Thursday Travels

Thursday Travels @Exploring the World is a new photographic meme that highlights your favourite and best holiday pics.

One at a time.

Some easy to follow rules:

• Pick just ONE photo that shows something unique, unusual or quintessential about your travels.

• You can label it, write a story or do a travelogue piece about your photo if you so desire.

• These photos are about the place, the environment (man-made or natural), panoramas, macros - whatever captures your eye.

• All photos must be your own.

• NO selfies or family pics please.

We're all about the scenery at Thursday Travels!

Cherry blossoms in Hirosaki Park, Aomori, Japan

#ThursdayTravels

Thursday Travels

Thursday Travels @Exploring the World is a new photographic meme that highlights your favourite and best holiday pics.

One at a time.

Some easy to follow rules:

• Pick just ONE photo that shows something unique, unusual or quintessential about your travels.

• You can label it, write a story or do a travelogue piece about your photo if you so desire.

• These photos are about the place, the environment (man-made or natural), panoramas, macros - whatever captures your eye.

• All photos must be your own.

• NO selfies or family pics please.

We're all about the scenery at Thursday Travels!

Atomic Dome, Hiroshima, Japan - in the spring time.

#ThursdayTravels

Thursday Travels

Thursday Travels @Exploring the World is a new photographic meme that highlights your favourite and best holiday pics.

One at a time.

Some easy to follow rules:

• Pick just ONE photo that shows something unique, unusual or quintessential about your travels.

• You can label it, write a story or do a travelogue piece about your photo if you so desire.

• These photos are about the place, the environment (man-made or natural), panoramas, macros - whatever captures your eye.

• All photos must be your own.

• NO selfies or family pics please.

We're all about the scenery at Thursday Travels!

Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo, Japan

Shibuya Crossing is one of those places everyone is told to go when they first visit Tokyo. Thousands of people surge across this five way intersection every few minutes.
It looks crazy and hectic, but like everything in Japan, it is extremely organised and safe.
There is plenty of time to cross (even when filming yourself crossing or trying to take selfies)!
Everyone keeps left(ish) and everyone is very mindful of personal space. There is no jostling, pushing or barging. It's all very civilised.

#ThursdayTravels

Thursday Travels

I love to travel - overseas, interstate and all around my local area.

I've collected a LOT of photos documenting these journeys.

The aim of this meme is to highlight the best ones.

One at a time.

Some easy to follow rules:

• Pick just ONE photo that shows something unique, unusual or quintessential about your travels.

• You can label it, write a story or do a travelogue piece about your photo if you so desire.

• These photos are about the place, the environment (man-made or natural), panoramas, macros - whatever captures your eye.

• All photos must be your own.

• NO selfies or family pics please.

We're all about the scenery at Thursday Travels!

Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

Outside Shinjuku Station (apparently the busiest station in Japan) is a pedestrian overpass with a great view of the street scene below.

What this busy, busy scene doesn't convey, though, is the incredible quiet and calm that surrounds the city.

I was expecting an onslaught of sound, sirens and the usual city noise.

Instead, all we heard was the quiet hum of electric cars and auto stop-start engines.

There was no blaring music, loud beeping traffic lights or car horns. 

People spoke quietly, using their inside voices, outside.

Everyone's phones were on silent or mute.

People always left the room or removed themselves from the group to talk on their phones.

The only conversations I overheard in public the whole time we were in Japan were from loud tourists!

It was incredible to be in one of the busiest cities in the world and to feel so calm and peaceful.

This article goes a little way to explaining the phenomenon.

#ThursdayTravels

Miyajima Otorii

The torii gate is the boundary between the human world and the spirit world in Japan.

In this case the Otorii of Itsukushima Shrine spends half its day floating in water as well.

We spent an entire day exploring Miyajima Island which meant that we saw Otorii circled by water on our arrival, then stranded on wet sand at the end of the day.

The vermilion colour is meant to keep evil spirits away.

 This post is part of Saturday Snapshot.

Hirosaki Park and Castle, Japan

I studied Japanese for 2 years in high school.
I loved it.
For 35 yrs I have been promising myself I would go to Japan & see the things I’ve only ever dreamt about & experience their amazing culture first hand.
I’m finally living the dream!

Part of the dream was to join in the cherry blossom fever that sweeps Japan every spring.
We thought our timing may have been off as the blossoms bloomed early this year.
But on the northern tip of Honshu we found the last of the blossoms.
Hirosaki Park and Castle is near the port town of Aomori.
It was a long train trek from Tokyo, but worth every mile.

Hirosaki Park has over 2500 cherry trees. The park consists of blossom-covered ponds (yes, we hired a boat for an hour to row through the petals), red bridges, tunnels of trees, a three-storey castle keep and night-time illuminations.

Thousands of people joined us in wandering around the cherry trees, enjoying picnics underneath them and taking many, many photos. The blossoms were outstanding & thanks to a lazy breeze, I regularly experienced blossom bathing as the petals fluttered all around us.
It was magic!

This post is part of Saturday Snapshot.

Kamisaka Sekka

The Art Gallery of NSW is currently holding an exhibition on The Dawn of Modern Japanese Design.

The focus is on the work of Kamisaka Sekka (1866 - 1942) and in particular, the Rinpa school of art with it's themes of flowers of the four seasons and the natural world.

The perfect way to begin this blog!