Andy in Tokyo's Feed - Page 1 of 2

Related posts:No, not the Eiffel Tower… …it’s Tokyo Tower, innit? I finally went here on Sunday,... Out and about in Golden Week On the Chuo line to Shinjuku: Yoyogi Park on a... Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building Love it or hate it, Tokyo’s Metr...

Related posts:Shibuya’s Hachiko Crossing comes to London Well, that might be overstating it somewhat, but I was...

After a week’s worth of uncertainty over whether or not we would a) have a massive aftershock, b) be inhaling clouds of radioactive dust, or c) endure a and b at the same time, things in Tokyo are getting back to normal. We’re not out of the woods as...

Yes, I know that picking on British tabloids for their accuracy is like shooting fish in a barrel, but it’s so much fun! On Friday the Daily Mail ran the following story: And here are some choice quotes from it: You could find a few die-hard Brits an...

Well, today I: went to work in central Tokyo (just 15 mins walk from the British Embassy) on a busy-as-usual train; had curry for lunch – as I often do – at the Indian restaurant up the street from my office; left for home an hour early because of a...

Panic is contagious and very, very dangerous. Don’t deprive north east Japan of much-needed food and other supplies by buying everything in sight. No related posts.

Did you know that you can go to the top of Mori Tower (that’s the biggest building in the Roppongi Hills complex)? Well, you can, and here are the photos to prove it: Although going on the roof is okay, standing on the helipad is a no-no. Spoilsport...

Earlier this month it seemed likely that Ichiro Ozawa, backroom wheeler-dealer and master of the political dark arts, would be successful in his bid to become leader of the DPJ, a result that would also make him Japan’s fourth prime minister in four...

You may have noticed a distinct lack of postage on this blog recently. This is because the missus and myself were back in the UK, seeing my family. There’ll be more Japan-related posts soon(ish). In the meantime, here are some photos from our little...

Love it or hate it, Tokyo’s Metropolitan Government Building is hard to miss: Related posts:The Peninsula Tokyo For the missus’ birthday we decided to try out The... Shunbun no hi This coming Sunday is shunbun no hi, or Vernal Equinox... Out and...

Last week former North Korean spy Kim Hyon Hi was flown into Japan for talks with government officials and the relatives of Japanese nationals abducted by Pyongyang. It was believed that she might have information about the abductees, who were kidnap...

Last weekend saw me in Inuyama, Aichi prefecture, for my sister-in-law’s wedding. It also mysteriously coincided with the daring escape of a number of monkeys from Nagoya University’s research institute, which is just a few minutes’ drive from my par...

My, doesn’t time fly in the world of Japanese politics? It seems like only yesterday that Yukio Hatoyama and the DPJ finally managed to chuck the pork-barrellers of the LDP out of power, and yet here we are, just months later, with yet another unelec...

I received an email from the HR department this morning to announce the beginning of Cool Biz. This means that male employees can forego neckties for the next three months, while office air conditioners are turned up to 28°C to reduce running costs (...

Tokyo’s Chiyoda ward is not renowned for fishing, but this particular pond is always popular. In fact, part of it has been specially kitted out for city-dwelling Ahabs. The greenness of the water makes me wonder if any normal (ie, one-headed) fish ca...

For those of you who regularly watch BBC World News (come on, it can’t be just me!), you’ve probably noticed an eerily similarity between its Japan-related reports. It seems that no matter what the story, be it whaling, dolphin slaughtering or popula...

Having lived in Tokyo for over five years I should really know all there is to know about the place. But I don’t, and the place I probably know the least about is Akihabara. This once shabby district, which is five minutes from Tokyo station, has a g...

Ichigaya Station, Chiyoda: The weather took a distinct turn for the worse today. 6ºC and non-stop drizzle.

Western television reports about Tokyo tend to focus on the ultra-modern. There will, almost without exception, be shots of Shibuya’s Hachiko crossing (above), kids dressed in epileptic-fit inducing outfits and random commuter trains zipping past a n...

Korean newspapers are up in arms (again) following the Japanese government’s endorsement of several elementary school textbooks that label the islets of Dokdo – or Takeshima in Japanese – as Japanese territory. The islets, which are located slap bang...

This coming Sunday is shunbun no hi, or Vernal Equinox Day. Traditionally, on this day Japanese people would visit their ancestral graves and hold family reunions. These days, however, they are more likely to visit Starbucks and hold rat-like Chihuah...

These days it’s not uncommon for people to get all their news from the internet, and for absolutely nothing. Needless to say, this whole ‘free news’ malarkey has proved disastrous for the newspaper industry. Many papers, such as the New York Times, i...

Well, I was convinced that the snow we had earlier this month would be the first – and last – for Tokyo this year, but I woke up this morning to find yet another covering of the white stuff: Related posts:Snow Way Last night’s snow was more robu...

Akebono has had many fine achievements during his forty years on earth: becoming the first foreign sumo wrestler to achieve the rank of yokozuna, winning eleven top division titles, and, err… managing to win one fight out of twelve in his career as a...