#15. Chiyoda
Cycling may be something that I love to do but I’m not really one who goes for a ride without some kind of aim whether it be to a restaurant, a sight or just my workplace. With that in mind, and desperate to get out on my new bike, I decided to cycle round ALL the Inari Shrines in Tokyo taking each of the 23 wards one at a time.
Inspired by recent interest in tiny shrines, this idea seemed like a good way of Continue reading
“A spiritual cave beneath a Japanese garden” was enough to get me interested in this 400 meter-long underground tunnel north of Tokyo.
On my previous visit to Takasaki at the start of this year I picked up a free map at the information desk about a few sights in the area but didn`t look at it until I had returned to Tokyo. There are a fair few places of interest in reasonably close vicinity of each other so I travelled up to Gunma Prefecture again. That may seem quite far but Continue reading
The beauty of taking trains in and around Tokyo is that you never have to wait too long if you miss your intended train. That is definitely not the case though at this station just over the border from Tokyo where very few trains arrive and depart each day.
It is said that any nearby residents arriving at this station in Kawasaki at 9am probably have to give up on reaching civilisation that day. Whilst there`s an Continue reading
After multiple delays due to Covid_19 it seems like the 25th Eon-produced James Bond film is finally ready (I won’t believe it until I’m watching it in the cinema!) to see the light of day having been finished and ready for about 18 months now. In terms of duration, Daniel Craig has played 007 for longer than any of the other actors but he is adamant that this will be his fifth and final time as the double agent.
In terms of Bond filming locations, Norway and the Faroe Islands make their debut appearances whilst England, Italy, Scotland and Jamaica return. Since ‘Casino Royale’ (2006), locales have included Czech Republic, Italy, Bahamas, England, Austria, Chile, Panama, Turkey Scotland and Mexico. I’ve not quite visited them all but have done a more than a fair few. Here, in no particular order, are my favourite ten locales from the last four 007 films…
1. Bond earns Continue reading
Traveling to the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture is not exactly rare for me but this mini-trip was a bit different as my wife was not with me, my parents-in-law were away from their house in Ito and of course I was going to see some live Olympics action. Wanting to make the most of my time before the first day of the track cycling I decided to head down to Izu quite early and see and do a few things before the main event.
Lunchtime meant a return visit to a place I first went to in Autumn 2017. It`s the floating conveyor-belt restaurant called `Donguri` (5-8-22 Otemachi) which wasn`t Continue reading
Whilst doing the first in the `Foxed In The Head` series in Itabashi Ward I came across this “museum” which is located opposite one of the Inari Shrines I visited. Keen to finish that adventure as soon as possible I didn`t hang around but made a note of it for a future visit. As it was, it then took another year till I finally returned to check it out, and my wife was in tow for a romantic date of nostalgia. For her anyway!
Entrance to the game centre which calls itself a museum is just 200 yen. After handing in the special coin dispensed from that machine you are then given a Continue reading
One of the more frustrating travel experiences can be when you make plans and effort to get to a place you`re excited to see BUT then you get there to discover that it`s either closed or under construction. It`s happened to me a few times now and is always so disappointing. This latest episode happened on a recent venture to a part of Izu I`d never been to before.
Having had lunch in Numazu I thought, whilst alone, that it was a good chance to go to the next station in Mishima and then take my first ever Continue reading
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: Nebukawa
Prefecture: Continue reading
There are two popular tourist mountains in Ito on the Izu Peninsula. Mount Komuro is famed for its beautiful sea of pink tsutsuji (azalea) flowers in late April or early May each year, and then there`s Mount Omuro which is the more picturesque postcard-perfect volcano. The former is one that I`ve been to a countless number of times as it`s more convenient and far more expansive but the latter takes a bit more effort and planning.
Whilst I have been in the park behind Mount Omuro a few times in the last few years I haven`t Continue reading
The 2018 Netflix series ‘Dark Tourist‘ featured New Zealand journalist David Farrier visiting eight different countries (including Japan) on a mission to visit all manner of places relating to humans suffering in some sort of way whether it be victims of crime, tragic events or natural disasters. Of course, this kind of morbid traversing is nothing new, and people have been visiting these places for many decades but this TV show did help promote the idea of such tourism.
Having visited some famous dark historical sights in the likes of Poland, Germany, Australia, England and Cambodia (to name a few), I have to admit that I am slightly fascinated by such tourism. Japan has a fair number of places historically associated with death and tragedy, and Tokyo Fox has collated them into a series. Each volume will show a mix of relatively unknown places alongside the far more famous (or infamous in some cases!) ones.
1. Japan’s deepest and creepiest Continue reading
Tokyo Fox (東京狐) 