France

November 28, 2016

This lovely card came from France and has a lovely friendly note on the back. It talks about books and movies so you know that I like it!

Mary wrote,
"hello Helen,
I'm Mary, 31 years old.  I work as a guide in an ancient Roman amphitheatic. During my free time I like read books, watching movies.  One of my favorite is : you've got mail (not really a new one, but for me is a classic of romantic comedy).

I lived 1 year in Tokyo a few years ago and I really liked it. and you?  Do you like live in Japan?

happy postcrossing

mary"

La cathedrale gothique Saint-Pierre au bord de la Charente.

Germany - Books

November 28, 2016

This cool card came to me from Germany recently.  The sender wrote a note on the back, but some of it is a little hard to read.  Hope this makes sense!

He wrote,

"Dear Helen,
I send you some greetings from Rejensburg in Bavaria, Steffen
'Grass doesn't grow faster if you pull it' (African saying)"

Latvia

November 28, 2016

I got this interesting card from Latvia, it was sent by a woman named Santa.  She wrote a little about the card, which is great, because I don't read Latvian!

She wrote,
"Hello Helen,
greetings from Latvia!
My name is Santa, I'm 28. On the front is a recipe for traditional Latvian food we eat during Summer Solstice festivals.  It's homemade cheese with caraway seeds.  I hope you'll like the card! Best wishes,
-S.-

Netherlands - Actor

November 28, 2016

This card arrived in the mail from Sander in the Netherlands.  He wrote a lovely note on the back and used a Postcrossing stamp, so what's not to like?

He wrote,

"Hello Helen,
Greetings from Groningen, a city in the north of the Netherlands.  My name is Sander, work at the university.  I love movies too!  I visited Japan once, a few years , I was in Tokyo only, saw a few movies at the Tokyo Film Festival.  A lot of my favourite movies are from the 1970's: Jaws, Marathon Man, The French Connection, Deliverance, The Conversation, Chinatown, Das Boot, The Taking of Pelham 123 and more.  Great Period for movies!

Best Wishes,
SANDER"

Han Solo

 This is one of the Postcrossing stamps from the Netherlands.  Very cool to receive it.

France

November 26, 2016

I had a little bit of a challenge with this card.  The sender wrote it entirely in French.  My French is terribly rusty and completely confused with my feeble Japanese ability, so I had to turn to Google Translate for an explanation.  Please don't blame me if the translation isn't correct!

Loïc wrote,

Bien le bon jour de brumaire ma chere Helen.  De prime abord j'espere que hi te portes comme un charme en, cette periode automnale et que celle-ci te sied aisément.  Je me present, je m'applle Loïc S. et suis enchanté de faire ta connaissance via ce canal ce communication un soupcon dèsuet mais ò combien agréable..N'est-ce pas?! Sur cette missive succinete, je te salue bien bas..Bons baisers des Hauts - de- france

Emoticone

Well the good day of brumaire my dear Helen. At first glance I hope that you are charmed in this autumn period and that it suits you easily. I introduce myself, I call Loïc S. and am delighted to meet you via this channel this communication a suspicion soon but ò how agreeable..Isn't ?! On this succinct missive, I greet you low .. Good kisses of the Hauts - de - france

Emoticon

A beautiful stamp too...

Japan...No,...France! No, Japan!

November 25, 2016

I received this French postcard from a postcrosser in Japan.  There is a reason she sent it though...

Nadine wrote,

"Hello Helen from Kyoto!
Here is a view of my hometown in France (near Switzerland) a beautiful place.  All the best, Nadine."

Add caption

 Nadine used the special International Letter Writing Week postcard stamp, which is actually worth more than she had to pay for a within Japan postcard.  However, I very rarely receive this stamp so I appreciate it.

Belarus

November 10, 2016

This card came to me from Violetta, a young woman in Belarus.  She wrote a friendly message on the back of her card so I'm happy!

She wrote,
"Hello!

My name is Violetta.  I am 11 years old. I live in beautiful city of Minsk. I have a big family. I'm a very friendly person. I like active rest. I love to visit different countries too.  Good bye!"

She also notes that it was rainy and cloudy and +2 when she wrote the card, possibly at 20:40.

Minsk Independence Square

India

November 1, 2016

I received this beautiful card from India with a great note on the back. The sender talks about his country and himself, which I am always happy to read.  I will take the liberty of not putting the sender's full name on this entry, for his protection.

Dr.  V.B. writes....

"Namaste,
Greetings from India.
India is a very special country.  We have mountains in the north, desert in the west, Forests in the east & beaches in the south.

I am a Paediatrician, love to play with children & would like to travel the world.

Come to India once for an unforgettable experience.
-Dr. V. B."

Desert of Rajasthan

These are great stamps.  Obviously two are sports and two are of Gandhi.

Thank you so much Dr. V. B.

Museums

November 25, 2016

The topic for today's Weekend Linky Party is Museums/University/Library but I'm going to concentrate mostly on the first part of it.

In Japan, there are many old buildings, many of which are preserved and open to view.  I hope you will allow me to count some of these buildings as Museums.  They may not be exactly the kind of places that many of you are used to calling Museums, but they do provide a window to the past.

The first card would have been a good entry to last week's topic of Authors, but I forgot that I had the card.  A friend sent it to me a few weeks ago and I hadn't had time to scan it before last week.  This card shows Aomori-born author Osamu Dazai in front of a museum dedicated to his life.  He lived in the town for some of his childhood, and the building was built by his father. This is the Osamu Dazai Memorial Museum.

Below you see a Gotochi Card for Ouchi-Juku in Fukushima.  I was actually there this week! The village is nestled near the top of a mountain and due to the remoteness was allowed to remain as it was for centuries.  All the buildings have thatched roofs and it is an interesting, if touristy place to visit.  There is an actual museum set up there, the Ouchi-Juku Pavilion. This is a rebuilt inn that shows what life was like for visitors and workers alike in olden days.  I'm not sure which building it would be on the card, but I'm sure it is in there somewhere!

I enjoyed visiting Ouchi-Juku, but was a little saddened that almost every building sold souvenirs.  It was also very cold while we were there, and even snowed a little that day.

Another view of the town is below, from a postcard that I sent today!

I hope that you have enjoyed looking at these "museums" as much as I have.  Please visit the other members of the Weekend Linky Party and see what great cards they feature.  

Authors

November 18, 2016

The theme for this week's Blog Linky Party is Books, Reading and Authors.  I wasn't able to find any Gotochi cards of books or of people reading, but I did find a couple of writers.  Adding in a few other cards I hope this will be an interesting look at literary themed postcards.

Many non-Japanese people may be unfamiliar with the person below.  However, people in Japan usually see him every day. He holds the place of honour on the 1000 yen note.  This is Hideyo Noguchi, a research scientist who was born in Fukushima. He had quite an interesting life and in Japan is highly regarded as a medical hero.  However, when I read the Wikipedia entry about his life I was quite shocked.  He supposedly experimented on orphaned children and was often accused of having research inaccuracies.

I am not sure if the Wikipedia article is correct, but it certainly does not make Noguchi seem like he should be a national hero for going to Africa to try to discover the origin of Yellow Fever.  He does belong on this page however for the many research articles that he published.

I have visited the Hideyo Noguchi museum in Fukushima. It was very interesting.  Also, I was surprised that the Wikipedia article made no mention of his wife.  Noguchi had an American wife, which would have been rather unusual at the time.

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The rather large man below is a representation of Saigo Takamori, a samurai, poet and politician.  I don't know a lot about him, but his life is thought to be the basis of the character of Katsumoto, played by Ken Watanabe in the film The Last Samurai. Kagoshima is very far from the area of Japan that I live in, so I haven't done very much reading on Takamori.

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This gentleman came in the mail one day this year from the United States.  He is quite a famous author, L. Frank Baum, the writer who gave us the Oz series, including of course, The Wizard of Oz. 

This is Tove Jannson, a Finnish author and artist, most famous for the Moomin series.

This is a portrait of Evelyn Waugh.  He was the author of Brideshead Revisited, amongst other novels.

I hope that you have enjoyed my quick look at some famous authors.  I have only recently begun to collect author cards on Postcrossing, but I have a few now.  If you would like to see more cards that fit the topics of books or writers, please select one of those tabs on the right side.

Thank you for visiting this Linky Blog Party.  I hope that you will visit some of the other members of the group and see what they have for your viewing pleasure!


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Coffee, Tea and Pastries

November 12, 2016

Today the topic of the Linky Blog Party is Coffee, Tea and Pastries.  It's rather a delicious topic.  I have recently reintroduced coffee into my diet, but I love tea.  I have a huge bag full of different teas in my kitchen, and I drink them all the time!

 I have managed to find a Gotochi card that fits the topic.  Unfortunately, the Gotochi site is down at the moment so there aren't any links to the info for now.  This is a Morning Service. Many coffee shops serve customers coffee in the morning with sides that could include toast and salad.  It looks like this toast is being served with adzuki beans, a popular sweet in Japan. 

The next two cards are new and haven't been featured on my blog yet.  Their individual entries will be coming soon!

The first card came to me from Sweden and shows what looks like tea, coffee and some pastries, so really fits the theme.  There isn't any info about the card on the back, except for the illustrator's name: Annika Lundholm Moberg. 

It's a cute card!

Coffee and a doughnut...what could be simpler?  This cute little card arrived recently from Russia.  In Canada, most people go to Tim Horton's for coffee and doughnuts.  In Japan, the most common coffee shop is Mister Donut. Sadly, the one in our city closed recently.  

This beautiful shaped card came to me from the Philippines. It was sent by Susan who said this was in a series of shaped teapot cards.  She asked that I have a cup of tea for her when I received the card...I'm sure I did.  It got battered on the way, but I love the card anyway.

Thank you for joining me for today's Linky Blog Party.  Please visit the other members of the Party and see what they posted.  As for me, I'm off to have another cup of tea! 

Foods of Japan

November 4, 2016

Japanese people love food.  Television here is full of people trying local specialities or cooking local foods.  Each area has a food that they are famous for and packages of local foods make great souvenirs for travellers.  Unfortunately, they may not be so easy to take back if you are from another country due to custom regulations or difficulty of transport.

To showcase foods of the world, this weekend's topic on the Blog Link Up Party I will show you a few of the Gotochi cards that deal with Japanese food.  There are many, but these are some of my favourites!

My prefecture, Yamagata-ken has two cards that deal with food.  The first is Sakuranbo or cherries.

Yamagata is famous for cherries.
The cherries in the store tend to be more green
than the ones I am used to getting in Canada.  They are good though!

This local food is Tama-kon or more properly, tamakonnyaku.   These are often seen at festivals or at roadside stops.  Tama means ball or egg, and konnyaku is made from konjac or the devil's tongue plant. You may know "shirataki noodles" which are made from the same plant.
Tama-kon are boiled in a soup made out of soy sauce and sugar, possibly with squid in there too!

The yellow on the balls is hot mustard.  The whole experience is a bit like eating a hot chewy eraser!

This is Okonomiyaki.  Okonomiyaki is a bit like a stuffed pancake.  There are many types, I like ones with kimchi or meat or even cheese and curry in them. This example below is Hiroshima-style.  Hiroshima style includes noodles, and the foods are layered rather than mixed as in versions in other areas.   We have a local shop that makes this food and I really like it.

What would an entry about Food in Japan be without Sushi?  I just received this card in a swap. This is Edo-Style Sushi. I really like sushi, but I don't usually eat this much at once!

Thank you for visiting my entry into the Foods of the World Link-up Party.  I hope you have enjoyed this look at some Japanese foods.  Please visit the other party members to see what cards they feature.