Star Wars Traveller – Scarif (a.k.a. Canary Wharf Station, UK)

Posted on April 30, 2020 by tokyofox

The synopsis of the excellent ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story‘ (2016) was basically the entire opening crawl from ‘Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope’ (1977) and it was the first Star Wars film to introduce locations with on-screen captions. The real filming locations were fairly alluring, and as diverse as Iceland, Jordan, Maldives and Guatemala but the one which features here is a lot less glamorous!

The Death Star plans are kept in a secure facility on Scarif, the planet where the Imperial Security Complex is located. Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and K-2SO (Alan Tudyk) infiltrate this complex, and on 91 minutes we see the latter two walking along the platform which is actually Canary Wharf Tube Station on the Jubilee Line in London. For the record, this platform is actually the widest ‘island’ one on the whole Underground system measuring at 17.2 metres.

 

The budget did not allow for creating this additional set, so director Gareth Edwards opted to use Continue reading →

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Review: Films Inspired By Japan – Equals (2015)

Posted on April 27, 2020 by tokyofox

“Inspired” by Japan may be pushing it but this science fiction romance drama set in a futuristic utopian universe was mostly filmed in Japan so purely for that reason it will be reviewed here on Tokyo Fox! Whenever Japan has been used for filming it’s almost always played itself so this is a fairly unique situation.

‘Equals‘ is set in a future society where there’s no free thinking or decision making and all emotions are suppressed as they’re considered to be Continue reading →

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TF Top 10……Pepsi Japan Flavours (Part 2)

Posted on April 24, 2020 by tokyofox

Back in July 2014 there was a hugely successful and popular post on Tokyo Fox covering my favourite Pepsi flavours going back to 2005. Sadly there haven’t been any really strange and unique flavours (Ice Cucumber, Azuki, Shiso etc) since the 2000s but a range of varied tastes have hit the shelves in the last few years so here, in no particular order, is the long awaited and highly anticipated sequel…

Bonus: Pepsi Plum – Japanese ume (plum) is often quite sour but the taste here was far more subtle yet still noticeable enough to provide a new taste. This came out in October 2019 and had zero calories.

10. Pepsi Midnight – I had no idea what Continue reading →

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TF Top 10……Most Interesting Japanese Playground Slides In Tokyo & Chiba

Posted on April 21, 2020 by tokyofox

Since early 2017, the ‘Interesting Japanese Playground Structures’ series has been up and running to a surprising rate of success and popularity on Tokyo Fox. All manner of animals, creatures and objects have been incorporated into a range of different playground structures dotted around Japan and I’ve tracked as many down as possible. The majority of them have been slides so here, in no particular order, are the top ten slides from Tokyo and neighbouring prefecture Chiba.

10. Ladybird Slide, Chiba. More details here

9. Octopus Park, Continue reading →

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Dining Out: Train Themed Curry Restaurant In Tokyo

Posted on April 18, 2020 by tokyofox

It’s been a while since I had regular curry in a restaurant as all recent ‘Dining Out’ posts have been about stranger curry tastes such as apple, sheep’s brain, miso milk and the mysterious Godzilla one! I came across this train-themed restaurant a couple of years ago and have been meaning to go ever since. On discovering late last year that my friends James and George had been to a train bar in Shibuya I told them about this one in Meguro Ward and they were both keen. After a couple of failed attempts, we finally met up there for lunch a couple of months ago.

 

The restaurant is close to Yutenji Station which for some reason I thought was two stops from Shibuya. However, it’s actually three as I found out the hard way! I exited both train and station and mailed James to ask which exit they were at. He said south east which kind of matched up with what I was seeing but I couldn’t find him. I walked around and was just about to mail him to confirm he knew it was Yutenji Station where we were meeting. To my horror I then noticed Continue reading →

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TF Flashback: My J-League Beginnings (2004)

Posted on April 15, 2020 by tokyofox

The J-League first caught my attention at it’s foundation in 1992 when former Leicester favourite Gary Lineker announced he’d be leaving Spurs to play in Japan. For over a decade the only Japanese team I’d heard of were Nagoya Grampus Eight (as they were known back then) until I arrived and saw a league table. Yokohama F. Marinos were top and all the way down at the foot of the table was a team called Continue reading →

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Urine For A Real Treat Should You Need To Go To The Toilet At This Park Just Outside Of Tokyo!

Posted on April 12, 2020 by tokyofox

Local train travel is very much how I like to travel when going around Japan but occasionally I actually do take the Shinkansen (bullet train) albeit usually only when travelling with my wife or time is of utmost importance. As much as I like the Shinkansen experience I just find the cost of using it so expensive. Price is definitely not an issue should you choose to board this one though!!

This is the 200 series Shinkansen for the Tohoku and Joetsu Shinkansen high-speed rail lines which was in existence until 2013. Exit this one though and you’re not in Niigata but are actually in Continue reading →

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Review: Films Set In Japan – Jackass: The Movie (2002)

Posted on April 9, 2020 by tokyofox

For a few years now I’ve been wondering whether to include ‘Jackass: The Movie‘ or not. Is it really a movie? Well, it does have the word in the title and was released in cinemas so I guess it will have to be reviewed here. It’s not at all that I have totally run out of films to cover in this ‘set’ in Japan series!!

There’s a tendency in these reviews to say films are of their time but that’s usually because they were set in 1950s Tokyo or whenever. Although less than two decades old, the whole crazy ‘Jackass‘ stunts seem Continue reading →

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TF Recipes #6 – Curry On Toast

Posted on April 6, 2020 by tokyofox

The last TF Recipes post put me off doing any more for a long time. Or so I thought! The Corona Virus then came along and so, with the fear of using up all of my saved-up material, I decided to pad things out do another toast taste test which was inspired by an ex-colleague who told me he’d had this ahead of a pay day when he was running very low of both funds and food supplies.

Star Wars bobble heads are optional!

With a weekend lockdown on the cards, the supermarket shelves empty and my wife Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: The Totem Pole Park Located Just Outside Of Tokyo

Posted on April 3, 2020 by tokyofox

 

Who knew that such a thing like a Totem Pole International Tournament ever took place?! Way back in 1991 there was one in Chiba Prefecture and 80 masterpieces were exhibited. Sadly Japan’s biggest totem pole at 21 metres high, which attracted a lot of attention in that tournament, has long been removed but the others are still there for the enjoyment of anyone visiting this suburban park.

Take the Tsukuba Express Main Line from Kita Senju heading towards Tsukuba and after Continue reading →

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