware Of The Task At Hand! (S03E02: F-J)

Posted on October 18, 2023 by tokyofox

 

Seasons one and two (as well as the prequel season zero) of alphabet dating certainly pushed the boundaries of what a “date” is, and that continues in season three with even more tenuous examples for each letter of the alphabet. For the record, doing something together (no matter what it is!) counts as a date in this series which is not always about visiting glamorous places and doing exciting things but just getting out there and exploring locations we wouldn’t normally go to. Without further ado, lets kick off the final season of alphabet dating with what we did for the second set of letters…

F is for Continue reading →

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TF Flashback: A Whirlwind Tour of Five Prefectures In Japan’s Northern Region (2018)

Posted on October 15, 2023 by tokyofox

 

Just five weeks after my previous trip to Japan’s Tōhoku region in the north of Japan I was back for a more widespread adventure taking in five prefectures including four that I had never previously visited. All of this was done using local trains and due to their more limited nature in this part of the country I had to plan everything very carefully which often meant having to run to various locations and back! I was away for five nights this time and these were the main highlights…

Day 1: I travelled up to Continue reading →

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Why Is There A Landmark Dedicated To Tomato Ketchup In This Yokohama Town? (Plus Bonus Vegetable Monuments)

Posted on October 12, 2023 by tokyofox

In 1859 Yokohama was the first port to open to international trade in Japan after 250+ years of isolation. It therefore became the birthplace of Japan’s modernisation as it gradually adopted cultural innovations and trends from overseas before spreading it to the rest of Japan.

Western vegetables that are now taken for granted, such as cabbages, tomatoes, celery, cauliflower, radish and asparagus were introduced to Japan around this time. Some foreign residents began farming in the Yamate area of Yokohama and this trend eventually spread to neighbouring villages including Continue reading →

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Dining Out: One of Japan’s Shabbiest Vending Machine Restaurants

Posted on October 9, 2023 by tokyofox

Fine dining is all good and well but it’s not really for me. I’ve experienced it a few times and of course the cuisine has been great but I’m well and truly out of my comfort zone, and somewhat struggle to enjoy dishes which I know cost a fortune! Right at the other end of the scale was this grubby little shack of a place with a range of retro vending machines providing food for anyone dropping by.

Back in early August I noticed this place en-route to find a Thai temple in the middle of the countryside in Continue reading →

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My Parents Came To Visit Us In Japan For The 1st Time In 7 Years!

Posted on October 6, 2023 by tokyofox

When I was last back in the UK nearly five years ago my parents mentioned that they were thinking of coming to visit us in Japan again which surprised me a bit as I didn’t really think they’d be back. My dad even gave me a list of places he was interesting in visiting based on this blog’s contents! Of course Covid_19 then came along and that list was forgotten about. I found it again though recently when sorting through some old things and so we used it as an itinerary guide not that he could remember anything about the places he’d earmarked on it!

My mum and dad arrived in Tokyo quite late at night in mid-September. It was their third visit to Japan but the first time since 2016. Of course the most important things we did were Continue reading →

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A Brit Finally Plays At Tokyo’s Top Tennis Tournament & I Got To Meet Her!

Posted on October 3, 2023 by tokyofox

The top tennis stars can often make an absolute fortune from the game (prize money,  sponsorship, endorsements and so on) but one does wonder what it must be like for the lower ranked players who play different tournaments every week knowing that they’re fairly unlikely to go deep into it or even qualify for the main draw. It must require great mental strength and belief in your abilities.

I can’t pretend my original aim was always to go and see the lower ranked women on the qualifying weekend before the Toray Pan Pacific Open (TPPO) properly started. The original plan was to Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: Wat Is A Thai Temple Doing In The Middle Of Nowhere!

Posted on September 30, 2023 by tokyofox

Given that such a temple is something I’d barely give a look at if I was in Thailand, it is perhaps a little strange that I made such a big effort to see one in Japan. However, this  temple is not only unique for being Thai but it’s also located in the middle of nowhere, and the difficulty in getting there made it an even more appealing destination for me back in early August.

I’m sure many might question the idea of a 7-8 hour Continue reading →

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Cricket In Japan? Yes, It Really Does Exist!

Posted on September 27, 2023 by tokyofox

The Barmy Army!

Whenever baseball is mentioned in my English classes some students do actually ask me about cricket due to the vague similarities of the two sports. I rarely say too much about it but since learning a few years ago that Sano City in Tochigi Prefecture was the home of cricket in Japan I have bamboozled the majority of those asking with that fact, and not a single person has ever been aware of it beforehand.

It was of course quite surprising to me as I really did not think cricket was played in Japan, and indeed it is not Continue reading →

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