Did Seeing Japan’s 42nd Best Castle Cushion The Blow Of A Hugely Disappointing Morning?!

Posted on July 24, 2023 by tokyofox

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 →

Posted in Japan Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Bhoys Are Back In Town! Scottish Champions Celtic Play Their Part In A 10 Goal Thriller In Yokohama!

Posted on July 21, 2023 by tokyofox

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 →

Posted in Sport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Reflecting On 15 Years Since Star Wars Celebration Japan & Looking Ahead To The Next One In 2025!

Posted on July 18, 2023 by tokyofox

 

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 →

Posted in Star Wars | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Alphabet Dating In Japan With My Wife Who Was Still Completely Unaware Of The Task At Hand! (S02E06: Review)

Posted on July 15, 2023 by tokyofox

 

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 →

Posted in Films, Food & Drink, Japan Travel, Quirky Japan, Sport | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

TF Top 10……Football Match Day Experiences In 2023 So Far (Part 1)

Posted on July 12, 2023 by tokyofox

This gallery contains 2 photos.

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 →

More Galleries | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

This Japanese Star Festival Wasn’t Quite What I Wished For On Our Wedding Anniversary!

Posted on July 9, 2023 by tokyofox

 

July 7th is known as tanabata in Japan and it celebrates the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi. According to legend, the Milky Way separates these lovers, and they can only meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month albeit just for a brief moment.

Not only was it tanabata but it was also our ninth wedding anniversary. We have rarely done anything to celebrate the occasion but decided to do a few things this year culminating in this star festival which is one of Japan’s most colourful traditional celebrations.

I had only heard about this event a few days earlier and I was keen to attend as soon as I saw some images showing Continue reading →

Posted in Japan Life, Quirky Japan | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

A Completely FREE Matchday Experience At The Stadium Which Hosted Football In The Tokyo Olympics

Posted on July 6, 2023 by tokyofox

The matchday football experience in Japan (or anywhere else for that matter!) can be an expensive one. Not only is there the cost of the ticket but then transportation has to be considered, and then there is maybe some food, drink and merchandise on top of that. It can all add up, especially for families, but I wanted to see if it was possible to do it all without spending any money at all!
Continue reading →

Posted in Food & Drink, Sport | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Tokyo Daytripper: The Historical Riverside City With An Egyptian Flavour Nearby!

Posted on July 3, 2023 by tokyofox

Whenever I’ve seen any list of the best places to visit in Chiba prefecture, this historical river city in Katori has almost always been included. However, for someone who prides himself on his love for this often-ignored region of Japan I had never been there. That finally changed at the start of this year though.

On the back of a morning exploring the stations of Chōshi (as well as a few other sights) I arrived at Sawara station with the main mission being to see the platform zero. However, as I had managed to do Chōshi a little quicker than expected I had Continue reading →

Posted in Japan Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Unstaffed Stations of Japan #14 – Minami-Takada

Posted on June 30, 2023 by tokyofox

Think of train stations in Japan and the mighty Shinjuku station is sure to come to mind for many people. That is the world’s busiest train station, and Japan monopolises the top 50 list with only five of them not in this country. However, at the other end of the scale are some tiny stations which are usually unstaffed and used by very few commuters.

Station: Minami-Takada

Prefecture: Continue reading →

Posted in Japan Travel, Quirky Japan | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Modern Architecture Outside of Tokyo #2 – Tōhoku & Tochigi

Posted on June 27, 2023 by tokyofox

  

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 →

Posted in Quirky Japan | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments