Postcards for the Weekend: Mount Haguro Pagoda

March 11, 2017

The theme for today's Blog Linky Party is from a country you have visited or a favourite place in your country that you have visited.  That's quite a mouthful, so I am choosing Japan and specifically, a place in my own city.

Tsuruoka is known as the gateway to the Dewa-Sanzen, three sacred mountains.  The Three Sacred Mountains are Mt. Haguro, Mt. Gassan and Mt. Yudono.  Mount Haguro is within Tsururoka city  and is a very special place.

There is a pagoda on the Mountain that was built hundreds of years ago out of wood, without using nails.  It has burned down on occasion or been otherwise damaged, but has always been rebuilt.  To visit the pagoda, you must climb down many stone steps and walk through gorgeous woods.  Walking through the woods is magical.  The area is special and peaceful and incredibly beautiful.

The man with the shell is a Yamabushi, or mountain priest.  I sometimes see them
walking through my city!

This is the Gojū-tō, or five storied pagoda on Mt. Haguro.  

A night view.

This is the best view of the pagoda that I could find in postcards.  It doesn't do it justice.

Japan Post office also released a Gotochi Card of the pagoda. Since I have seen the original, I wasn't terribly impressed, but since it a "local" card, I like it!

For people in great physical condition, or pilgrims, the next step is to walk up the 2000 odd steps to the top of the mountain to the shrine.  I have never done that.  What I do instead is climb back up the steps to the road and have my husband drive us to the top of the mountain!

The shrine at the top is also quite beautiful, but I'll save that for another day!

Thank you for joining me on my too brief look at the Mt. Haguro Pagoda.  Please visit the other members of the Blog Linky Party to see what they are showing off today.

There's No Place Like Home

March 4, 2017

The topic for today's Blog Linky Party is Home.  That poses a difficult question for me.  Should I choose the country that I have been living in for almost 20 years (my Japanniversary is at the end of this month), or do I pick the country where I was born, and spent many of my formative years?

Home to me is still Canada.  I was born in Edmonton and raised there until I was four.  After that, my family began a nomadic existence for a few years as my father worked for oil companies all over the world.

When we came back to Canada I was not quite a teenager and from then on I wanted to go to the big city, Edmonton.  We lived about 75 miles outside the city, so a trip to Edmonton was always exciting, even if it was with my parents!

After university, I moved to Edmonton and even now, that is my hometown.  I have three cards to show you today.  The first one is a general view of Edmonton in summer.  Summer in Edmonton is glorious but very short!

Bird's Eye View of Downtown

I often took a bus to the downtown area to see movies or to go shopping.  It has changed a lot since I moved away, but I try to keep up with the changes!

This is the area of Edmonton that I used to live in, Old Strathcona. It was near the University of Alberta, and many of the buildings along this street are rather historic.  In the near left of the picture, you can see the Princess Theatre.  When I lived in Edmonton, I lived and worked in Old Strathcona and it was wonderful.  I saw many, many of my favourite films at the Princess.  I used to have a membership there and went once or twice or even more times a week if I had the money and they had films that I wanted to see.

One of the few times that I have ever done a swap for a postcard was when I saw that a person in Canada had sent out a postcard from my University.  I begged her to send me one and she graciously agreed.  Camrose is a small city outside Edmonton.  I wanted to go to a smaller university, where I wouldn't be lost in the crowd.  I think I made the right choice.

Old Main Building, Augustana Campus,
University of Alberta

Although the campus has changed greatly, Old Main remains in place.  It has been updated, but for me, this postcard shows my "home" where I went to University and started my journey to become me!


I hope that you have enjoyed my quick look at my hometown(s) and will visit the other members of the Blog Linky Party.  Thanks for visiting me today.

Serenity

February 25, 2017

Today's Blog Party Link-up topic is Serenity.  I am a movie/sci-fi fan, so I admit that this sums up my first thought. 

However, I must admit that this isn't a postcard that I have received, it is a picture that I found on the Internet.  I'd love a postcard of it if anyone has it though!

Going through some of my cards I found a few that fulfill what I consider to be my qualifications for serenity.

I was a fan of Freddie Mercury, but not a fanatical one.  I probably appreciate him more now than I did when I was younger.  I like the motto attributed to him on the card, and think that it does give a person a definite sense of serenity if they can say it about themselves.

This painting by Quint Buchholz shows how I feel when I am entranced with a book.  It is tempting like a forbidden lover, keeping me company when I am alone, and making me feel that a human companion is an interloper.  To me, it looks like the book is her oasis of peace and comfort, her serenity.
This painting is from Im Land Der Bücher~In the Land of Books.

Virpi Pekkala(Artist)

I like to crochet and I hope that when I am crocheting I can achieve the sense of serenity that the angel in this picture seems to emanate!  I do find that crochet is extremely relaxing and the simple act of manipulating yarn with a hook to make something useful or beautiful does give me a sense of joy. 

It has been many years since I have made something quite as big or as intricate as the maker in the picture, but finishing a work that I have spent months on does bring both peace and happiness.  I hope to attain her serenity one day!

Thank you for joining me on my quest to find serenity.  If you haven't found it here, one of the other bloggers in our Link-Up Party may have a vision of it that you prefer.  Please visit them to find out!

Gratitude

February 17, 2017

The theme of this weekend's Blog Link-Up Party is Gratitude.  Not many of my postcards are connected to this theme, but I did manage to find one that fits.  Hurray!

On a more personal note, I actually am so grateful for almost all of my postcards.  The fact that people choose lovely cards, write nice things on the back and then send them to me is a wonderful thing.  There are some days when a nice postcard in the mail just lifts my spirits.  It is funny how mail can do that!

I'm afraid I don't remember much about this card.  It was sent from Germany and was rather colourful and fun.  I received it in September 2013. I love the multi-language idea.  It is so simple, but lovely!

Please see the other members of the Blog Link-Up Party for their take on the theme of Gratitude.  Thank YOU for visiting my blog today!  I hope to see you again soon.  

Love Related Cards

February 11, 2017

Warning: Lots of long expository paragraphs here today.  Feel free to skip and just look at the pretty cards if you are in a hurry!

Apologies for the lengthy gap in posting.  I took a week off to celebrate my birthday and travel to another city which is generally a little warmer and has a lot less snow than my city does.  It was a bit of a winter break, except it was cold and snowy there too for a change!

Today's Blog Linky Party's Theme is Love. I am not always the biggest fan of "Love" because sometimes my definition of love doesn't agree with other people's definition of love.  However, Valentine's Day is just around the corner so it is seasonally appropriate!

As an aside, I thought I might mention the difference between Valentine's Day in Japan and most other countries.  In Japan, women give chocolates to the men in their lives.  They give "Giri-choco" or obligation chocolates to male co-workers, male friends or anyone close to them with whom they do not have a romantic relationship.  Women give "Honmei-choco" to their boyfriends or husbands. The Honmei-choco is often handmade or very gorgeous.

There is quite a lot of information about this tradition on the internet, I am referring my readers to a blog that I follow if interested.

Men are obliged to respond in March on White Day (March 14th) when they give something back to the women that showered them with chocolates.  Unfortunately, they usually don't give back chocolate, they give cookies.  Cookies are nice, but they aren't chocolate!

Here in my family in Japan we do things just a little bit differently!  My husband and I exchange presents on Valentine's Day and on White Day.  Sometimes we give chocolates, sometimes more creative presents.  One of my favourite gifts was a fishing rod so that I could join my husband in one of his favourite hobbies! I think we have the best of both traditions this way 😍

But, you came here for the postcards not a Social Studies lesson.  Here we go...

I received this card from France in 2015.  I like the happy fun vibe of the card, but as I originally noted in my blog entry, I'm a tad worried about the "Punch" like puppet that the man is holding.  What does that mean?

Rob Cochrane
Gay Couple 1986

My next two cards are both from movies.  The first one, which I received in 2014 is from a movie that I haven't heard of and have no information about either.  IMDb lists it as being from 1947, but there is no plot summary at all.  However, it looks very fiery and romantic! The card was sent from Australia in 2014.

Romeo and Juliet is one of those movies that probably soured me on romance.  They were such pretty people, fell in love with each other and died.  (I hope I didn't need a spoiler alert there!) During my Shakespeare class in University, we watched the movie.  The man sitting next to me was a Star Trek fan and at a point in the movie when Romeo's page says to him, "Live and Prosper," the man made Spock's Vulcan salute.  I wish I could say that I smiled politely.  I wish I could.  

Unfortunately I started howling with laughter to the point of tears running down my face and even leaving the room didn't help much.  This was just before the two lovers met their fate so at my college I am known forever as the girl who laughed at Romeo and Juliet. 

This card arrived in 2016 from Germany.  I actually like the card and the film, despite my story.  Olivia Hussey is quite popular in Japan as she had a Japanese husband at one time. 

 I do like this card below and how it shows the couple wrapped up in each other.  It was sent to me from Russia in 2014.

Valentine - Vladimir Kamaev

Thank you so much for visiting my postcard blog.  I love that you visited me, and I would LOVE it even more if you left a friendly comment. Please share the LOVE with the other members of the Blog Linky Party too and see what kind of cards they posted.

Until next time....

Black and White Cards

January 28, 2017

Today's Blog Party Link-Up topic is anything I want.  So, today, I am putting aside my collection of Gotochi Cards and showing off a few of my favourite cards in one of my favourite topics.

Because I keep this blog strictly for postcards, you may not know that I am a complete Movie-aholic. I see between 30-50 films a year at the theatre and I write a movie column for a women's group that I belong to.  On Facebook, I also have a page related to movie tidbits and information. If you are interested, you can find me here.

Even before I joined Postcrossing, I collected Movie Postcards and I had a special appreciation for Black and White cards of Movie Actors and Actresses.  Every time I receive a black and white postcard with an actor or actress I am very happy.  I have learned about actors and actresses from other countries and from the past.  I wish there was more time to watch more movies, but then I'd probably have to give up my postcards.  Yikes!

Today I thought I would post a few of my favourite Black and White cards that I have received through Postcrossing. The first card is not an actress, but it does have the distinction of being the very first Postcrossing card that I received.  I came across it recently when I was filing away cards and I remember how thrilled I was to receive it.

Toshiko Akiyoshi - Jazz Musician

The incomparable Meryl Streep
Definitely not over-rated 

Margaret Rutherford
Actress famous for portraying Miss Marple
amongst other characters.

I am putting this card in for two reasons.  It makes me laugh and I really love it. It seems to capture so much of John Cleese.  Here in costume for Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but taking a break between scenes to play football.  It looks almost like he's doing a Silly Walk too.

John Cleese

I could show you more of these postcards, and perhaps I will in the future.  For now, I hope that you have enjoyed a very brief look at some of my favourite black and white postcards.

Thank you for visiting me today. Please visit the other members of the Blog Party Link-Up to see how they are using their free topic.

Sunrise/Sunset

January 20, 2017

The topic of today's Blog Link Up is Sunrise and Sunset.  There are no Gotochi cards dedicated to the sun of course as it is not a Japanese preserve!  However, there are a few cards that have what looks like a sunrise or a sunset in the background, and it is two of those that I will feature today!

I received this postcard from a friend who used to live in Hyogo Prefecture, on Awaji Island just off the mainland.  I believe that on occasion, she even used this bridge.  This is Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, which is the longest suspension bridge in the world. Wikipedia has a rather informative article about it here.  

This not very attractive bird (in my humble opinion) is the Japanese Crested Ibis, or Toki in Japanese. It is very endangered in Japan, and in fact became extinct.  However, there has been a concerted effort to re-introduce the toki to Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture. Although I have visited Sado Island twice, I'm afraid that I did not see a toki, nor did I visit the Preservation Center.  The Wikipedia article needs to be updated, but you can see more information about this odd bird here.

Thank you for visiting my not-quite-on-topic look at sunrises and sunsets.  I hope that you have enjoyed your time here.  Please visit the other members of the Blog Link Party to see their take on this topic. 

Transportation Cards

January 14, 2017

This edition of the Linky Blog Party is about Transportation.  There are many types of transportation available in Japan, but today I'll feature a few that are on Gotochi Cards.

Lake Kasumigaura in Ibaraki Prefecture features some interesting boats called Hobikisen.  They revolutionized the local fishing trade, which before the invention of this boat was a group activity.  With the Hobikisen, fishing became an individual activity.  I don't have a lot of knowledge about this boat, but this link leads to a rather informative article from The Japan Times that might be of interest.

Lake Ashi in Kanagawa has Pirate Ships! These are tourist boats that cruise up and down the lake with Mt. Fuji in the background.  I have been unable to find any English history about them, but this website has some information about the tours and the cruises.

Saga City in Saga Prefecture is host to one of the largest Hot Air Balloon Festivals in the world.  This festival has grown from humble beginnings. Wikipedia has a short article on this Fiesta, and a link to the English website.  

Sad to say, but this is all that I have time for tonight.  I hope you have enjoyed the Gotochi Cards that I have posted tonight.  Please check out the other members of the Blog Linky Party to see more great postcards from all over the world.

Trains

January 7, 2017

I'm back, after a bit of a break.  New Year in Japan is A VERY BIG DEAL, although we celebrated in a very low key fashion here in my corner of the world.  I haven't received any postcrossing cards in a while which explains why I haven't posted much recently.

The topic of today's Blog Linky Party is Trains and Trams.  Many people in Japan are fascinated by trains, and here in Japan they are rather wonderful.  Despite being a big fan of movies like Murder on the Orient Express or Narrow Margin that take place in or on trains, I'm not terribly interested in trains except as a method of travelling.

I have two Gotochi cards for you today.  One of them was featured earlier when we looked at cards with Lighthouses on them, but I don't think I have shown off the other one.  There is at least one more  regular Gotochi card with a train on it, but I don't have it.

As I stated before, this card represents the Choshi Electric Railway Line, which is only 6.4 km long. A rather interesting fact about the company that runs this Railway Line is that to supplement their income, they started to sell senbei (a Japanese rice cracker) Interestingly, the senbei are so popular now that the company makes double the amount selling the crackers that they do on the railway line!

Wikipedia gives a good overview of the company and the history of the rail line, so do have a look at it if you are interested in learning more about this train line in Chiba.
   

The card below features the Enoden or the Enoshima Electric Railway.  This train line is another private train line that runs between Kamakura Station and Fujisawa Station.  I'm not completely sure, but I may have ridden on this train when I visited Kamakura one year, a very long time ago.  The train track is single, but some stations have double tracks which allows trains to run in both directions.  

The Japan Post Office has also created Gotochi cards for train lovers.  I have found examples of the cards for my readers and am listing them below.

These are special sets of Gotochi Cards.  I do not collect them personally, so have little information about them. 

Kyoto Railway Museum

Summer Trains

Nankai Electric Railway

JR East Bullet Train -Interestingly, this series features bullet trains that can be seen in Tohoku, the part of Japan that I live in.  However, my city is not on a Shinkansen Line, so I hardly ever ride these trains.  

Enoden and Hydrangea Cards

The POSTA COLLECT "News" page.  To find these cards that I have linked to, I had to scroll down quite far.  There may be more train cards of interest if you follow the links on the page.

Thank you for visiting my Trains Link up.  I hope you have enjoyed this look at Gotochi Cards and trains.  Please visit the other bloggers to see their take on Trains and Trams.  

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Winter Holidays

December 17, 2016

The Blog Link Up Party's topic for this week and next week is Winter Holidays.  I am not sure if I will post next week as I will be celebrating the season with my special someone, but will post a few cards today.

Japan is fairly new to the Christmas thing.  It is not a Christian country and as such, celebrates Christmas mostly as a secular event with Santa Claus.  For many people, the ideal Christmas Dinner is KFC and indeed, the KFC outlets are very busy in December with people booking their buckets of chicken for their family's meal.  Christmas decorations often come down on Christmas day. I tended to work Christmas Day during my first few years here and one of the saddest things I saw happened during my lunch.  I was in a little restaurant near my work and the staff were taking down the Christmas tree as I watched, on Christmas Day.

Not surprisingly, there are Gotochi cards for Christmas time.  I have one!  Below is the card for 2014. After spending some time scanning the Posta Collect website, it looks like the same design was also used for 2015 and I haven't seen the design for this year.  It wasn't on the website.

Japanese Snowmen only have two parts, in Canada we have three.
How about in your country, if you have snow?

I found this card when I was shopping in Sendai earlier this year.  I haven't sent it yet, I'm waiting for the right person to come along for it.  I think it is very cute.

Hi! I'm Back!!
I love the food he has...the long negi in his hand, and the garlic and probably
onions in the bag! 

I don't often receive Christmas Cards, but I did just receive one this week from Sweden.  I'll feature it as usual later, but as it survived a long journey and came out scarred I think it deserves to be shown here too.  

Merry Christmas
Happy New Year

Thank you so much for visiting.  I hope that you have a Happy Holiday and that 2017 is a wonderful year for you.  Thanks for viewing my Blog Linky Party entries this year.

Winter Scenes

December 9, 2016

Here in Japan, we are heading into winter.  My friends in the far north are already experiencing snow, and here in Yamagata-ken in Tohoku we are just starting our snowy winter.  Our local mountains are covered in the white stuff and we are all looking out our rubber boots and warm woolies. As a person from Edmonton in Canada, I don't find the winter here cold, but I often am surprised by the amount of snow we receive.

In another Blog Linky Party entry, I mentioned Mt. Zao and how it borders two prefectures here in the north.  The Yamagata card featuring Mount Zao shows the "Juhyo" or Ice Monsters.  This website, about halfway down the page, describes how they are made.

This is a postcard of the "real" Ice Monsters on it.  They are rather beautiful aren't they?

Winter Festivals are all over the northern part of Japan.  Probably the most famous one is the Sapporo Snow Festival at the beginning of February, but there is another one in February.  Akita Prefecture has the Yokote Kamakura Festival on February 15 and 16.  Part of the festival involves buildings called kamakura made out of snow, rather like igloos, all over the city. There is usually an altar set up inside the kamakura at which people pray to the god of water.  

Sadly, I don't have any postcard/photographs of the real kamakura in Yokote, but I do have this other artistic card of one.  I am posting it because I think that it is rather beautiful!

The winter here in Northern Japan can be rather fierce and anything that helps people get through it enjoyably is great in my books! 

Please visit the other members of the Blog Linky Party to see what fabulous cards they have posted about winter.  Thanks for visiting me here in cold Northern Japan.  Brrr!

Lighthouse Link-Up

December 2, 2016

I only have a couple of Gotochi Cards for you today.  The subjects of today's Linky Blog Party are Lighthouses.  I was only able to find three Gotochi cards for today, but will only show off two shaped cards and a bonus.

The first isn't exactly a lighthouse, but it looks a lot like one! It symbolizes a lighthouse to the landlocked city of Kyoto.  I have been to Kyoto and was probably very close to this tower, but I don't remember it at all.

Here is the website of The Kyoto Tower.  The building includes a hotel, restaurants and even a public bath.

The second Gotochi card shows a lighthouse, but it is in the background of the card.  If we ever feature trains on postcards, I will probably post this card again! The card represents the Choshi Electric Railway Line, a 6.4 km railway line.  It was popular at one time with people who wanted to watch the first sunrise of the year along the coast. I believe that the lighthouse in the card is the Inubosaki Lighthouse, which was designed and built by Richard Henry Brunton, a Scottish Civil Engineer.

For a more local view of a lighthouse I present this one...

This is a picture of a lighthouse in the next city, Sakata.  It is still a working port and there are often ships from other parts of the world visiting.  I believe that this isn't a "real" lighthouse, it is a tourist attraction in Hiyoriyama Park.

Thank you for joining me for this look at lighthouses. I'm from a completely landlocked area of the world, so lighthouses are not a thing that I am very familiar with. They are fascinating though.  Please feel free to visit the other members of the Linky Blog Party.  Until next time!

Russia - Food

October 31, 2016

This card has already been featured on my blog a couple of weeks ago during the Linky Blog Party for Coffee, Tea and Pastries, where it was very popular.  However, I didn't tell you about the sender of the card, nor show off the stamp, so I hope you enjoy this second look at the card.

Anja wrote,
"Hello Helen,

I'm Anja, 31. I live in Moscow, but originally I'm from Sankt Petersburg.  I'm really interested in languages because I'm a linguist working in a translation company.  I would like to learn Chinese but it's so complicated!

Lots of love,
                         Anja"

This is the Russian Postcrossing stamp.  Yay Russia.  I keep hoping that Japan will get one, but they haven't so far.  They did have an explanation about Postcrossing on the Japan Post Website for a while though.

Thank you Anja for a really cool card and stamp!

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.  

Tea from Sweden!

October 28, 2016

This big card came to me from Matilda in Sweden.  She wrote a bit about herself on the back of the card too.  Like me, she isn't living in her own country.  Unlike me, her life is quite similar to what it was before.  Here's what she said....

She wrote,
"Dear Helen,
My name is Matilda. I'm 20 years old and I'm from Finland. I moved to Sweden 2 years ago to live with my Swedish boyfriend.  My life here in Sweden isn't so much different than in Finland.  Finland and Sweden look much alike with big forests, many lakes and sea.  The food is pretty much alike too. And people look pretty same too except Swedes are more blonde than Finns.  The only big differences are the language and the currency.

I hope you like this card and I wish you all the best!  Matilda"

Illustrator: Annika Lundholm Moberg

This interesting stamp shows Queen Silvia of Sweden.  She is the consort of the King of Sweden.  I haven't received a lot of cards from Sweden, so I was happy to get this card and stamp.  

Yes, you may have seen this card before when I featured it during the Linky Blog Party of Tea, Coffee and Pastries.  This great card has all three!

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!