TF Top 18……Photos For 2018 (End Of Year Filler Post!)

Posted on December 23, 2018 by tokyofox

For a while now I’ve been trying to think of some lazy half-assed compilation post to do at the end of the year as the outgoing ‘TF Top 10……Filming Location Trips For (year)’ series has pretty much run out of steam and will surely need replacing from next year. They say a picture paints a thousand words so rather than write a thousand words about these photos, I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves. The only thing I’ll say is that none of them were actually taken in Tokyo.

1. Miho No Matsubara, Shizuoka Prefecture. More details here.

2. Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture. More details here. Continue reading →

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TF Top 10……Day Trips In Hiroshima Prefecture

Posted on December 19, 2018 by tokyofox

Thanks to countless trips to visit my in-laws in Hiroshima over the years, I’ve been very lucky to have explored a fair proportion of this quite large prefecture. The last post covered all the things to do in Hiroshima city once you’ve done the main two sights (A-Bomb Dome and Miyajima) and this one takes you a bit further. All these places are doable in a day from Hiroshima city centre but some of them will be long, long days. Here, in no particular order, are my recommendations….

1. Kure City – One of the closest and easiest places to visit in this list. It’s a 30 minute train journey down the coastline to the east of the city. The Yamato Museum (500 yen) and the JMSDF Kure Museum a.k.a. the Whale of Iron Museum (Free entry) are the major attractions of the area and very deserving of your time. More details here

  

2. Tomonoura – This quaint port town is a little over 100 Continue reading →

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TF Top 10……Things To Do In Hiroshima City Once You’ve Done The Big Two!

Posted on December 16, 2018 by tokyofox

Visit the A-Bomb Dome and Peace Memorial Park & Museum. ✅

Take a day trip to Miyajima. ✅

  

So what do you do in Hiroshima when you’ve done those two things? Well most tourists return to Osaka/Kyoto and/or Tokyo. However, some stay for an extra day or two and they are the lucky ones for there really is more to this great city than the main two!

Whilst there are so many things out there on the net about what to see, do and eat in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto there isn’t so much about Hiroshima city beyond the usual stuff about the A-Bomb dome and the floating torii gate at Miyajima. Now I certainly wouldn’t suggest first-timers to Hiroshima do any of these instead of the other two but Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: A 56 Metre Statue & A Private Parts Temple In Chiba

Posted on December 13, 2018 by tokyofox

Look out the train window as you take the train a few stations south of Kisarazu Station, maybe on the way to or from Hamakanaya Station (the gateway to Nokogiri-yama Mountain) and you may see a tall white thing sticking out from the vegetation. I noticed this on a previous visit down that way and was intrigued to know what it was.

Unlike many Tokyoites, I’ve actually got a lot of love for Chiba as it’s where I began my Japan journey all those years ago. It’s very much an under-rated prefecture and I’m always happy to take a trip there to see something new which this time were a couple of sights in reasonably close vicinity of Continue reading →

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In Attendance At The 98th Emperors Cup Final (2018)

Posted on December 10, 2018 by tokyofox

New Years Day usually signals the start of things but the Emperors Cup Final basically brings the curtain down on the previous years domestic Japanese football season. For the last few years, watching it on TV (or sleeping through it!) in the afternoon on January 1st has always managed to fit in nicely with my family’s plans once the traditional family stuff (sake for breakfast, shrine visit, osechi feast etc) has been done earlier.

However, this years semi-finals and final dates were rearranged not once but Continue reading →

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Cosplaying At Tokyo ComicCon 2018

Posted on December 6, 2018 by tokyofox

  

The interesting thing about an event such as Tokyo ComicCon is that pretty much all attendees have a unique experience. People go to Makuhari Messe Convention Centre in Chiba for a variety of reasons whether it be to get a photo or signature from one of the special celebrity guests, to buy exclusive merchandise, to geek out with friends or to cosplay.

The latter two are my principle reasons. Meeting up with friends I haven’t seen for a while is always good but I do find that cosplaying is a slightly different experience these days. In the past it was novel and people were constantly snapping away on their cameras. Nowadays though cosplay is nothing new to Tokyo people with the huge Halloween “events” dominating the calendar so I think that just about everyone who wants one now Continue reading →

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Tokyo ComicCon 2018

Posted on December 4, 2018 by tokyofox

The third proper year of having Comic Con in Japan was certainly bigger and probably better too as the organisers tweaked things here and there resulting in a more efficient and well-organised event. To be fair, you would kind of hope that they’d have got a reasonable grasp of it all by now anyway! One such example was the task of getting an entrance ticket (¥3500) and the subsequent cosplay ticket (¥1000) which was all very smooth and took just a couple of minutes unlike last year where there was a lot of walking around and going back and forth.

  

This convention returned to the huge Makuhari Messe convention centre in Chiba where ‘Star Wars Celebration Japan‘ was held just over a decade ago. Many other annual events like Tokyo Motor Show, Tokyo Game Show and the Summer Sonic music festivals take place there too. I just wish it was a bit closer to central Tokyo! It was held over  Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: An Abandoned Mask Museum, A Tiger Bus, A Santa Shop & A Cheese Garden!

Posted on December 2, 2018 by tokyofox

The surrounding areas of Tokyo offer plenty of choice when it comes to day trips from the capital. Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama all have great places within 60-90 minutes travelling distance and Ibaraki prefecture (particularly Tsukuba city) is actually just 45 minutes from Akihabara. What to do though when you feel you’ve covered much of what those prefectures offer? The answer is Tochigi.

This prefecture is above Saitama and it’s main city Utsunomiya is an easy 100 minutes or so by local train from Ikebukuro. It’s an area I’ve visited increasingly during the last 18 months and another 50 minutes from there is Kuroiso Station which is the gateway to the delights of Nasu. A tiger bus was on hand to whisk people off to some sights but sadly the bus I needed to get to Nasu War Museum was just a regular one.

  

Nasu is a moderately popular countryside getaway destination for Tokyo residents and the main road Nasu-kaido reminded me of the east coast of Izu in some ways as likewise it was a major road running through it with all kinds of museums, restaurants, cafes, shops and so on at the side of the road. During my 50 minute walk between the war museum and Miroku Daikannon I came across this Santa and Moomin Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: A Tall Kannon Statue & A Very Expensive Golden God Temple

Posted on November 29, 2018 by tokyofox

  

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 →

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Tokyo Daytripper: The Only War Museum In Japan?

Posted on November 26, 2018 by tokyofox

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 →

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