The Building In Osaka With A Road Going Through It

Posted on May 12, 2018 by tokyofox

Once I was done at Bentencho Station I had some time to kill before going over to the east of Osaka to visit my friend Oki so was taking the the JR Osaka Loop Line round to Kyobashi station when I noticed something interesting between Fukushima and Osaka stations. I thought my eyes were deceiving me at first but it seemed like there was a highway going right through it.

With time on my side, I got off at Osaka station and rode back one stop to investigate this building. Less than ten minutes away on foot is the 16 floor  Continue reading →

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Hidden Gems Near Bentencho Station (Osaka)

Posted on May 9, 2018 by tokyofox

Very few tourists visiting Osaka seem to venture over to Bentencho Station which is the most western point (train map-wise!) on the JR Osaka Loop Line. I certainly didn’t see anyone (tourists or otherwise!) as I went in search of a B-grade sight just ten minutes away on foot from the station which is also on the Osaka Metro Chūō Line.

I got more than I bargained for though as I saw a couple of other vaguely interesting things in close vicinity. My intention was just to see a kind of bridge (yes, I really am that sad!) when I noticed a building in the other direction with something standing in the window looking at me. On closer inspection I was most surprised to see what it really was.

  

Route 43 is an extremely busy road with a high volume of traffic which dissects the two main features of this post. Needless to say, the vast majority of drivers and passengers don’t even notice the structure lurking in the window of this golden-sand coloured building but Continue reading →

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A Visit To Japan’s Newest Top Flight Stadium

Posted on May 6, 2018 by tokyofox

  

Modern stadia may look impressive but the match day experience can be diluted far too often as the new places fail to recreate the atmosphere that had probably been built up over decades and decades at the old ground. It takes time for fans to get used to being in an unfamiliar setting around people they don’t know. Of course, form is vitally important and if most home matches are being won then it makes the switch a lot easier.

The stadiums of FC Tokyo and Yokohama Marinos are nice enough but they are pretty bad for watching J. League football at. However, the Suita City Football Stadium (now officially known as Panasonic Stadium Suita) was Continue reading →

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On The Trail Of Shin Godzilla #4 – Kamakura

Posted on May 3, 2018 by tokyofox

Lots of visitors to Tokyo often take day-trips to the likes of Nikko, Hakone and Kamakura after spending a few days in the capital city. It’s a similar story for Godzilla in ‘Shin Gojira‘ (2016) as he ends up in the latter having first arrived in Shinagawa and Ota wards respectively.

N.B. The time codes given are approximate and may be slightly different to the DVD or blu-ray versions.

The many temples are of course the main reason anyone visits Kamakura but not for Tokyo Fox though who was on a mission to locate the filming locations from what was the 31st installment in the Godzilla franchise. The radioactive lizard emerges from the ocean on 39 minutes as he arrives at Cape Inamura which is just a few minutes away on foot from Inamuragaseki station on the Enoden Line. He is first seen in the distance next to Enoshima, and the huge greenhouse structure of the Samuel Cocking Garden can be seen protruding from the island if you really zoom in on the screenshot below!

  

Moments later he Continue reading →

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The Complete A-Z Of Filming Locations On Tokyo Fox

Posted on April 29, 2018 by tokyofox

  

Back in April 2008 I went to Phuket (Thailand) and soon realised that I was more interested in seeing the island from the James Bond film ‘The Man With The Golden Gun‘ (1974), and the hostel and beach from ‘The Beach‘ (2000) rather than your typical usual touristy sights. Of course a couple of those places I’ve just mentioned are sights in their own right but the hostel certainly isn’t and that was fun. Whilst I did dally with the ‘Cast Away‘ (2000) shooting spots in Fiji back in 2002, it is that trip to Thailand which really ignited my interest in filming locations. I have gone on to experience the locales for over 150 movies since then with a handful of TV shows and music video locations thrown in for good measure too. Here is the complete list…

A

About A Boy, 2002 (More details here)

The Adventures of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert, 1994 (More details here)

Amadeus, 1984 (More details here)

Amélie, 2001 (More details here)

The Amazing Spider-Man, 2012 (More details here)

Angels & Demons, 2009 (More details here) Continue reading →

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Hidden Treasures Along The Keio Line #2 – Mount Arigata

Posted on April 26, 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……

#2 – Mount Arigata @ Continue reading →

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The Shrine of Cartoon Characters!

Posted on April 23, 2018 by tokyofox

Shrines and temples are serious places where people go to pray for something or another. The majority of them are fairly normal but then there are the slightly quirky ones like this one in Shinagawa ward.

  

In the recent whale shrine post I mentioned that a student had initially given me the wrong details for the characters shrine but he corrected that and so I tried again to locate it one Saturday. I actually went here during Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: Machida Squirrel Garden

Posted on April 20, 2018 by tokyofox

Unlike many of the animal cafes, parks and zoos that have recently popped up in and around Tokyo, this particular place has actually been around since 1988. It is one I’ve wanted to visit for about five years now and I finally got round to going there last month when I took my animal-loving wife there as a surprise. She actually hates surprises but I remained stubborn and didn’t tell her anything about it until we got off the bus and she could see the Squirrel Gardens come into sight.

  

The only ever time I’ve been to this part of Tokyo was to see Machida Zelvia in J2 football action and the Machida Athletic Stadium, where they play, is only about 3.5 kilometres further north from this park and is part of the same bus route. The set-up at the squirrel garden is Continue reading →

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On the Fox Trail…… at Keihin Fushimi Inari Shrine (Kanagawa)

Posted on April 17, 2018 by tokyofox

Being surrounded by hundreds of foxes is a nightmare for some people but for others it is pure joy. The reality of being amidst all those real foxes at Zao Fox Village in Miyagi prefecture is one that can probably never be topped. Fox mound at Toyokawa Inari Shrine in Aichi prefecture is pretty hard to beat for kitsune (fox) statues and this particular one is packed full of unique looking foxes.

  

Admittedly, Keihin Fushimi Inari Shrine is somewhere I’d never heard of until late last year when someone commented on one of my previous ‘On The Fox Trail…’ posts on social media asking if I’d heard of this place. I hadn’t and was immediately amazed to discover that it Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: Temple Garden of Philosophy

Posted on April 14, 2018 by tokyofox

Tokyo may be a concrete jungle stretching as far as the eye can see but amidst all those grey buildings lie some greenery whether it be parks like Yoyogi, Ueno and Hibiya, or gardens like Shinjuku Gyoen, Hama-rikyu, Rikugien, Kiyosumi, Koishikawa Korakuen and so on

Having covered all of those places (and many more!), I really thought I knew my green spaces quite well but obviously not as whilst flicking through last Winter’s WAttention Tokyo magazine (vol. 26) I was surprised to be informed about this particular quirky garden in Nakano ward.

  

As I was at a bit of a loose end one Sunday I decided to check it out in what was the first time to Continue reading →

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