Before the Beginning Tokyo Marathon 2015
Unless you’ve ever run a marathon yourself, you’ve probably no idea of all the stuff happens before the race even starts – the mammoth task of organising 35,000 people to line up – all the stuff before the beginning. Follow me on: Facebook | Twitter | Youtube | The first task for runners is […]
One Night in Shibuya
Shibuya is one of the hearts of Tokyo. An area constantly teaming with people. In the daytime and evening the hustle and bustle never seems to stop, but at night it goes a little more to extremes from very crowded to very quiet. Many people who read my blog won’t have experienced Shibuya at night, […]
Alone in Public 2
This is Part Two in the series ‘Alone in Public’. You can see part one here Tokyo is home to over 12m people, all cramped into small apartments and offices. It’s difficult to find a space to be alone. Some overcome this by shutting themselves away in their rooms and almost never coming out, others […]
Getting customers for Tokyo’s ‘invisible’ restaurants
Many Tokyo restaurants and bars are invisible. That doesn’t mean that they have discovered a scientific way for you to see through them. Rather it means that because space is at a premium in Tokyo, most bars and restaurants can be found in basements and on upper floors in buildings rather than at ground level. […]
Hello Hanami – Cherry blossom time in Tokyo
Like Christmas, cherry blossom time comes but once a year, and the Japanese celebrate it with an equal amount of enthusiasm. Hanami, or the tradition of picnicking under the cherry blossom, is everywhere. From groups of mothers with their children to groups of company workers drinking late into the evening. For those not fortunate enough […]
On safari in Tokyo
Every so often I set myself a photographic challenge, as it helps me to maintain and improve skills; it can also be a lot of fun. A couple of weeks ago I met up with a good friend and we headed out into Tokyo to shoot. Our destination? Ueno zoo. The challenge that I had […]
Heavy Duty – Inside a sumo training camp
It’s difficult to describe the sound when two sumo wrestlers hit each other, it’s like a freight train travelling at full speed hitting a melting iceberg. It’s a sound that you don’t forget in a hurry and leaves you in no doubt as to just how powerful these guys are. Sumo is a contact sport […]
Festival Fever part two – the streets come alive
The main summer festivals in Tokyo are pretty much over now. These are a few images from the Omotesando/Harajuku Super Yosakoi Matsuri, which happened at the end of August. It is a fantastic spectacle to watch, with a great atmosphere. It is also less crowded than most of the other festivals. Enjoy. Follow me on: […]
Semi-naked women dancing in the street – Welcome Asakusa Samba Festival, Tokyo
The Asakusa Samba Festival is one of Japan’s more unusual summer festivals. Scantily clad women dancing in the streets is not something you expect to see in normally conservative Japan, but needless to say it is welcomed by the male senior citizen contingent of Tokyo who turn up in large numbers with cameras and generally […]
Tsukiji fish market – not for the faint-hearted
Tsukiji fish market is one of Tokyo’s more unusual tourist attractions. Most people wouldn’t put ‘fish market’ on their list of sightseeing places to visit on holiday, but in Tsukiji’s case that’s what happens when you’re the biggest in the world. Despite its reputation for being a tourist attraction, in reality it’s not, it’s a […]
