Tokyo Explorer

Narita Skyliner

Ken Elm — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 23:00:19 +0000

Train freaks rejoice - the new design for the soon to be unveiled Narita Skyliner - unveiled first, here, on Tokyo Explorer!!! It gets no better than this.

Look under the bed

Ken Elm — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:00:14 +0000

The only terrorist attacks Japan has been on the receiving end of have been initiated domestically, but the nation never fails to give the impression that all danger is imported from afar. Hmmmm?!

Did you know? #2

TE — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:00:58 +0000

The founders of SONY actually considered naming the company Tokyo Teletech before settling for the name we all know and love today.

Balloons at ballgames!

Ken Elm — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:00:03 +0000

Fukuoka Hawks (I refuse to play the corporate game and call them by their ‘business’ sponsor’s name) were in town recently and I was lucky enough to attend the game they had with Tokyo Swallows along with a few guys from TE. Lots of beer, yakitori, donuts (don’t ask!) - and yellow balloons!! What yellow balloons have got to do with proceedings is anyone’s guess but this is a scene from the Fukuoka side of the stadium in the 7th inning. Wacky!

Did you know? #1

TE — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:00:40 +0000

2008 will mark 50-years since Tokyo Tower opened for business – and that the 332.6m tall, 4000 ton steel tower includes metal salvaged from American tanks destroyed in the Korean War.

Think before you jump

Ken Elm — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 23:00:42 +0000

Tokyo’s train system is likely second to none - the world over. That said, it has one flaw - the delays so often caused by those intent on taking their own lives. Selfish? Pitiful? Something else altogether…? I’ll leave that one to the psychologists to figure but for those who have never been to Japan - this is what it has come down to - anti-suicide gates at train stations all over the capital. Sad really.

Junk mail

Ken Elm — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 23:00:39 +0000

One day pizzas, the next, real estate. Throw in the local info rag and various out there religions all trying to claim a slice of my earnings and you have the average day of junk mail in and urban Tokyo post box. Did I mentione the ‘delivered’ health options? No? Now, they are weird!

Tough men wanted!

Ken Elm — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:00:18 +0000

The label on this bottle reads ‘Tough Man’ in Japanese. Ironic that I saw it just days after an idiot had gone on a stabbing spree in Akihabara, Tokyo. A sad incident all round, seven died, many others were injured, and now the insect in question is claiming mental illness. Apparently he wanted to kill. Why he didn’t just go to a tall building and throw himself off then, escapes me. As tragic as it all panned out though, the thing that got me were the interviews afterwards. Young, well built guys were all too happy to tell the TV stations what they saw, how grisly it all was - but NONE of them made the effort to stop the killer. None approached him, threw something, hit him etc etc. NONE - tough men indeed!

Sleeping on the job!

Ken Elm — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 23:00:54 +0000

How low can you go? I thought ECC was a chain of language schools in Japan. Looks like they are sleeping on the job - get it? Sleeping, sleeper - never mind!!

Nikolai who?

Ken Elm — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 23:00:00 +0000

Undoubtedly one of the most remarkable buildings in Tokyo, the Russian Orthodox Nikolai Cathedral in Ochanomizu will surely vanish during the next big tremor-what with it perched on a hillside and all. Great to look at, but not easy to enter, it is apparently named after its Russian founder who, oddly enough, is now sleeping the eternal sleep several klicks to the north - in a non-denominational graveyard as it happens! Weird that!