Okinawa watercolour :)

A lovely watercolour card sent to me from Okinawa (Japan) by my HK friend. Received in early July 2013. Thanks a lot! :)

 

Lovely bird stamp:

 

I wonder why so many definitive stamps have birds in them. :O Very curious! xD They look nice though! ^^

 

Okinawa (Japan) ^^

A lovely postcard of Okinawa sent by my Hong Kong friend during her trip there. Received in early July 2013. What a pretty island! :)

 

I can’t find any info about 安慶名敷島 on Wikipedia…and I don’t understand Japanese. ~>_<~(Please use Google translate :P)

座間味島から渡し船で簡単に行ける無人島、安慶名敷島（あげなしく）。安慶名敷島は座間味島と阿嘉島のニシ浜の中間に位置するので、阿嘉島からもよく見えている無人島です。きれいな砂浜と魚が多い海の中が特徴的な慶良間の無人島です。

安慶名敷島へは夏シーズンは座間味港に渡し船が何隻か待機しているのでそちらを活用しましょう(往復1000円前後)。タクシー感覚で活用できます。帰りは予め時間を言っておいて来てもらうも良し、安慶名敷島から携帯で依頼するも良いでしょう。ちなみにオフシーズンは座間味港観光案内所で電話番号を聞いて、直接船を出している方に電話しましょう。

安慶名敷島自体は白い砂浜が特徴的な無人島ですが、島の場所によっては岩場も多かったりします。そして特徴的なのが海の中。サンゴはイマイチですが魚がとても多いです。ちょうど阿嘉島のニシ浜に近いイメージがある海だと思います。

 

Definitive stamp of bird:

Hōryū-ji (法隆寺) in Nara, Japan :)

Received in early July via Postcrossing private swap. Thanks Dori! :)

A painted view of Hōryū-ji in Nara, Japan. How I miss beautiful Nara! :)

 

A bit about Hōryū-ji (法隆寺) :

Hōryū-ji (法隆寺, lit. Temple of the Flourishing Law) is a Buddhist temple in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, Japan. Its full name is Hōryū Gakumonji (法隆学問寺), or Learning Temple of the Flourishing Law, the complex serving as both a seminary and monastery.

The temple’s pagoda is widely acknowledged to be one of the oldest wooden buildings existing in the world, underscoring Hōryū-ji’s place as one of the most celebrated temples in Japan. In 1993, Hōryū-ji was inscribed together with Hokki-ji as a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the name Buddhist Monuments in the Hōryū-ji Area. The Japanese government lists several of its structures, sculptures and artifacts as National Treasures.

(Thanks Wiki! ^^)

An elegant stamp of flowers:

 

Kai Awase (Japanese shell-joining)

Received in late June via Postcrossing “East Asian culture tag”. :) An interesting postcard!

 

About Kai Awase: 

One of the more famous pastimes of the Japanese nobility was a class of pastimes called “awase,” meaning “matchings” or “joinings.” There were uta-awase (= poetry competitions), e-awase (= picture comparisons), etc. With many of these, it was an actual comparison, a judging of one like item against another, the selection of the better of the two (or three or four or…) being determined by any number of factors pointing to the artistic and aesthetic sensibilities of the person or persons making the judgement.

Sometimes, however, it wasn’t so much awase “matching” but literally awase “joining” that was being done. This is the case with the famous kai-awase, or shell-joining.

A full kai-awase set consists of 360 pairs of clam shells. All are about the same size (some two and a half to three inches across).

Each pair of shells bears the same image. The sources for these images are poetic, seasonal, literary, etc., and depict everything from flowers to noblemen peeking into a room to items of dance costume. The inside of the shells are first cleaned of all matter, then it is gilded and painted. Only the outside of the shell retains its natural look.

(Directly taken from the following link: http://www.sengokudaimyo.com/miscellany/shells.html)

It’s amazing how people can paint on shells like this. @@

 

Cute Japanese stamps:

 

 

Loveliest Peter Rabbit postcard ever!! :D

My 27th official PC postcard, received on 25May2013. A very big surprise!!! :D Thanks so much Miyuki!!! :D

I love this beautiful Peter Rabbit postcard!!

OH MY a lovely Peter Rabbit stamp!! >_<

A superb closeup:

A Peter Rabbit sticker…>_<

Thanks again Miyuki! :D

A pink rabbit postcard (watercolour) :D

A lovely pink rabbit postcard sent by my Hong Kong friend Sally from Japan – received on 24May. Thanks a lot Sally! :D

A closeup of 3 lovely watercolour rabbits! :D

Lovely Japanese stamp of a snowy valley:

:D

Fukuoka, Japan

# View x non-view RR, received on 11 May. :)

Japan is always so clean and orderly! @@

 

Fireworks stamp:

2 rabbits from Japan ^^

#Tag within Asia, received on 11 May. :D

 

 

Lovely stamps, as always. xD

 

(36) Ayaka (彩霞) from Japan :D

My first  愛 from Japan! :D Received via #flower tag on 4 May. What a lovely surprise! Thanks a lot Ayaka! :D

 

Lovely Japanese stamps:

 

Japanese 愛 ^_^

 

Thanks again Ayaka! :D

 

Ancient Japanese post box

Official Postcrossing postcard received on 27 April 2o13:

Lovely Japanese stamps: