The city of Nasu up in Tochigi prefecture seemed to me like it was basically just one long road, known simply as Nasu-kaido Street, with a load of cafes, restaurants, souvenir shops and museums off to the side of it. However, take one of the side roads off of it and there are a couple of unique, interesting and slightly quirky b-grade sights which are missed by the majority of visitors to the area.
Once I was done at Nasu War Museum I walked for about 50 Continue reading
Teddy bears, cannabis, stained glass, classic cars, trick-art and toys are just a few eclectic examples of what can be seen in specialist museums in this popular getaway destination which is located up in Tochigi prefecture just over 20 kilometres north of Pyramid Onsen.
For someone with an interest in military things, I was primarily interested in visiting Nasu on a recent trip to see what has been billed as the only war museum in Japan. I have no idea of the validity in that statement as I always thought the Yushukan Museum Continue reading
The seventh and final part of this ‘Shin Gojira‘ filming locations series limps to a disappointing finish but maybe that is quite apt given how many of the Godzilla movies have finished in such a fashion! The conclusion of this series ironically features locales that appear in the opening scenes shot on what is known as the Tokyo Bay Aqua Line. Despite the use of the word line though, it is not actually a train line but is the bridge and tunnel which help drivers get from Kawasaki (Kanagaawa prefecture) to Kisarazu (Chiba prefecture) or vice versa. Whats more is that there is a kind of floating service station called Umihotaru in the middle of the bay connecting bridge and tunnel.
This 2016 film starts off right away on minute one in Tokyo Bay where a pleasure craft called “Glory Maru” has been spotted adrift offshore of Haneda Airport.
N.B. The time codes given are approximate and may be slightly different to the DVD or blu-ray versions.
A distinctive tower called Kaze no Tō (the tower of wind), located in the middle of the tunnel between Umihotaru and land, is 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……
#5 – National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) Mitaka Campus @ Continue reading
Green spaces may not be as clearly visible on the Tokyo map as in other world cities but dig deep enough (not literally!) and you’ll discover that Japan’s capital city possesses an array of fairly small gardens to offer a (cliché alert!) bit of respite from the hustle and bustle of urban life.
The likes of Hama-rikyu, Rikugien, Showa Kinen Park and Shinjuku-gyoen are all fairly well known gardens but there are actually a couple of dozen more and they are all far more quiet and relaxing than those more famous ones. I should add that two or three of these may be more familiar than the others. That’s just the way things go and no doubt there will be some people reading this who knows all of them! If that’s you then well done! If not, then enjoy.
Please note that these gardens all look far better than shown by my photography. Also, I visited many of these out of season so you’ll have to Continue reading
“…if this all appears as an article on Tokyo Fox later this year or early next year then it probably means I need a quick “filler” post!”
As soon as I tweeted those words above back in September I thought I may regret them as that Twitter thread about the Omori Shell Mounds made me realise this place was perhaps deserving of a post on Tokyo Fox as there is very limited information on the net about this little part of Shinagawa ward. It would be remiss of me to just let the pictures and information I have on the place go to waste.
These shell mounds lie a short distance (500 metres) to the north of the station and are part of Omori Kaizuka Iseki Gardens. I have been curious about them for a while now so when I did a cover day at a school in the area recently I decided to Continue reading
For all its good points, Tokyo ain’t half one ugly looking city with buildings pretty much erected (and pulled down) willy nilly without any thought to the environment around it. However, amid all the chaos of such a concrete jungle there are a fair few examples of modern architecture which I am ever keen to photograph. Now, I am certainly no expert on such a topic but have enjoyed going around capturing the interesting and weird designs of some of these buildings.
It was a five year wait for the follow up to the original 2012 ‘Tokyo Modern Architecture‘ post and then ‘Tokyo Modern Architecture #2‘ and ‘Tokyo Modern Architecture #3‘ followed last year. Here, in no particular order, is the next volume of interesting looking Japanese buildings including the addresses:
1. Tokyo Big Sight, 3-11-1 Ariake, Koto-ku.
2. Fragment No.5, Midtown Garden, Continue reading
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: Panda Slide
Location: Panda Park Continue reading
For a long, long time I’ve been aware that there was a way of crossing Tokyo Bay by car but I just assumed it was a tunnel. Little did I know that it was a mix of both tunnel and bridge with a 650 metre long island-of-sorts in the centre. It’s known as Umihotaru (Sea-firefly) and is basically a service station in the middle of the bay.
The only reason anyone ever goes to Umihotaru, which took 23 years to plan and nine years to construct, is to rest their legs, go to the toilet and take a break from driving between Kawasaki (Kanagawa) and Kisarazu (Chiba). Well, everyone apart from me! I wanted to check it out whilst the sun was prevalent so decided to visit it on what I thought may Continue reading
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