Review: Films Inspired By Japan – Rising Sun (1993)

Posted on October 19, 2017 by tokyofox

Sean Connery is of course no stranger to Japanese culture having appeared as James Bond in ‘You Only Live Twice‘ (1967) and here, in this crime film, he portrays a  Japanese specialist working alongside Wesley Snipes to find out who murdered a professional escort after what appeared to be a violent sexual encounter.

This early 90’s film is the one which gave me the idea to expand the ‘set in Japan’ series to ‘inspired by Japan’ so that this kind of movie could be included. It is littered with random Japanese words in the middle of sentences and other such Japanese proverbs and business customs. There’s even a kind of sex scene where a Japanese guy eats sushi  off a naked woman’s body and drinks sake from another girls nipples after she dipped them into the glass!

 

What is more laughable than that is the name of Connery’s character. John Continue reading →

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This Shrine Is A Big Hit With Baseball Fans!

Posted on October 16, 2017 by tokyofox

 

There are thousands of shrines and temples in Japan and the vast majority of them don’t really register with me but I’m always eager to visit those which have featured on screen in some way (movies, music videos, animation etc) or are unique or quirky. This particular shrine has become something of a mecca for baseball fans not that I can really be considered a baseball fan as much as I like to tell anyone that I’m a Hiroshima Carp fan having seen them live a grand total of once!

Ever keen to see such an unconventional place, I recently took the Tobu Tojo line about Continue reading →

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Dining Out: Halloween Treats At A Conveyor Belt Sushi Chain

Posted on October 13, 2017 by tokyofox

Friday the 13th is here and I’m sure you all know what happens on this particular date don’t you?! Yep, absolutely f*** all!! Well, that wasn’t quite the case actually as conveyor-belt sushi chain Kurazushi introduced a few Halloween-themed treats to its menu for a limited time and Tokyo Fox was there to sample them.

 

It may be a sushi restaurant but these days such places sell just about everything whether it be ramen, tempura, udon, fried chicken, fries, coffee or cheesecake. Of course you can get all the usual sushi items but they also offer many b*stardised sushi items which I have long been a fan of. The special Halloween menu consists of Continue reading →

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Star Wars The Last Jedi Art Show Tokyo

Posted on October 10, 2017 by tokyofox

The journey towards ‘Star Wars Episode VIII‘ officially began at the start of September with Force Friday II and things are starting to ramp up as we get ever closer to the release of ‘The Last Jedi‘ mid-December.

 

Last month it was announced that there would be a free Star Wars art exhibition running for about ten days in October in Tokyo. It can be found above the Vacant clothing store in Harajuku and is not too far away from the bottom end of the crazily-busy Takeshita Dori shopping street. A quick walk cutting through the fashionable street from JR Harajuku Station really is not possible!

Admittedly my expectations were pretty low for this exhibition as I ascended the steps. I just thought it would be a small room featuring some framed art pieces on the walls. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see there were Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: WWII Damaged Building In A Tokyo Park

Posted on October 6, 2017 by tokyofox

Haikyo (abandoned ruins) has long been something that has fascinated me. Such classic examples of haikyo can include derelict hotels, abandoned theme parks, deserted ghost towns and relics of WWII. Often they are very difficult to get to and are well sealed off from the public but this one is easy to track down as it’s located in a park in the western part of Tokyo Metropolis.

 

From afar it looks just like a very normal building but when you get up close you certainly notice the Continue reading →

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Three Of A Kind: Dragon Torii Gates In Tokyo

Posted on October 2, 2017 by tokyofox

For foreigners in this country there is something very alluring about the torii gates at shrines which are seen to be very symbolic of Japan. Some of the most famous ones for tourists probably include the floating torii of Miyajima in Hiroshima, the hundreds of them at Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto and the one on the banks of Lake Ashi in Hakone.

Regular Tokyo Fox readers may remember that I have scribbled some posts before about three being the magic number in Japan when it comes to the likes of Inari Shrines and gardens, and dragon-decorated torii gates in Tokyo fall into that category too. It’s the red ones which are most famous but they actually come in all manner of sizes. Traditionally they are made from wood or stone but there are also some made of different materials. Just three of them feature dragons on them and by chance I recently visited them all in the space of a few days.

 

It’s believed that these three torii gates are power spots and you can gain power and have your wishes granted by Continue reading →

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Little Venice In Tokyo!

Posted on September 28, 2017 by tokyofox

 

A charming little piazza offering you a break from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo and transporting you to Italy temporarily with the promise of a real gondola, a canal, a venetian bridge, a clock tower and some Italian brickwork. Yeah, yeah, yeah! No doubt there are other more Continue reading →

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Interesting Japanese Playground Structures #6 – Dinosaur Park

Posted on September 25, 2017 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: Dinosaur Park Continue reading →

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The “Rocky” Steps Of Tokyo (+ Some Hidden Gems Nearby!)

Posted on September 22, 2017 by tokyofox

As cities go, Tokyo is a fairly flat city and therefore quite easy to navigate by bicycle as I often tend to do. However, there are some steep hills around Minato ward area including a shrine which stands at the top of some very steep steps that evoke memories (for me!) of when Rocky trained on such similar-style steps to the tune of ‘Gonna Fly Now‘ in the 1976 film.

 

Atago-jinja Shrine (1-5-3 Atago, Minato-ku) is a whopping 26 metres above sea level and is actually the “highest land in Tokyo’s 23 wards” which is presumably phrased like that as there must be  Continue reading →

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Review: Films Set In Japan – Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

Posted on September 19, 2017 by tokyofox

The word pacifist came up recently in a book I regularly teach from and I have to admit that I wasn’t exactly sure of it’s meaning. Having looked it up, I realised that the main character in this film was the perfect fit for such a description. Not only does Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) strongly not believe in fighting but he is also a very religious man. But this is a war movie I hear you cry! How can such a person be involved in a war when they will not fight?

Warning: Contains Spoilers!

 

Well, Doss wants to do what he can for his country and so he Continue reading →

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