There are four league teams in Shizuoka prefecture; Azul Claro Numazu, Fujieda MYFC, Shimizu S-Pulse and Jubilo Iwata, and I’ve now been to all but the latter following a recent day trip to watch the first club mentioned on that list. It was a beautiful day with clear blue skies, bright sunshine and even some Autumn leaves in the mountains fringing the stadium.
Having wolfed down my food at the floating restaurant I legged it over to the other side of the station Continue reading
The days of kaiten-zushi (conveyor-belt sushi) may be coming to an end as they get replaced by express delivery direct to tables but that original style lives on at this restaurant where dishes arrive via the water.
Only a fortnight after visiting the vending machine restaurant in Gunma I was yet again combining some J-League football with a quirky, fun restaurant and I just had to Continue reading
Numazu is at the northern end of the Izu Peninsula on the opposite side to Atami and a place that I went to back in November whilst staying with my parents in law for a couple of nights. My wife was otherwise Continue reading
This year was the first time I wasn’t sure what costume to wear and indeed I actually took a couple with me (Jawa and X-Wing pilot) but ended up sticking to just one as the whole process of getting Continue reading
Now in its second proper year, this convention returned to Japan for an extended three full days this year with the promise of a bigger event featuring a lot more Continue reading
On the face of it, Hojo-in Temple seems like a fairly nondescript run-of-the-mill temple but there is an interesting feature lying within the place which is just a five minute walk from Monzen-Nakacho station on the Tozai Line or the Toei Oedo Line.
Inside one of the buildings sits a fearful (but slightly comical!) red-faced Enma Daio (a.k.a. King Yama) who is the Judge of the Underworld. He is supposedly the first Continue reading
In 2014 Barry Eisler penned a prequel book called ‘Graveyard Of Memories‘ which took us back to the Tokyo city of 1972 and the ninth John Rain novel ‘Zero Sum’ throws forward a decade to 1982. I’m not sure if Rain will return to modern day action again but for now there’s plenty of milage to be gained from dipping into his past.
The latest book was released at the end of June this year but I thought that it was Continue reading
When it comes to buddha statues, the ones in Kamakura and Nara are the most likely to be at the forefront of most peoples minds (and rightly so!) but there is an impressive one tucked away far from a station in the northern suburbs of Tokyo.
Despite the accolade of being the third largest bronze buddha in Japan, the not-so-originally named Tokyo Daibutsu doesn’t seem to feature in any guide books and is very much off the beaten track. It can be found at Continue reading
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.
Earlier this year I posted ‘Tokyo Modern Architecture #2‘ as a long-waited follow up to the original ‘Tokyo Modern Architecture‘ post in July 2012. There are 20 buildings featured in those two posts and here, in no particular order, is the next volume of interesting looking Japanese buildings including the addresses:
1. Rissho Kosei-kai Headquarters, 2-11-1 Wada, Suginami-ku.
2. Dai 2 Ridō Building, 3-15 Sumiyoshicho, Shinjuku-ku. Continue reading
The Japanese have many customs and traditions when it comes to visiting shrines or temples and this one in Gunma prefecture helps Continue reading
Tokyo Fox (東京狐) 