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 2 which includes some weird and wonderful buildings in the Tōhoku and Tochigi regions.
1. Sagae City Office, 1-9-45 Chuo, Continue reading
The first ever platform 0 I came across was in Chiba Prefecture when I was on my way back from a semi-naked mens mud festival (hadaka matsuri) in early 2011. The seed was sewn for what eventually became a much bigger passion of mine nearly a decade later but annoyingly for me I only took one fairly poor vertical-style photo of a sign back then.
There are just two stations in Chiba with a platform zero and the other one was rather frustratingly at a station I had changed trains at before. This is actually the case for many of the platform zero stations which I visited long before my interest in such phenomena grew. When I went to Chōshi in January this year I thought I should combine it with a couple of extra stops, and first up was Continue reading
The Keio Line principally connects Shinjuku to the western side of Tokyo with seven different lines running through to the likes of suburban city Hachiōji and the mountainous area at Takaosanguchi. All of it’s stations actually lie within the boundaries of Tokyo and, thanks to regular free tickets, Tokyo Fox has dug deep to come up with a few places worthy of visit beyond perennial favourites like Mount Takao and Tama Zoo……
#10 – Kitarō Park @ 1-58-5 Continue reading
Planning trips is something that I do enjoy, and to be fair I often pack the schedule with way too many things. By contrast, this four day holiday to Malaysian Borneo was quite flexible and open either side of my scheduled 48 hours in the jungle. Typically though this was the one time when it really did not all go to plan!
My previous two trips in 2008 to the Philippines and Thailand had been fairly beach oriented so I was looking for something a bit different which is why I decided to go to the jungles of Borneo. After a long transit flight via Kuala Lumpur I arrived in Kota Kinabalu hoping to check in to a so-called 24 hour hostel but that wasn’t open! The nearby Lucy Backpackers also seemed closed but having Continue reading
Season one (as well as the prequel season zero) of alphabet dating certainly pushed the boundaries of what a “date” is, and that continues in season two with some very 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 continue with the fifth part of season two…
U is for Continue reading
Upon learning last year that two of only seven suspended railways operating in the world were in Japan was something of a surprise, and I instantly had it in mind to visit both despite having ridden on them in the past. Back then though I just rode on them without any care or interest. I ticked off the Shōnan Monorail in Kanagawa Prefecture in August and then set my sights on a trip to Chiba for the other one.
However, I was then informed that there was a third one in Japan in the form of the Continue reading
With mindless action and fighting scenes aplenty taking place in simple stories across multiple countries, one would think that the John Wick films would be right up my street. However, for some reason this seemingly appealing franchise just hasn’t imbedded itself in my heart and I do struggle to put a finger on why exactly that may be but try to explain I will.
Keanu Reeves is certainly not an actor I have anything against, and I like him in many roles but not this particular one. It’s no doubt an unpopular opinion given how loved this character is for many people. He was quite an intriguing character in the first one as we got to know him a bit. Actions speak louder than words with him maybe as he doesn’t say much and is too Continue reading
It’s fair to say that many British people love to recorrect anyone who ever dares to say the word soccer in front of them. Other codes of football are of course prevalent in countries such as Australia, Canada, Ireland and America. What us Brits call American Football is simply just known as football in the USA.
It’s a sport I’ve never really had too much interest in. I know I had some Miami Dolphins playing cards as a kid, and maybe saw the Continue reading
Seeing the first sunrise of the new year is a popular tradition for some Japanese people. As you might expect, some of the most common places to be in the very early hours of January 1st are by the sea. Kasai Rinkai Park, Umi-Shibaura station, Jonanjima Seaside Park, Osanbashi (Yokohama), Miura Beach (Kanagawa) and Cape Inubō (Chiba) are all quite popular. They all take a bit of effort in terms of going to bed early on New Years Eve ready to rise in the dark very early the next morning to get to the destination of choice ahead of the sun coming up at around 6:45 am.
Up until last year pretty much all I knew about the one in Chiba was that it was in Chōshi which is the most easterly point in the prefecture. I wasn’t in Tokyo on New Years Day and even if I had been there’s no way I’d bother with such a thing to be honest! However, a few days later I Continue reading
The problem with holidays in Japan is that almost everyone (outside of the service industry) takes them at the same time whether it be Golden Week (late April/early May), O-bon (August) or New Year. Places get extremely busy and the prices of accomodation and flights can double or even triple!
Thankfully though we have a holiday home-of-sorts to visit in Shizuoka Prefecture when we want, and so in Golden Week we headed off to Izu for five nights. We actually could have gone for longer but this time decided to Continue reading
Tokyo Fox (東京狐) 