This Surely Has To Be Japan’s Cheapest Drinks Vending Machine!

Posted on February 1, 2022 by tokyofox

Japan is famed for it’s many, many vending machines. There are all manner of interesting ones but fact is that the vast majority of them are just drinks machines with prices generally ranging from 80-210 yen depending on which drink you purchase. I always thought the mystery Mr. X machines in Tokyo offered some of the country’s cheapest options but how wrong I was as there are some in another major city which sell them for a mere fraction of that price.

In a very unremarkable warehouse area of Continue reading →

Posted in Food & Drink, Japan Travel, Quirky Japan | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Interesting Japanese Playground Structures #37 – Demon Head Slide

Posted on January 28, 2022 by tokyofox

Many of the parks and children’s playgrounds in Japan, particularly in Tokyo, are quite poor compared to other countries in terms of space, surroundings and a lack of grass. However, a handful of them do tend to possess extremely creative structures and they will be explored in this series.

Nickname: Demon Head Slide

Location: Continue reading →

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4 Castles In 4 Different Prefectures Within 24 Hours

Posted on January 24, 2022 by tokyofox

Whenever I see that a place has a castle I kind of get excited and always make an effort to see it. Why I do this, I really don’t know as I rarely bother going inside them anymore and I have begun to think they’re not all that different from each other.

Back in October last year I went on a very busy solo mini-trip for four days taking in quite a few different prefectures with many of them possessing some castles I’d never seen. First up was Continue reading →

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Hidden Treasures Along The Keio Line #9 – The “Wall-E” Building

Posted on January 21, 2022 by tokyofox

The Keio Line principally connects Shinjuku to the western side of Tokyo with seven different lines running through to the likes of suburban city Hachiōji and the mountainous area at Takaosanguchi. All of it’s stations actually lie within the boundaries of Tokyo and, thanks to regular free tickets, Tokyo Fox has dug deep to come up with a few places worthy of visit beyond perennial favourites like Mount Takao and Tama Zoo……

#9 – No. 6 Tashiro Building @ 569-9 Continue reading →

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Foxed In The Head: Cycling To All Inari Shrines In Tokyo’s 23 Wards – #19 Arakawa

Posted on January 18, 2022 by tokyofox

#19. Arakawa

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 →

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The Hidden Fortress On The Coast Of Osaka

Posted on January 15, 2022 by tokyofox

When I saw this building on the cover of a Japanese magazine last Summer I assumed it was some abandoned building off the coast of Japan somewhere. I just thought it looked so cool in its appearance but I had no idea what it was, or where it was exactly but when I did find out I was quite surprised.

This offshore structure’s appearance is reminiscent of a maritime base due to its location but it has no military connection. It is in fact known as Osaka Prefectural Continue reading →

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Hikone Filming Locations: The Hunted (1995)

Posted on January 12, 2022 by tokyofox

This American martial-arts thriller film starring Christopher Lambert was mostly shot in Nagoya city with such locales including it’s castle, City Hall (below) and main Station. However, the action does eventually move to “an island several hundred miles away” which in reality is just 75 kilometres west of Japan’s fourth most populated city.

 

Around the 67 minute mark, a castle appears and when I first watched the film many years ago I just Continue reading →

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Back In Hiroshima For The 1st Time In 3 Years; Heaven Temple Mountain, Famous Sights Revisited, The Cheapest Meal, Quality Dog Time & New Years Customs!

Posted on January 9, 2022 by tokyofox

 

It may have been three years since I was last in Hiroshima but fact is that it’s actually been over four years since I spent any time of significance in the city. That last visit was very much an in-and-out job as I was kind of just passing through on some local train travels in the western region of Japan.

Taking a dog on the Shinkansen (bullet train), or any train for that matter, is not easy so I was initially a little reluctant to travel all the way over to Hiroshima for the New Years period but Continue reading →

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Dining Out: Hiroshima’s Cheapest Meal Is A Really Filling And Delicious One

Posted on January 6, 2022 by tokyofox

It’s not all okonomiyaki and oysters when in Hiroshima! Sometimes (well quite often actually!) you’ve got to take a break from food starting with the letter ‘o’ and try other things. This meat shop and restaurant in the city centre has a range of Japanese dishes including pork chops, sukiyaki, shabu shabu, and hamburg steaks but I was there for something else.

 

Any dish that can be bought with one coin (500 yen is the biggest denomination of coin in Japan) is a great deal in my book, but this one is even less than Continue reading →

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TF Flashback: A Surreal Border Crossing In Korea

Posted on January 3, 2022 by tokyofox

Way back in 1997 I remember watching the BBC documentary show ‘Full Circle with Michael Palin’ which was a series following the English actor/comedian/writer/TV presenter on a full anti-clockwise trip around the Pacific Rim. The second episode featured Japan and Korea, and Palin was blocked from entering North Korea so the only possibility was to go with a group of foreign tourists to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea, and “cross” the border in the Joint Security Area (JSA) at Panmunjeom.

It was an episode that stuck with me as just over eight years later it was one of the first ideas that came to my mind when I knew I was going to be visiting South Korea. Asif and I signed up for a JSA full day tour from Seoul on our first day, and Continue reading →

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