Tokyo Daytripper: Before And After Ome

Posted on July 3, 2018 by tokyofox

Tokyo may be one of the smallest prefectures in Japan yet it does have some far flung places. The Izu and Ogasawara Islands are obviously the most extreme ones as they extend as far as 1,850 kilometres south of central Tokyo. By contrast, Okutama on the Ome Line is a modest 70+ kilometres from downtown Tokyo and can take between 90 and 120 minutes to get there.

 

I’ve been out to this part of Tokyo a few times but they have always been to Mitake in the name of climbing Mount Mitake. Despite being so close, I’ve still never been to Okutama itself but that will happen one day I’m sure. Shiromaru Dam Fish Ladder was my destination on a busy day which started early as I left the Tokyo Fox Global Operations Centre just after 7am. It’s pretty much equidistant (under 15 minutes on foot) between Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: Ome

Posted on June 30, 2018 by tokyofox

When it comes to day trips from Tokyo most people usually think of Nikko, Kamakura, or Hakone but there is one very nice place about 90 minutes away from Shinjuku and unbelievably it is still in Tokyo! Ōme Station is located in the Okutama Mountains of western Tokyo and the city is famed for some retro museums (aren’t most museums retro?!) and the streets and shops are decorated with some beautiful vintage Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: Kamakura (2018)

Posted on June 27, 2018 by tokyofox

Despite going to Kamakura with the idea of seeing another side of it to what it’s famed for, I still ended up going to a few temples but they weren’t immediate on this trip. When I left home at 7:00 am back in April I wasn’t aware that it was going to be such a blazing hot day so I had no hat, glasses or sunscreen with me. Consequently I ended up getting a British tan! Or sunburned as most other people say!

 

Inamuragaseki station was my first port of call after a short ride on the Enoden Line from Kamakura station. The cape was my destination and from there I Continue reading →

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On the Fox Trail……at Tokyo’s Most Hidden Shrine!

Posted on June 24, 2018 by tokyofox

About four years ago I was talking to an older student about strange and interesting shrines in and around Tokyo and he mentioned that there was a kind of secret shrine in Akihabara somewhere but I completely forgot about it and didn’t think anything of it until last year when popular Tokyo-based YouTuber ‘Only In Japan Go‘ did a live stream from this place. You can watch it here. I assume that this is the one my student was on about but you can never be too sure in Japan where there are shrines hidden away in all kinds of places.

Ever since I saw the aforementioned video I have wanted to check out this place and so I recently cycled to Akihabara (and Ueno too) which was the first time I’ve properly cycled through Tokyo since I got knocked off my bike back in February. The shrine is now on google maps so it’s not exactly hidden anymore. It’s located very close to the Don Quixote store, about five minutes away from Akihabara Station. Find the Sadatei Building and just to the left of the shop is the tightest of alleys but it’s certainly not visible until right up close.

    Continue reading →

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Day Trip To The Toyota Stadium!

Posted on June 21, 2018 by tokyofox

Nagoya Grampus Eight (as they were known back then) were the first team I knew of in the J-League back in the early 90’s when Leicester’s favourite son Gary Lineker announced he was moving to Japan. A few years later the team name was heard yet again in England when Arsene Wenger left them to become the new Arsenal manager.

When I first arrived in Japan I even thought I might support Grampus but things never quite panned out like that and I ended up becoming a fan of Kashiwa Reysol who were my local team back then. However, visiting the home stadium of Grampus (a different one to where Lineker played at) was still something I wanted to do and for a long time it’s been on my Japan bucket list.

Over the last few years I’ve been to many grounds around the country (including some very far flung ones) but Nagoya has always eluded me. The trip to see Gamba Osaka at the end of April reignited my interest in going to some of the further bigger stadiums and so I scanned the fixture list to see when was good for Nagoya. Continue reading →

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On Screen #9 – Russia

Posted on June 17, 2018 by tokyofox

With Russia hosting this years FIFA World Cup there is a lot of focus on the nation which is famed for vodka, bears, mineral fuels, matryoshka (stacking dolls) and drugs! A fair few international productions have taken place in Russia with the vast majority of them including Moscow Airport scenes and Red Square footage. Countless TV productions of Leo Tolstoy classics like ‘War & Peace‘ and ‘Anna Karenina‘ have been set in Russia but this particular On Screen post will focus on how the country has been portrayed in film whether it be real, or faked somewhere cheaper and easier.

  

A whole host of action movies have been played out in the world’s biggest country and pretty much all of them have featured Russians as the baddies! That’s certainly been the case in James Bond films where there have been numerous Russian antagonists. Put Russia and James Bond together and most minds will probably think of ‘From Russia With Love‘ (1963) but that Continue reading →

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Unstaffed Stations of Japan #2 – Funamachi

Posted on June 14, 2018 by tokyofox

Think of train stations in Japan and the mighty Shinjuku station is sure to come to mind for many people. That is the world’s busiest train station, and Japan monopolises the top 50 list with only five of them not in this country. However, at the other end of the scale are some tiny stations which are usually unstaffed and used by very few commuters. Continue reading →

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Less Than 24 Hours In Nagoya……Again!!

Posted on June 11, 2018 by tokyofox

At the end of my ‘Sightseeing In Nagoya‘ post in January last year I vowed that I would return with my wife next time. 17 months later and I was back in Nagoya but yet again she was not with me due to her work commitments. Furthermore, it was another trip to this city for just one night on the back of seven or eight hours in Kyoto having began the day by getting up at 4am in Osaka.

 

I didn’t waste any time on my arrival in Nagoya and headed south straight away to Continue reading →

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A Giant Maneki-Neko Watches Over This Japanese City

Posted on June 8, 2018 by tokyofox

The maneki-neko is a Japanese figurine often seen in or at the entrance of shops, restaurants, pachinko parlours, and other such businesses with the idea that it’s believed to bring good luck to the owner. They are often fairly small and usually made of ceramic or plastic. Some of them have a battery-powered slow-moving paw beckoning customers to enter the place. The cat temple at Gotokuji in Tokyo is absolutely packed full of these cat figurines and this particular town, lying on the western coast of the Chita Peninsula in southern Aichi Prefecture, has also taken the idea a step further!

Just under ten minutes walk from Continue reading →

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The Sunglasses-Wearing Buddha Statue!

Posted on June 5, 2018 by tokyofox

  

There’s something alluring about buddha statues for me and, despite not being in any way religious, I’m always happy to see them. The bigger the better too! I heard about this one last year and it was my priority destination during my fairly limited time in Nagoya recently. Hotei Station lies on the Continue reading →

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