Saturday 17 September 2016

Hana - Blog Link Up of Flowers

September 17, 2016

Posting has been light this week for a couple of reasons.  I haven't had that many cards to post on this blog lately and I've been busy celebrating my anniversaries.  Here in Japan I have two anniversaries, one from the official day when we registered our marriage at City Hall, and the other when I got to wear the big white pouffy dress in front of a bunch of people I didn't know!

But you came here for the flowers.  At first,  I thought....Ack!  I don't really collect flower cards.  I do collect Gotochi cards however, and I thought I would focus on a couple that I have that have flowers on them.  Gotochi Cards are still very popular in Japan and from looking at Postcrossing's profiles, sought after in other places too.

Also, for the first time, I'm joining a blog party link up.  Maria at Connections to the World is hosting a link-up where some postcard bloggers will post cards that they think are special enough to show off. Please feel free to visit her blog and check out the other bloggers and what they present.

The Cards....

This lovely card of Lilacs was released in 2013 to show off Hokkaido, the big northern island of Japan.  Every year in Sapporo, the capital city, there is a lilac festival.  Sadly, when I lived nearby, I didn't attend the festival.   I think I did a swap for this card with another Postcrosser in Japan.




This card shows Yamagata's own Hanagasa Festival.  In this festival people dance while wearing hats with artificial safflowers on them.  I'm afraid I haven't ever attended the Hanagasa Festival, but I have seen a little of the dancing on TV.  Apparently, this is one of the largest festivals in Tohoku, the north part of Honshu, or main island.  There's an informative webpage here.

I live in Yamagata Prefecture so I am slightly extending the definition of flower to include this card!  It is one of my favourite Gotochi cards because it is pretty and fun.


And, in case you didn't know, "花" or  hana is the Japanese word for flowers.

9 comments:

DawnTreader said...

There's a lot to be learned from postcards, as usual! :) I love lilacs in the spring.

Maria said...

Hi Hana, Happy Wedding Anniversary!

Gotochi cards are really neat! I haven't received any though.

Thanks for sharing these cards and for that information tidbit at the end of your post :D

Helen said...

DawnTreader....I love them too.

Maria....You're welcome. I think I messed up when I signed up though, Hana is the the title of my blog post, I'm Helen! No worries though.

Mail Adventures said...

Congratulations on your anniversaries!

Me neither, I don't collect flowers especially, but I love them. You chose well: Gotochi cards are always nice.

I also participated with lilacs :)

Joy said...

The dancing flower hats make a great postcard.

Helen said...

Thanks Eva! I like your lilacs too.

Helen said...

Thank you Joy! It really is a fun card. I did send one out once to a postcrosser...It is my most popular sent card!

Scriptor Senex said...

Flowers certainly come in all shapes and sizes! Thanks for the interesting post.

Helen said...

Thank you for commenting and visiting :-)