Chofu

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    Wonderful Weekend Of Superb Cycling

    Blessed with outstanding weather and lucky schedule breaks, I’ve just finished an amazing three-day weekend of cycling. I got to get on the bike as part of a cycling club’s call for riders to share their cycling experiences. My duties to the local estate threatened to put paid to my riding over the weekend, but things worked out and I could ride on all three days of the event. Today was the highlight, and I was supposed to lead a ride from Tokyo Station to Inokashira Park in Kichijoji. We were to follow the delightful Kanda River cycling course, which weaves through the central city, through the leafy suburbs and…

  • Big Red Bike Tour Stage 2: Freaky Friday

    Pushed for time, yet pressed to get riding the Big Red Bike Tour, I turned to an old favorite for Stage 2 and headed out and about near home to see the local monsters. We’re short on time because we’re due to go drinking with a neighbor’s family tonight before they return to England. The neighbor’s daughter is married to a man who shares the same surname as the Kangaeroos, which I still find an amazing coincidence. Our not so common but hardly rare clan name managed to find two inhabitants in a foreign country of over 120 million people. So I am keen on going and learning more. They’re…

  • A Monster Mashup In Western Tokyo

    Given the gift of an afternoon off, I got on my bike and rode somewhat familiar paths to get reacquainted with old monster “mates” I’d encountered in days gone by. First, I met green Godzilla, a topiary treat from Toho, before heading toward Chofu to see a collection of the yokai spirits created by Shigeru Mizuki. A little bit of a roundabout journey followed, dropping by the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka and then onto the Kokubunji Totoro before racing back to pick up a new phone bought because the battery in my old one conks out within a couple of hours of using it. Unfortunately, performance on the new phone…

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    Aussie Anime hits Tokyo with a Blast….of Flatulence!

    Gus, the animated tale of a Neanderthal child with uncontrollable flatulence, is one of two Australian films selected to take part in the Japan Kinder Film Festival drawing to a close in suburban Tokyo this weekend. 豪作品ガスのコントロール出来ないネアンデルタール人子供の話アニメ『GUS おならで大発見！』と短編映画『ジュリアン』という２作品が１９日調布市グリーンホールにて20th Anniversary キンダー･フィルム･フェスティバルに上映される。 Accompanying Gus will be Julian, a short film that will feature Japanese voice actors performing live translations of non-Japanese films as they show. 『ジュリアン』の上映は、声優さんがその場でライブで日本語に吹き替える。 Japan Kinder Film Festival, the only international film festival for children in Japan, has one final session to run on Sunday, Aug. 19, from 1:30 p.m. at Green Hall, Chofu. Ticket prices range from 150 yen for children, pensioners and the disabled to 500 yen for…