Every now and again I see a post on Facebook of a global map showing which sports are the most popular in each country. Of course there are no real surprises for the likes of England (football), the USA (american football), Australia (Aussie Rules Football), Canada (ice hockey), India (cricket) and so on. However, in East-Asia it’s often a different story.
Sure, football, baseball and basketball are popular (depending on the country) but so are the likes of Continue reading
The summer season in Japan can be brutally hot and whilst many just prefer to stay indoors there are some who head for the beaches to cool off in a different manner. The nearest ones for Tokyo residents are in the neighbouring prefectures of Kanagawa and Chiba but for those looking slightly further afield Shizuoka is also a possible day trip destination though a nights stay is probably recommended.
Izu is famed for its beautiful beaches with the jewel in the crown probably being Shirahama which, along with a few other great ones in that region, is located in the south of the peninsula. However, there are about five beaches Continue reading
July is the month when some of the top European clubs traditionally like to come to Japan for some pre-season money-spinning friendly matches against Japanese opposition. Teams this summer have included Manchester City, PSG, Inter Milan, Celtic, Bayern Munich and don’t forget that Barcelona came to play Vissel Kobe back in early June. Ronaldo’s club Al Nassr from Saudi Arabia were also in the country for a couple of matches too.
There is often great debate about whether these matches are worth attending when the prices are more than double the usual cost, if not more! A J1 or J2 match will definitely provide a better atmosphere as the regular hardcore fans are in attendance. However, there’s generally a different type of Continue reading
Had I actually bothered to take a closer look inside this shrine on my previous visit a few years ago it would’ve saved me this extra trip down the coast!
Back in 2021, I made a couple of trips on consecutive days to this spot on the coast but it was only when returning home on the latter that I found out about the interesting 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 3 which includes some weird and wonderful buildings in Saitama, Chiba and Ibaraki.
5. Museum of Modern Art Saitama (MOMAS), 9-30-1 Tokiwa, Urawa-ku, Saitama – The entrance to this art museum is a glass building within the awe-inspiring grid-like construction that was designed by architect Kurokawa Kisho. It is located in the heart of the fairly spacious Kitaurawa Park and has been around since November 1982. More details here
4. Masuii House, 3-2-5 Nakaaoki, Saitama – The shape of this place is crazy but if you look closely you’ll see that there are a couple of support poles not that I’d still be too comfortable with them if I was at the end of that building!
3. Yokoshi Tomonokai Religious Association, 5752-1 Kamigo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki – This futuristic temple’s mysterious architecture began it’s construction in 1996. It’s shiny golden dragon bone can be spotted from afar in this area of fields and some of the building’s transparent roofing gives the impression of super high dimensional light which I guess all fits in with the beliefs of the religion which were once taught inside. More details here
2. Imba Nihon-idai Station, Inzai, Chiba – This building, characterised by it’s clock tower and Tower of Babel dome-like structure, was designed to be a symbol of Chiba New Town once completed in July 2000. It is on the Keisei Electric Railway or Hokuso Railway.
1. Hotel UFO, 1-34-21 Makuharihongo, Hanamigawa-ku, Chiba – There really is no difficulty in identifying this particular building which is located less than 10 minutes on foot from Makuhari-Hongo station on the Sobu Line. This mysterious building is actually one of Japan’s famous love hotels with 24 rooms available. More details here
Click here to read ‘Modern Architecture Outside of Tokyo #1 – Hokkaido & Tōhoku’
Click here to read ‘Modern Architecture Outside of Tokyo #2 – Tōhoku & Tochigi’
Click on the following links to see previous Tokyo Modern Architecture posts…
The western side of Shizuoka Prefecture is a long, long way from the Izu Peninsula in the east, and can take over two hours to traverse when using the local train. Wanting to see a football match at a stadium used in two World Cups combined with a trip to see the recently opened ComicCon Cafe Museum in Hamamatsu was what I initially had in mind. There was a castle and restaurant chain in the area I also wanted to see so a plan was hatched to try and do those four things in one long day.
Despite only arriving in Izu the previous night, I was off again very early the following morning to get a 6:30 am train up to Atami where I then connected to a Tokaido Line train heading west. I arrived in Shizuoka’s largest Continue reading
When Brendan Rodgers walked out on Celtic to join Leicester City in February 2019 he was replaced by Neil Lennon who got them over the line for a fourth successive treble. The next season didn’t go well though and Lennon’s two year spell was soon over. He was eventually replaced by an unknown Australian manager called Ange Postecoglou who left Yokohama F. Marinos to take up the Parkhead hot seat.
Fans were not happy at first but he soon won them over and wrestled the league title back from Rangers before going on to achieve a domestic clean sweep last season. His success was partly down to his knowledge of the J-League, and he was able to tap into a relatively unused market for British teams. He exploited the Japanese market very effectively by snapping up the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate for bargain prices.
Presumably this friendly fixture on July 19th was arranged with the intention of seeing Continue reading
Since 1999, there have been 15 Star Wars Celebration events. The majority of them have been in the USA with four in Europe and just a solitary one in Asia. That latter was held in Japan at Makuhari-Messe (Chiba) between the 19th and 21st of July in 2008 and I was lucky to be attendance, not that I knew what a Star Wars Celebration event was as this was a time before my fandom had really taken off. Things were never the Continue reading
Season two of this dating challenge wrapped earlier this year in January after about 10 months of working our way through the alphabet. This series is one that probably looks quite fun and exciting from the outside but behind the scenes it can be quite Continue reading
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Having only watched a single game in 2020 and 2021 respectively I really was not expecting to do too many more matches last year, especially with the strict Covid_19 measures still in place for much of the season. However, I … Continue reading
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