Sightseeing In Shizuoka City

Posted on January 20, 2018 by tokyofox

The majority of our time over the festive break was just spent at my parents-in-law’s place in Ito but we did take a short weekend break to Shizuoka city which is still a couple of hours away despite being in the same prefecture.

 

Back in April last year I ventured over this way twice in two days but that was purely in the name of seeing football matches in Fujieda and Shimizu without any sightseeing whatsoever. This time though was different and our first stop on arrival was the ancient Toro ruins which we managed to reach via a quick bus ride from stop #22 on the south side of JR Shizuoka station. I just assumed there’d be some kind of Continue reading →

Posted in Japan Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

The Best Of The Rest Of Our Time In Izu

Posted on January 16, 2018 by tokyofox

Eating, drinking and sleeping basically covers the rest of our time in Izu but for those who have got past that first sentence let me tell you about all the other stuff starting with Ito City Hall.

 

Now that may sound like something really dull but this trip was just to see the Continue reading →

Posted in Japan Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lake Ippeki-ko & The Abandoned Ruins Of It’s Lakeside Hotel

Posted on January 13, 2018 by tokyofox

 

Without my own wheels in Izu, it’s fair to say that options are a little limited when I want to go off and do some kind of sightseeing by myself. As nice as it is, there’s only so many times one can go to Mount Komuro!! The next nearest sight is probably Continue reading →

Posted in Japan Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Dinosaurs + Amazing Drinking Water Fountain (Video) On Mt Komuro

Posted on January 10, 2018 by tokyofox

After all the excess eating over the festive season I really felt in need of a bit of exercise and some fresh air one day so the obvious choice was the nearby Mount Komuro which is very walkable from my in-laws’ house. As it turned out, I would venture on up this mountain about half a dozen times during our two week stay in Izu.

 

There is the option of a chair lift to take you to the mountaintop observatory but I feel it’s a little expensive at 470 yen (presumably a return trip) and, if you’re physically able, it’s also cheating!! Mount Omuro is nearly always visible and looking good but of course it pales into Continue reading →

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

Mind Blowing Star Wars Exhibit At Nippon TV Tower

Posted on January 7, 2018 by tokyofox

 

The last few years have been exciting times for Star Wars fans at Christmas with the release of three movies during the festive season. Of course I was there to see it on opening day at my local cinema and again at the same time seven days later but with my wife also in tow. Later that same day we went to Shimbashi to see Continue reading →

Posted in Star Wars | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

On The Fox Trail……At The Oji Fox Parade

Posted on January 4, 2018 by tokyofox

New Years Eve is a night that promises much but often delivers very little and I long gave up on doing anything whatsoever on it but this time was different as I came back to Tokyo on a 24 hour round trip from Izu to attend an event that featured in a ‘TF Top 10……Quirky Japanese Festivals‘ post a couple of years ago.

 

The Oji Kitsune-no-gyoretsu Fox Parade is one that I’ve been aware of for many years now and it’s been growing in popularity recently but New Years Eve just Continue reading →

Posted in Japan Life, Leicester City, Quirky Japan | Tagged , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

TF Top 20……Tokyo Fox Hits Of 2017

Posted on January 1, 2018 by tokyofox

So 2018 has only just begun and already Tokyo Fox is looking back!! For about eight years now there have been exactly ten new posts on here each and every month and these are the twenty from 2017 which got the most hits…excluding sponsored or TF Top 10 list posts! Of course those entries from earlier in the year had more time to accumulate hits but for the first time the number of posts is actually quite balanced with entries from most months of the year.

1. On The Fox Trail……At Motonosumi Inari Shrine (Yamaguchi)  – Something of a phenomenon on the Tokyo Fox Facebook page as it reached over 11,000 people and was shared more than 80 times which, trust me, is amazing by usual standards. More details here

 

2. Continue reading →

Posted in Movie Locations, Quirky Japan | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

TF Top 10……Filming Location Trips For 2017

Posted on December 29, 2017 by tokyofox

2017 was the 9th proper full year of filming locations on Tokyo Fox and it’s probably fair to say that as the years roll by, the number of movie location posts is dwindling. It’s certainly not for the want of effort though but there are of course other things going on in my life.

There are some completely all-new Japanese locations as well as a few from Sri Lanka, Macau and Hong Kong too with the latter including a couple of old posts that have been topped up with new and extra pictures this year. Even though I’ve not been to the UK in three years, I still have a few James Bond locales-related drafts awaiting publication. One of them finally saw the light of day back in March and is included in this post. Here then, in no particular order, is the TF Top 10……filming location trips for 2017…

1. Mr Baseball, 1992 (Click here)

img_1154  img_1112

2. Continue reading →

Posted in James Bond, Japan Filming Locations, Movie Locations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Countdown to Christmas 2017 in Tokyo

Posted on December 26, 2017 by tokyofox

 

Illuminations are a pretty big thing in Japan at Christmas time but something I’ve just not bothered with as I referenced in my ‘Things I’ve Never Done In Tokyo‘ post back in 2011. However, this year we were in Shimbashi and I thought it might be a nice idea to take the short walk to see the lights at Caretta Shiodome. I was wrong!! Unlike the majority of Japanese girls, my wife Continue reading →

Posted in English Teaching, Food & Drink | Tagged , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

A Taste Of Siberia In Tokyo

Posted on December 23, 2017 by tokyofox

Tokyo is absolutely packed full of museums and just when you think you’re aware of most of them you hear of another that has somehow bypassed you. I came across this one about 13 months ago whilst touring around Tokyo using my Grutto Museum pass to maximum effect. This one wasn’t included in that pass as it’s free to enter for all.

With a curiosity about the vast geographical region of Siberia and ever interested by any war-related museum, I was keen to check this place out as I thought it was about the Japanese intervention in Siberia (1918-1922) but it was actually to do with the Japanese prisoners of war at the end of WWII. It’s called Heiwa Kinen Tenji Shiryokan which in English is the not-so-simply named Memorial Museum for Soldiers, Detainees in Siberia, and Postwar Repatriates!

This small museum consists of three main zones designed to present the hardships suffered in WWII by Japanese soldiers, prisoners of war, and repatriates in a permanent exhibition of relics, graphics, footage and dioramas that can help ensure that the memory of what they were subjected to is  Continue reading →

Posted in Films, Food & Drink, Japan Life, TV Shows | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment