#13. Edogawa
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
Watching Japanese TV is often quite intolerable for many foreigners. Of course there`s the language problem but it goes far beyond that. From the garish-coloured sets to the bright, flashing kanji captions (accompanied by silly sound effects) to the little box in the corner where the reactions of Japanese celebrities’ faces can be seen, Japanese TV is really dumbed down! Of course I`m not the target market at all but one such programme geared towards people like me is `Cool Japan` on NHK BS1 at 6pm on Sunday evenings.
It is pretty much the only Japanese TV show I regularly watch. The title is pretty naff and it can be seen as propaganda telling viewers how brilliant and amazing everything in Japan is. Whilst there`s an element of truth in that I do think it`s pretty fair and balanced in mixing the positives and negatives of Japanese life and culture.
The topic of each show may not always sound the most enthralling but there`s usually 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. The abandoned battleship-like Continue reading
For many decades now, international artists have often felt the need to put pen to paper and write some lyrics about their Japanese experience, particularly visiting Tokyo. Most of the songs are far from being their greatest work but for Japanophiles they can offer an interesting insight into a culture which used to be a mystery to many people in the western world. Without further ado, here is the Tokyo Fox top ten……songs about Japan from the 2010s…
Back in early May it was the Japanese holiday season known as Golden Week and my wife and I (despite yet another State of Emergency in Tokyo!) decided to still head off as planned to the Izu Penisnula to spend a week at my parents-in-law`s house. The Odoriko Line train actually runs directly from Ikebukuro to Ito which is pretty much door-to-door for us. Sadly there is only one of these express-style trains each day from Ikebukuro so we ended up taking the Metro to Yokohama and then transferring to the Odoriko there.
And they say riding on transport`s dangerous during these coronavirus times!
It wasn`t always so friendly but the two dogs got on much better than on their first meeting. Back then it took a Continue reading
One of the most obvious and best things about going to Izu (Shizuoka Prefecture) every few months is the abundant nature in the vicinity of my parents-in-law`s home in Ito. It`s a world away from the city life we live in Tokyo, even more so during these Covid_19 times. The very picturesque and beautifully shaped volcano known as Omuro-yama is one of the most famous sights in the region 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: Continue reading
Since Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012 many of the subsequent movie releases have usually been preceded by pop-up shops appearing in Tokyo in the name of promotion. However, with no forthcoming Star Wars movie to promote, it really was an unexpected surprise to see this themed shop appear recently in Tokyo.
The store is located just outside the East Exit of Continue reading
In anticipation of ‘Fast 9‘, the ninth film in the ‘Fast & the Furious‘ saga (or the tenth if you include the ‘Hobbs & Shaw‘ spin-off from last year!) I decided to re-watch them all as I really couldn’t remember much from the first four in particular. No sooner had I begun my mission and Coronavirus came along to put the release date back another year. Despite the postponement I decided to continue watching them all anyway.
The third instalment, known as ‘The Fast & the Furious: Tokyo Drift‘ (2006), was quite possibly the first film I saw in this franchise as I watched it in 2011 for the long running films ‘set’ in Japan feature on this site. It may be the Continue reading
The 88 temples of Shikoku is a fairly well-known pilgrimage done by about 300,000 people each year but little did I know that there is a lesser one of similar nature in an area of Shizuoka Prefecture which has existed since the Edo Period (1603 – 1867) and is spread over 13 cities and towns.
Such pilgrimages are not really of interest to me right now (never say never though!) but it did bring a couple of notable places into my consciousness. One such example is Continue reading
Tokyo Fox (東京狐) 