TF Top 10……Lesser Known Gardens Of Tokyo Worth Your Visit!

Posted on November 17, 2018 by tokyofox

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 →

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These Omori-Kaizuka Shell Mounds Are Anything But A Dump!

Posted on November 14, 2018 by tokyofox

“…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 →

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Tokyo Modern Architecture #4

Posted on November 11, 2018 by tokyofox

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 →

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The Natural Island In Eastern Tokyo You Probably Didn’t Know About!

Posted on November 8, 2018 by tokyofox

Think of islands in Tokyo and the mind will likely come up with the Izu-Ogasawara Islands which are two groups of volcanic and tropical islands lying south of Tokyo stretching for 1000 kilometres into the Pacific Ocean. Some others may think of the artificial man-made island Odaiba, Tennozu Isle or even the floating service station island between Kanagawa and Chiba in Tokyo Bay. Monkey Island (a.k.a. Sarushima) is also in Tokyo Bay but it is technically part of Kanagawa prefecture so that can’t be included.

Mention Myoken-jima Island though and very, very few locals will have even heard of it. When I mentioned it to a friend who lives in Kasai she said she was completely unaware of it! If you’re heading eastwards on the Tozai Line towards Chiba then look out the window on your left as you cross the Kyu Edo-gawa River and floating in the middle of the parallel Urayasu Bridge is something resembling a ship. However, that is actually Myoken-jima Island which is the only Continue reading →

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Interesting Japanese Playground Structures #15 – Panda Slide

Posted on November 5, 2018 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: Panda Slide 

Location: Panda Park Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: The Floating Service Station In The Middle Of Tokyo Bay

Posted on November 2, 2018 by tokyofox

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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A Spook-tacular Halloween (2018)

Posted on October 30, 2018 by tokyofox

The tragic events of last weekend’s helicopter crash back in Leicester didn’t exactly put me in the mood for doing this kids party to celebrate Halloween but, as they say, the show must go on. It’s all part of a teacher’s life to put on a smile and forget about whatever is happening in your own personal life, and for the most part focusing on something else usually does help me.

Since retiring from going out in Shibuya during this season (for it is definitely a season these days rather than just a solitary day like in the past!) this kids party has become my only real outlet for sampling Halloween in Japan in recent years. However this could well have been my last as, after 8.5 years, I am moving on from this particular school.

  

For the record, I stopped going out in Shibuya at Halloween because the Continue reading →

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The Virtually Abandoned Station Just Over The Border From Tokyo

Posted on October 26, 2018 by tokyofox

Recent travels in the northern parts of Japan’s mainland have seen me whizzing past many unmanned stations. It’s not really a surprise to see them in the countryside but it’s rare to see such a thing so close to Tokyo. Just over the border though is a virtually abandoned station which continues to operate in darkness.

 

This station in the Tsurumi ward of Yokohama city (Kanagawa prefecture) has incredibly been unstaffed since March 1971 and has none of the regular Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: The Town In Tochigi Built On A Mountain Of Stone

Posted on October 23, 2018 by tokyofox

  

It is very rare to find an inland town built on a mountain of stone as they are usually found on the coastlines and valleys of Japan caused by earthquakes or volcanoes. That’s not the case though for this Tochigi-town in the north-west of Utsunomiya which is the heart of Oya stone production quarried exclusively in this area.

After arriving at Utsunomiya Station I headed straight down to the bus station but couldn’t work out where the bus to Oya was going from. I went back up into the station to ask at the Tourist Information desk and it proved to be a great idea as they presented me with a special One day Oya sightseeing ticket for Continue reading →

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The Sighting Of This Mysterious Hotel Is Very Much For Real

Posted on October 20, 2018 by tokyofox

There really is no difficulty in identifying this particular building over in one of Tokyo’s bordering prefectures.

 

It’s not often I venture on over to Chiba these days other than for flights from Narita Airport or the annual Tokyo ComicCon. The latter was in early December last year and wanting to see a a couple of places nearby beforehand, I decided to stop at Makuhari-Hongo station on the Sobu Line. Less than ten minutes away on foot was a building I was intrigued by and keen to see up close. It is simply called  Continue reading →

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