All Is Not As It Seems At This World Heritage Status Iron Smelting Facility In Shizuoka

Posted on August 25, 2021 by tokyofox

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 →

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Unstaffed Stations of Japan #5 – Nebukawa

Posted on August 22, 2021 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: Nebukawa

Prefecture: Continue reading →

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Return To Japan’s Greenest & Cleanest Extinct Volcano In Izu

Posted on August 19, 2021 by tokyofox

 

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 →

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Dark Tourist (Japan Special) Vol. 05

Posted on August 16, 2021 by tokyofox

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 →

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Foxed In The Head: Cycling To All Inari Shrines In Tokyo’s 23 Wards – #14 Taito

Posted on August 13, 2021 by tokyofox

#14. Taito

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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Embracing The Olympic Spirit With Free Tokyo 2020 Exhibits & Games-Inspired Art

Posted on August 9, 2021 by tokyofox

 

For many, many months now I have been saying, in the wake of the Covid_19 outbreak,  that a huge sense of relief will be felt when the beleaguered Tokyo 2020 Olympics games finally come to an end. I`m sure that still holds true but I reckon there`s a slight sense of disappointment for many that two and a bit weeks of action have flown by in no time, and now there is something of an empty feeling as so often happens when a big sporting tournament finishes.

After so much talk, there was a lot of curiosity regarding the opening ceremony and it seemed to sensibly and calmly reflect the times we live in nowadays. The Japanese got Continue reading →

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At The Velodrome For Two Days Of Live Track Cycling At The Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Posted on August 6, 2021 by tokyofox

When Olympic tickets went on sale to Tokyo residents in 2019 I applied for many sports but my first choice was the track cycling so I tried for all seven days over the two ballots and managed to win a single ticket on each occasion. Furthermore, they were on consecutive days which made it a lot simpler to manage. It also proved to be a very lucky masterstroke as whilst all events in and around Tokyo became spectator-less, the cycling in Shizuoka Prefecture (both road and track) continued albeit not at full capacity.

The Rugby World Cup in 2019 taught me that away days are great fun so I was more than happy to travel from Tokyo and make it a bigger occasion than just watching something locally. The fact that my Continue reading →

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What It’s Like To Be A Spectator At The Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Posted on August 3, 2021 by tokyofox

When the IOC and the Japanese government decided that spectators would not be present at all for Olympic sports in Tokyo (and surrounding prefectures Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa) it was hugely disappointing for all of those with tickets who were still keen to see live action in some form.

However, a few sports were taking place a bit further afield and I was lucky to have tickets for a couple of them. The likes of Miyagi (football) and Shizuoka Prefectures (road cycling, track cycling) didn`t totally ban spectators though so my Olympic dream was kept alive. Given that audience participation was also prevented in Sapporo and Fukushima I was half expecting Continue reading →

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Interesting Japanese Playground Structures #35 – Dinosaur Slide

Posted on July 31, 2021 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: Dinosaur Slide

Location: 6-11 Continue reading →

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The Station Just Over The Border From Tokyo Which You Can`t Exit (Unless You Work For Toshiba)

Posted on July 27, 2021 by tokyofox

Little did I know when I visited the virtually abandoned Kokudō Station a few years ago that just a few stops further down the line were some other interesting stations, including one which you can only exit if you work for the company who own the station.

  

Take the Tsurumi Line bound for Umi-Shibaura and it will take just 11 minutes to be beside the sea. However, it should be noted that trains heading to this coastal station from Tsurumi are Continue reading →

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