A Themed Tour Of Tokyo’s Football Manga Mecca

Posted on July 9, 2022 by tokyofox

Think of Japanese footballers that have had an impact overseas and the likes of  Hidetoshi Nakata, Junichi Inamoto, Shunsuke Nakamura, Keisuke Honda, Shinji Kagawa or Leicester legend Shinji Okazaki might come to mind. However, it is arguably an animated character who has been a bigger influence with a cumulative worldwide circulation of 80 million manga. The manga series has inspired some very prominent footballers to play football and choose it as a career.

The character in question is the iconic Captain Tsubasa who has appeared in various comic book magazines, cartoons and video games since its creation in 1981. It  became one of the most memorable manga and anime worldwide, and really helped Continue reading →

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Time To See The King Of Apes At This Park Just North Of Tokyo

Posted on July 6, 2022 by tokyofox

Just scrolling through Google Maps and clicking on the sight icons is a slow but painful way of looking for interesting places to visit. That is exactly how I found out about this park though, and seeing that it was just 14 kilometres away from the Tokyo Fox Global Operations Centre in Itabashi meant that it was ideal for a bike ride.

 

Back in April I took the 60 minute cycle ride up into Saitama Prefecture one warm Spring morning. The park is located between Continue reading →

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On The Hunt For Another Temple Dedicated To Japanese Turtle-Like Humanoids

Posted on July 3, 2022 by tokyofox

Japan is home to quite a few mythical folkloric creatures with one of the most famous ones being the bipedal, turtle-like aquatic goblins known as Kappa. If you’ve ever been to Kappa Zushi you may have noticed the creature on their logo and signage. Also, one of the most popular sushi rolls is kappamaki; a cucumber sushi roll which is available in all sushi places, and not just the aforementioned conveyor-belt sushi chain.

A decade ago I visited the small Kappa-dera Temple in Tokyo (details at the foot of this post) as part of my cycling Tokyo’s most haunted sights…in one day challenge, and when I saw that there was another Kappa Temple of sorts in Continue reading →

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TF Flashback: Cows, Forts, Mosques & Scams On The Golden Triangle In India (2007)

Posted on June 30, 2022 by tokyofox

Despite having travelled to a fair few countries before this trip, I was a little  apprehensive about what lay ahead for  India. I’d heard many horror stories beforehand but despite a 90 minute delay at Narita Airport, I arrived at my New Delhi hotel in the backpacker area of Paharganj relatively easily. That is apart from the pre-paid taxi getting a puncture on the way!!

My first full day began with a pre-paid rickshaw to Humayun’s Tomb (below) which was pretty interesting and after that was my first experience of being forced by the driver to visit a few shops. I wouldn’t actually have minded looking at a few things but it’s not so comfortable when the owners are following you throughout and giving the hard sell.

 

The driver eventually took me to Jama Masjid at a cheap price as he got paid for each customer he took to the shops. However I wasn’t Continue reading →

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Fantastic Mount Fuji Views, Unique Regional Burgers, A Beautiful Watergate And Live J-Football!

Posted on June 27, 2022 by tokyofox

The iconic Mount Fuji in all its snow-peaked glory is a sight to behold and one that never gets tiring. Seeing the 3,776 metre tall mountain wasn’t something I really expected to see whilst in Numazu for the day but it was a lovely bonus.

 

The best views of it came from Continue reading →

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Unstaffed Stations of Japan #10 – Shin Shibaura

Posted on June 24, 2022 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: Shin-Shibaura

Prefecture: Continue reading →

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A Bridge Too Far? Not This One As It’s Just A 60 Minute Hike From The More Famous Bridge In Izu!

Posted on June 21, 2022 by tokyofox

If you’ve ever seen the end of ‘Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom‘ (1984) then you’ll know that suspension bridges can provide great fun and excitement with an element of danger too. Keep on reading to see if a similar incident happened to me on this adventure to see “the other” suspension bridge in Izu!!

This is Kadowakitsuri Suspension Bridge but there is a similar one a bit further down the coast

Many people visiting the Izu-Hantō Peninsula go to see the rugged coastline of Jogasaki which features some short hiking routes, a lighthouse and a suspension Bridge. It is a place I have visited numerous times but I never realised until quite recently that there was Continue reading →

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TF Top 20……Smallest Inari Shrines In Tokyo (Part 2)

Posted on June 19, 2022 by tokyofox

The idea of cycling around all the Inari shrines of Tokyo’s 23 wards came about during the first State of Emergency (a soft lockdown of sorts) in 2020 as a way of getting out on my new bike whilst keeping a safe distance from people as Coronavirus began to take effect on Japan.

Shrines are generally quiet places with very few people in them, and the tiny ones which interest me are barely capable of hosting more than a few people at a time, if that! All 23 of Tokyo’s wards have now been published on Tokyo Fox so it is time for the second part of the smallest Inari shrines I encountered. Please note that many of these shrines do not have a name!

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

2. Inari Shrine, Continue reading →

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London Filming Locations: Mission Impossible Rogue Nation (2015)

Posted on June 16, 2022 by tokyofox

The trailer for the seventh Mission Impossible film; ‘Dead Reckoning Part One‘ (2023), reminded me that I still had these locales from ‘Rogue Nation‘ ready to go. Needless to say but they were done quite a few years ago, and I just never got round to compiling them in a post…until now!

N.B. The time codes given are approximate so please allow for a minute or two either way

After an exhilarating opening scene on an airplane in Belarus it’s on to London as Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) wanders down Regent Street on 5 minutes to a tiny record shop complete with retro listening booths. In reality “The Vinyl Offer” is a Continue reading →

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Alphabet Dating In Japan With My Wife Who Was Completely Unaware Of The Task At Hand! (S01E05: U-Z)

Posted on June 13, 2022 by tokyofox

 

When I heard this idea on the radio a few years ago I thought it might be something that I could try as a way of motivating myself to go to some places with my wife that I’m usually not too interested in. I did think of suggesting it to her and then taking it in turns to come up with things to do for each letter but I thought she would dismiss it as a silly idea straight away so decided to keep it secret.

If you haven’t seen part 4 (P-T) then please click here to read that

The rules are quite simple. Do something for each letter going in alphabetical order. It would be quite easy to do an A-Z of dining out experiences so I decided that should be limited to Continue reading →

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