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: Lonely Panda Park
Location: Kin Kin Park, 3-13-11 Kanda Nishikicho, Chiyoda-ku
Nearest Station(s): Continue reading
Statues are common features of temples and shrines in Japan but this one, deep in Japanese countryside, has close to 500 where no two are the same.
The day began by taking the 8:00 am Ban’etsu East Line south-east of Koriyama to Ononiimachi Station. I had anticipated a 100 minute walk (one way!) to the temple I wanted to see. Many people will think that’s madness but I accepted it as the journey is all part of it for me. Sometimes you’ve gotta make the effort and being a resident of this country does mean that I am not constrained by time limits too much so in this case could devote a big part of my day to this place. However, I was still recovering from a calf problem so was keen to find an alternative way of getting there and inspiration hit me just moments after leaving the station.
In the car park by the station was a Continue reading
This mini-trip taking in some sights of Japan’s northern region began by heading out eastwards from Tokyo to Mito Station in Ibaraki Prefecture. The 15 minute window before my next train meant I had sufficient time to pop out of the station just to get a quick shot of this natto statue (below) which was presumably built to honour the home of fermented soy beans!
From Mito I then headed up to Hitachi-Daigo Station on the JR Suigun Line for my first sight of the day which was a short ten minutes away on foot over the other side of the river. With only half an hour till the next train I knew I had to be quick to find it, get some pictures and return to the station. Train delays meant I only had Continue reading
Yamagata Prefecture is somewhere I only really passed though on my travels in Japan’s northern region last Summer so I was determined to go back at some point and actually see something more than the inside of train stations! That opportunity probably came earlier than I ever thought it would during a recent short break.
After a couple of days in Fukushima Prefecture I moved on further north to Yamagata. I tried to book a hotel there a few days before embarking on this trip but they were out of my price range so I decided to stay in Yonezawa which is about 30 minutes south of Yamagata city. The view from my room was lovely with great views of the river and a waterfall amidst mountains and a lot of greenery.
A free Japanese-style breakfast was included too.
Kaminoyama-Onsen Station lies between Yonezawa and Yamagata and that was my first port of call the following morning. I was not there to take an onsen (hot spring bath) though. 30 minutes on foot south of the station is Continue reading
“It’s like the temple where Bruce Wayne trains to become Batman”
That is how Chris Broad of the popular ‘Abroad In Japan‘ YouTube channel described this place in Yamagata Prefecture. He was referring to scenes in Continue reading
The rainy season in Japan is well underway and for many people it can be a frustrating time with constant wet conditions for weeks on end. Certainly not ideal for watching or playing football, especially when many grounds in this country are municipal stadiums meaning that they often have no covered seating (assuming there are even seats!) and can also be far from the pitch with a running track in between too.
The ND Soft Stadium Yamagata, built in 1991, is home to current J2 leaders Montedio Yamagata. It holds 20,315 people, has a running track and pretty much non-existent Continue reading
“The Nakagin Capsule Tower featured as the love hotel in ‘The Wolverine‘ right?”
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard people utter words to that effect. To an extent, they are all correct as the famous building is of course seen on screen around the 45 minute mark. However, Hugh Jackman and Co never went to this particular area of Ginza (8-10-6 Ginza, Chūō-ku) as the tower was added digitally. Those street scenes around the “tower” were actually shot in Sydney.
Australia actually substitutes for Japan for the first time when the Chinese Garden of Friendship appears. I covered that in a previous Tokyo Fox post entitled ‘Australia 2019 Pt IX: The “Tokyo” Temple In The Wolverine Movie‘ but will re-cap it all later. A kilometre walk (15 minutes on foot) eastwards from those gardens takes you into the Surry Hills area and that is where a street scene was shot.
Brisbane Street was transformed to look like a Tokyo street with Japanese Continue reading
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……
#8 – Mind Wa A, Continue reading
There have been many films over the years which have focused on negative aspects of Japanese society. The majority of them have been war-related ones but this movie is arguably the one which caused the biggest outcry. It’s a fascinating and hard hitting documentary which plays out like a suspense thriller over the 90 minute duration.
In Japan there is a little town with a big secret. Well, that was the case up until the release of this 2009 film when the majority of Japanese people weren’t even aware of the atrocities of this secluded cove in Taiji, and if it wasn’t for this film, I seriously doubt many of them would have ever known. The film was only given a quite limited release in Japan due to the nature of the content but there was a fair bit of media coverage surrounding it so I guess many people found out that way.
The hunting of these beautiful, intelligent creatures really is a difficult topic to breach with too much balance. Of course in the western world cows, pigs, chickens and so on are also killed to provide meat for humans so one could ask Continue reading
Japan’s fourth biggest city is one that is often forgotten about by tourists and Japanese residents alike. It’s rarely anything more than just passing through or a quick stop to see the castle but in the last few years I have really enjoyed spending time exploring Nagoya. This post includes the best-of-the-rest of my trip to Nagoya with a passing reference to all the other places that have recently featured on Tokyo Fox.
The day began for us in Shizuoka city but whilst my wife returned to Izu I continued on west via local trains. There was a change at Toyohashi Station where I noticed this cool kitsune (fox) standing bar (below) serving quick udon and soba noodle dishes. Sadly my transit was still too short to be able to wolf down a bowl!
No sooner had I arrived in Nagoya and I was already on the Metro line to the Continue reading
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