One of the most interesting sights I saw in Turkey in 2011 was the underground Basilica Cistern (below) which featured in the second James Bond film `From Russia With Love` (1963). I often forget about this place as my trip to Istanbul was basically just an add-on to the main Jordan-part of the holiday.
On my return to Tokyo I heard there was a similar place located in Saitama somewhere. I knew bookings were necessary to see it but the years passed by and I Continue reading
In terms of weather, the mid-August Obon holiday this year was the worst one I’ve ever experienced. In a way it wasn’t so bad that I only had six days off this time as it rained on five of those days. We’re not just talking drizzle or brief showers either but fairly constant heavy rain. Of course we remained optimistic ahead of our trip to Izu despite the forecast. The only sunny day too was the first day which was basically just about travelling from Tokyo to Shizuoka. Someone was very excited about the trip though and couldn’t wait to get into his bag!
The first day in Izu actually started out okay and we managed to go to Komuroyama Park early morning before Continue reading
About a month after my previous three hour return cycle ride to the Mr. X vending machine in Ota Ward I discovered that there was a much, much closer mystery drink dispensing machine.
This one is only a few minutes away from the Tokyo Fox Global Operations Centre in Itabashi-ku in an area that I have bypassed hundreds and hundreds of times. The top shelf of the machine reveals a Continue reading
After a few delays the 25th Eon-produced James Bond film finally hit cinemas in Japan on Friday 1st October which was something of a surprise as it was only a few days after the worldwide premiere in London. The Japanese release dates of all the other 007 movies starring Daniel Craig have come over a month later so I was delighted that I didn’t have to avoid spoilers for long at all this time. Furthermore, there was a free pop-up exhibition to help promote the release of the much-anticipated movie.
Just over the road from the Godzilla Statue is Tokyo Hibiya Midtown (1-1-2 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku) which since September 29th has held a very small exhibition on the ground floor revolving around the style and taste of James Bond. The first thing to grab most people’s attention is Continue reading
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. These colourful wooden dolls originate from Gunma Prefecture and about 80% of the national production is accounted for in this region of Japan which is just a couple of hours north of Tokyo.
The city of Takasaki is the proclaimed birthplace of the Daruma doll, and there is a quirky temple which holds an annual Daruma Doll Festival attended by over Continue reading
Back in August, my wife and I spent six days in Izu but the weather was so sh*t that we did very little outside of the house. However, there was a brief respite one afternoon so, desperate to get out, I headed off to the nearest station in Ito to head a short distance south for some hiking.
Within minutes though it began to Continue reading
Covid-19 running rampant around the world gave many of us time to slow down and look back at what we have rather than seeking out new material all the time. With that in mind, it was the ideal opportunity to start a complete re-watch of all the James Bond films, including the two non-Eon releases.
My 007 DVD collection began around 12-13 years ago so I had watched them all at least once before. However, other than the modern-era Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig ones I hadn’t watched the older films so much apart from those which needed viewing before and after movie locations trips.
The complete re-watch began Continue reading
A giant white-robed goddess of mercy standing tall and overlooking Japanese towns and cities is something that always grabs my attention. This one is located a couple of hours north of Tokyo and as soon as I found out about it at the start of the year I was keen to check it out and see it up close.
Once I was finished at the sacred underground palace I walked through Kannonyama Park and it ended up taking about 40 minutes to reach Byakue Dai-kannon (2710-1 Ishiharamachi, Takasaki, Gunma-ken) although that duration time is higher than reality as I Continue reading
Over the years there have been about a dozen G.I. Joe movies and animated TV shows as well as a series of video games and comics and I have consumed none of them so went into this origins film with absolutely zero knowledge.
How the two previous G.I. Joe films completely bypassed me I really don’t know. I was recently listening, as ever, to the BBC Radio 5 Live Kermode and Mayo film review podcast when my ears pricked up at the mention of Tokyo. I wound back to the start of that particular review and that is how I found out about this film and the two previous ones in the franchise.
Consequently, my judgement here is purely about this story as a standalone film which is basically the equivalent of someone reviewing the final Harry Potter movie when they’ve never seen or heard anything about what has gone on before it! Go easy on me G.I. Joe fans!!
Admittedly, when I Continue reading
A few years ago I wrote about the abandoned ruins of a lakeside hotel close to the shores of Lake Ippeki-ko in Ito but little did I know that there were more nearby! Another hotel too.
Usually such derelict buildings, known as haikyo in Japanese, are fenced off in some way with one needing to climb over, under or through it to enter the place. This one though sits just Continue reading
Tokyo Fox (東京狐) 