The latest trip to our holiday home in Shizuoka Prefecture was a little different as this time I took our little dog there by myself with my wife joining us later that evening. On an incredibly hot morning it was far from a relaxing journey for me as I needed to continuously fan him to keep him cool and stop his panting.
Still, he was very well behaved (no barking etc) and got a fair amount of Continue reading
One of the sports I had tickets for in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics was field hockey but of course Covid_19 put paid to my plans to watch that. I can’t say that I had a real itch to see a live hockey match in the aftermath of the Olympic games but that changed this year as I became more and more interested in experiencing sports I’d never seen live before.
Whilst googling just about every Olympic sport a few months ago I came across this Somo Japan Cup tournament involving the Japanese men’s and women’s national Continue reading
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: Squid Park
Location: Mizukubo Continue reading
The hot and humid summer months in Tokyo bring about a series of outdoor festivals and events which are very much a part of Japanese culture. It’s kind of sad to say but these festivals are never too appealing for me as it’s just too hot and they are just too crowded for my liking. I occasionally make rare exceptions like I did for the tanabata star festival at Zojoji Temple back in July but such events just aren’t for me. However, as soon as I heard Continue reading
With views on a clear day of Suruga Bay, the Pacific Ocean and Mount Fuji, Shimizu in Shizuoka Prefecture is always an appealing place to visit. My previous visit two years prior to this one was a bit of a dreary, wet experience but this time the conditions were very sunny with clear blue skies thus making the setting Continue reading
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 4 which includes some weird and wonderful buildings in Kanagawa and Yamanashi.
5. Kawaramachi Continue reading
Like many people in this country, I have only really followed the fortunes of Nadeshiko Japan (the women’s national football team) team since they triumphed over the USA on penalties in the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final. Winning the biggest prize of all came at an important time for a country which had a few months earlier suffered greatly due to the earthquake and tsunami that ripped through parts of Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures. It gave the country a much needed lift and really helped put women’s football on the radar for much of the nation.
Since then, Nadeshiko Japan have had their ups and downs. They’ve twice won the Asian Cup but they Continue reading
One of the modern symbols of the hot and humid summer in Japan is a fairly popular Japanese drink which is consumed by many at various festivals. The beverage in question is called ramune (ラムネ) and there is a museum-of-sorts dedicated to it and its unique glass bottle which has a great sense of nostalgia for a lot of people.
With the majestic Mount Fuji lingering in the background, the S-Pulse Dream Plaza can make for a beautiful setting on the right day. This shopping mall is located in Continue reading
As my foreign trips began to slow down (if not stop all together!) about five years ago I started to look closer to home for quenching my wanderlust travel thirst. The Tōhoku region in the north of Japan was an area I was interested in so I made plans for a short trip to Fukushima and Miyagi Prefectures.
A city located in Fukushima on day one was my first destination, and getting there took a while as I chose to do it by local trains which took just under eight hours! Sōma Continue reading
As far as trips away go this one was for the maximum possible time available to me. As soon as I finished work on the last Saturday in June I headed straight down to Izu and then returned the following Saturday going straight to work. As is often the case, much of our time there was fairly standard (housework and lots of gardening) but there were a few notbable things we hadn’t done before.
The most interesting thing we did together was probably Continue reading
Tokyo Fox (東京狐) 