Saturday 29 October 2016

Things That Go Bump in the Night

October 28, 2016

Admittedly, I was a little stuck for today's Blog Link-up Party.  It is"free topic" day and I just wasn't sure what I should show.  One person chose Halloween and I thought that it might be a cool idea since Halloween is in a few days.  I hope they don't mind that I am doing scary, Halloween themed things too.

The first card was given to me by a friend who lives in Oita.  We live in opposite ends of the country and could only meet occasionally.  Every time we met, she forgot to bring me the cards!  Eventually, I think she just mailed them to me.

This card below represents one of the "Hells of Beppu".  Beppu has eight geothermal pools, which are not used for bathing, they are tourist attractions.  I have never been to Beppu yet, but since it has a cool but scary-looking pool like one the below, it is on my wish list! The Wikipedia article really needs some work, but it makes more sense (slightly) than the explanation on the Gotochi Card site.



 This is a Namahage, or demon from Akita Prefecture.  They are demons who visit houses on New Year's Eve (not Halloween!) and try to scare children out of laziness.  Of course, they aren't really demons, they are in costume. This time, the Wikipedia article is actually quite informative!



Below I have posted the Mailbox card for Halloween for 2014 and 2016.  I'm not sure if I bought 2015! These are rather cute cards.  I sent one of the 2016 cards for Postcrossing and it was greatly appreciated.  



Thank you for visiting my page.  I hope I didn't scare you....too much.  BOO!

Please do have a look at the other members of the Blog Link Up Party and see what they did with their free topic!


8 comments:

Joy said...

Very scary. Love them. I didn't think of Halloween, strange really as I will be stocking up on treats tomorrow in readiness.

Helen said...

Thank you! I was drawing a complete blank about what to feature, so just decided to do this.

Maria said...

I love the demon Namahage scaring children out of laziness! I hope it actually works. Thanks for sharing these scary cards. Helen! I was also stuck with an "anything you wish" theme. Happy weekend!

Helen said...

It's tough because I didn't want to use something I might use in upcoming weeks!

Thanks for visiting!

Mail Adventures said...

Yes, you scared me!
I never thought they would issue those Halloween mailboxes.

Helen said...

They are cute though, aren't they? I really like them. Japan has just started celebrating Halloween but they do it their own way.

And sorry for the fright ;-)

John's Island said...

Hi Helen, These are great cards and perfect for the link up. As you will know, they say the most sincere form of flattery is imitation, so I thought it was quite nice of you to mention me in your decision to go with the Halloween theme! :-) By the way, I just noticed your other blog, Living La Vida Loca In Japan, which looks interesting. Will be taking a look over there. Thanks for sharing all and have a fine week ahead!

Helen said...

Thanks John. You posting the Halloween card really saved me because I had a deadline and hadn't thought about the theme at all!

The other blog is more of a diary of my life in Japan. My life isn't as crazy as it once was!