Review: Films Set In Japan – Shutter (2008)

Posted on October 27, 2022 by tokyofox

The horror movie genre is one that I’ve never been into so much but I have seen enough films to not be too scared as there is a limit to what can make you jump out of your skin. That was certainly the case here where I really was quite surprised at how tame the horror side of it all was. There is very little chance of one having any kind of nightmares after watching this one, that’s for sure! The premise was quite good but it really failed to deliver a story of too much depth like ‘The Ring‘ which is perhaps an unfair comparison as that set a much higher benchmark for Asian remakes.

Warning: Contains spoilers!

Now I should add here that I had no idea until after I’d watched ‘Shutter‘ that this was a remake of a Continue reading →

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Experience Death Once Before Your Time Is Actually Up!

Posted on October 24, 2022 by tokyofox

It is said that the only thing certain in life is death. The next world is one you supposedly should not miss, and this quirky little museum in Shizuoka Prefecture hopes to help you experience the world of the Japanese afterlife.

 

It’s located a short distance from Continue reading →

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My Favourite Inari Shrine For Each Of Tokyo’s 23 Wards

Posted on October 21, 2022 by tokyofox

This compilation post features my favourite Inari shrine from each of Tokyo’s 23 wards. It was admittedly slim pickings for some of the wards so certainly don’t expect to be impressed by all 23! Justifying my choice for each of them with explanations would not be too interesting and indeed would probably be quite repetitive. Basically, I like any shrine which is small, has a tunnel of red torii gates, some red flags or some prominent fox statues.

1. Inari Shrine, Itabashi-ku. More details here

2. Takeyoshi Inari Shrine, Continue reading →

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Witnessing An Historic Upset In The 102nd Emperor’s Cup Final

Posted on October 18, 2022 by tokyofox

New Years Day signals new beginning but the Emperor’s Cup Final on January 1st usually brings the curtain down on the previous years domestic Japanese football season. However, this years semi-finals and final dates were much earlier due to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar taking place in the Winter. Presumably Japan National Stadium was booked out so Nissan Stadium in Yokohama was the venue for the final for the first time since 2014.

Against the odds, J2 team Ventforet Kofu overcame Kashima Antlers away from home in the semi final to make it to their first elite cup final. They were set to face Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the showpiece final and the fact that it was those two teams facing off against each other meant it was Continue reading →

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A Whirlwind Tour Of 7 Prefectures In 4 Days!

Posted on October 15, 2022 by tokyofox

Kyoto Station pretty much marked the end of this whirlwind four day trip but it wasn’t the happiest of endings as the bullet trains were all delayed and so I had to wait for over an hour till they were running again. Still, it did give me some time to Continue reading →

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Retrospective Alphabet Dating In Greater Tokyo S00E03: J-M

Posted on October 12, 2022 by tokyofox

 

Whilst season two of alphabet dating is taking place I thought I could fill that void with a restrospecive series which is certainly an easier operation as they were not done in alphabetical order which can be a little stressful and frustrating at times.

Season 0 will throw back to places and things we’ve done in Greater Tokyo since 2011. I generally hate the term Continue reading →

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Watching My First Football Match At The National Stadium In Tokyo

Posted on October 9, 2022 by tokyofox

Suzuka was very much the centre of attention for sport this afternoon with the most eye-catching event being Round 18 of the 2022 Formula One championship. However, 400 kilometres away the local football team, known as Suzuka Point-Getters, were playing a match against Shinjuku Criacao at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo.

 

This stadium has been open for nearly three years now and I finally got to go inside it but not for a cup final or an international match! Teams occasionally decide to play a home match at the stadium (FC Tokyo and Shimizu S-Pulse have done so already this season) and this time the hosts were Continue reading →

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TF Top 10……Star Wars Events In Japan Since The Disney Takeover A Decade Ago

Posted on October 6, 2022 by tokyofox

 

It’s been ten years since Disney bought Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion. It was certainly a news story I didn’t see coming but I’ve never had any problem with the takeover  although I really wasn’t so keen for the films to continue beyond Episode VI. As someone who remembers the lean years when there was barely any new Star Wars content out there, it has been wonderful to have a constant flow of films and TV shows released. To date, there has been the three sequel movies, two stand-alone films, Rebels, Resistance, The Clone Wars, The Bad Batch, The Mandalorian, Visions, The Book of Boba Fett, Andor and more!

To celebrate the last decade I have Continue reading →

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This Doll Temple Houses Japan’s Largest Seated Tumbling-Doll Statue

Posted on October 3, 2022 by tokyofox

Japan has many symbols of luck and good fortunes such as the maneki neko cat figurines, omamori (protective amulets) and omikuji (paper fortunes) but one of the more interesting ones is the tumbling doll known as daruma. Having been to a few daruma-related places in the last few years it was hard to resist the opportunity to see another when it was so nearby to where I was.

Having ventured over to the west side of Izu and met up with my friend Natasha back in August we spent a day Continue reading →

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Riding On One Of The World’s Seven Dangletrains

Posted on September 30, 2022 by tokyofox

Learning recently that there were only seven suspended railways operating in the world was a surprise, and hearing that two of them were in Japan was something I didn’t expect either. Some of this information came off the back of watching a Tim Traveller YouTube video (You can watch it at the foot of this post) about a dangletrain in Düsseldorf in Germany.

The two Japanese upside-down trains are both in reasonable close vicinity to Tokyo with one in Continue reading →

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