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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On The Trail Of Shin Godzilla #7 – Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line & Utsunomiya

Posted on November 23, 2018 by tokyofox

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 →

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Hidden Treasures Along The Keio Line #5 – National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ)

Posted on November 20, 2018 by tokyofox

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 →

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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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