The Musical Instrument Museum In Hamamatsu My Wife Has Long Wanted To Visit

Posted on June 3, 2019 by tokyofox

Whilst in Hamamatsu by myself for half a day last August I came across this interesting-looking museum. I actually went into it’s lobby area but as a man of no musical ability I thought it might all be rather unappreciated by me so I didn’t go inside for real. As a trained pianist though, I knew my wife would be very interested in such a place so thought I’d wait until we were in Hamamatsu together.

That happened to be sooner than I’d probably imagined. We had to take a short break from her parents place in Izu as they had many guests coming to stay so we went to stay in Shizuoka city for a couple of days. We were unable to get a hotel in Hamamatsu as it was the Japanese Golden Week holiday season so decided to do a day trip from Shizuoka which is about 70 minutes away by train.

 

The Museum of Musical Instruments (3-9-1 Chu-o, Naka-ku, Hamamatsu-shi) is about a Continue reading →

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Australia Filming Locations #5 – Knowing (2009)

Posted on May 31, 2019 by tokyofox

The number of international movies to have been filmed in Melbourne is quite limited so it’s quite amazing that two of them have been ones featuring Nicholas Cage. First there was ‘Ghost Rider‘ (2007) and that was followed just two years later by ‘Knowing‘ whereby he plays an astrophysics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Camberwell High School (100A Prospect Hill Rd, Canterbury, VIC) appears from the very start of the movie as it portrays William Dawes Elementary School. First, it’s shown in 1959 as a ceremony is held for the burial of a time capsule. 50 years later and it’s opened whereby the contents are distributed to the kids.

Caleb Koestler is the benefactor of a page of seemingly random numbers which he passes to his father John Koestler (Cage) who notices a sequence relating not only to many past disasters but a few future ones too. He sets out to prevent the ultimate catastrophe in a movie that turned out to be far more interesting than I initially thought it would be. The school is a 20 minute walk east of Camberwell Station and one should of course proceed with great care when in such an environment. CGI was used to change the exterior appearance slightly.

      

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where Koestler works is none other than Continue reading →

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A Park Of Beautiful Pink Azaleas, Egg Vending Machines & Family Time In Izu

Posted on May 28, 2019 by tokyofox

The Komuroyama Tsutsuji flower Festival in Kawana (Shizuoka Prefecture) tends to coincide with the Japanese Golden Week holiday each year and at full bloom it’s a splendid pink carpet.

 

In previous years the weather in this holiday season has been glorious but this time the first few days were Continue reading →

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Tokyo Filming Locations #17 – Shin Godzilla (2016)

Posted on May 25, 2019 by tokyofox

It’s probably taken longer than expected but finally the sequel to the Gareth Edwards-directed ‘Godzilla‘ (2014) is going to see the light of day. ‘Godzilla: King Of The Monsters‘ is the 35th film in the Godzilla franchise, and the third Hollywood produced one. Although there’s been a trilogy of animated Godzilla movies in the last couple of years this is the first live-action one since way back in 2016!! To mark this new release, Tokyo Fox has brought together all the filming locations from that 2016 Japanese film and compiled them into a solitary picture-special post.

Please note that the time codes given may be slightly different to the DVD or blu-ray versions.

1 minute – Tokyo Bay Aqua Line, Aqua Bridge, Kisarazu (Chiba). More details here

    Continue reading →

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The Tallest Arch Style Tower In Asia, A Beautiful Castle Location & A Free Foot Spa

Posted on May 22, 2019 by tokyofox

Gifu is one of those prefectures that has always been something of a mystery to me. I have travelled through it a few times on journeys between Nagoya and Osaka but never done anything more than transit at Ogaki Station. At the start of January, when I did my 16 hour trip on local trains between Tokyo and Hiroshima, I passed through Gifu amidst some beautiful scenery with mountains fringing the city. I was really impressed.

Another sight that I noticed from the train window in the past was a huge giant white construction which I later found out is called 138 Tower Park (21-3 Komyoji Urasaki Ichinomiya-Shi, Aichi). It’s actually in Aichi prefecture and I thought I’d stop off to get a photo en-route to my day in Gifu.

 

I knew in advance that it was 43 minutes away on foot but I thought I’d Continue reading →

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Another Giant Buddha But This One Is Made Of A Very Unique Material!

Posted on May 19, 2019 by tokyofox

Regular Tokyo Fox readers will probably be aware that I love a buddha statue and the bigger the better. This particular one is 13.63 metres in height which is impressive in itself but it’s not just the size of this one which makes it appealing.

  

This buddha can be found at Continue reading →

Posted in Japan Travel, Quirky Japan | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

A Football Stadium Amidst Stunning Surroundings? I Give You FC Gifu!

Posted on May 16, 2019 by tokyofox

Since 2015 I have always attended at least one football match in the Golden Week holiday in Japan. Previous grounds have included Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Vi$$el Kobe,Shimizu S-Pulse, Fujieda MYFC and Gamba Osaka. Just because of my occasional Twitter interaction with a couple of FC Gifu fans, their stadium has long been on my list of places to go so whilst in Nagoya I saw it as a good opportunity to add another Japanese stadium to my list. Fact is that it’s probably easier to get to the Gifu Nagaragawa Stadium from Nagoya than it is to get to the home of Nagoya Grampus itself!

Twitter often gets a bad rap for its more sinister side but for a nobody like me it’s been a very useful tool for making contacts, especially within the fairly niche community of native English-speakers passionate about Japanese football. One such person is Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: A Uniquely Designed Observation Platform & WWII Ruins

Posted on May 13, 2019 by tokyofox

When going in search of any sight (including world famous ones) one has to be aware that it may not quite be the picture postcard perfect moment you envisaged due to the weather, people or vehicles obstructing it, construction work and so on. The latter was sadly the case here for this strange-looking observation deck in a remote part of Chiba prefecture.

Whilst perusing a Japanese website Chiba a few years ago I came across this 21.8 metre observation tower which was originally constructed in 1971 and consists of a set of interlinked platforms. Known as the Meiji 100 Years Memorial Observation Tower, it juts out into Tokyo Bay and is 100 minutes walk away on foot. I have walked such distances before but thankfully it could be reached by bus so once I was done at the temple in the cliff in Tateyama, I went about 50 kilometres back up the coast to Aohori Station on the Uchibō Line. From there it was a 12 minute journey on the Nitto bus to my drop-off point at Futtsu Park.

There was a map there but I didn’t need it as I knew it was an undeviating 2.1 kilometre walk that would take about 25 minutes. Little did I know that I would be Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: A Temple Built On The Side Of A Mountain

Posted on May 10, 2019 by tokyofox

Back on New Years Day I happened to catch the news on Japanese TV which was showing the different ways people mark the occasion. One of the places that featured was a temple in a cliff where some people had congregated to watch the first sunrise of the year. I was impressed by it’s beauty and immediately asked my wife where it was as I couldn’t read all of the kanji on screen.

Expecting the answer to be some far flung place, I was quite surprised to discover that it was in one of Tokyo’s bordering prefectures. Last Summer I went to a similar-looking place in Iwate prefecture called Hiraizumi which is 450 kilometres north of Japan’s capital. Little did I know that there was such a place Continue reading →

Posted in Japan Travel, Quirky Japan, Tokyo Daytripper: | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Interesting Japanese Playground Structures #18 – Big Dog Playground

Posted on May 7, 2019 by tokyofox

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: Big Dog Building

Location: Continue reading →

Posted in Quirky Japan | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 33 Comments