Favorite Tokyo Spot

Happy Mother's Day to all of you who are people mothers or pet mothers or both. I know some places have already celebrated the holiday this year, but those of you who are celebrating today, I hope you are having a fantastic day. And if you have already celebrated, I think mothers deserve more than 1 day of praise, so certainly I wish it to you also.

 I started my mother's day with a nice long walk with my 2 dog children. Yesterday I saw both my daughter and my mom, as I took a trip down to visit and picked up my daughter on the way.

So no complaints here from this Mom.

And I have a new journal page to link with Jo's awesome challenge at Art Journal Journey, Flora and Fauna.

The photo is a little crooked as my Nature Journal is getting thick and I was trying to snap a photo and hold the book open. :)

I used paints and gesso to make the background, as well as some of these vintage butterfly cards from my stash. I bought a paperback book in Japan just for cutting up, which is what all the vertical lettering on my page is from (who knows what it says), and the woman is a Lynne Perrella image from Paper Artsy that I picked up since I have been home because I really wanted some cool Japanese women stamps for my art. (And figured since I hardly bought much of  anything for myself in Japan, I could use the money for Japanese stamps.)

And today I have part one of some photos from the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, which was one of my favorite places I visited on the whole trip. Here's what I found on the internet about this shrine.

Stately Meiji Shrine is surrounded by Yoyogi Park: a sprawling expanse of green in central west Tokyo. Meiji Jingu Shrine is dedicated to the souls of Emperor Meiji (1852-1912), Japan's first modern, constitutional monarch, and his wife, Empress Shoken (1849-1914).

Emperor Meiji was who opened up Japan to the world.

I think if I ever go back to Japan I would like to visit some other shrines as they are very interesting, but I did see quite a few and they were all so different. I liked this one because it was so wooded and peaceful.

So here's today's photos and next post I will share more with you.

And one question that came up from my last post with photos of Tokyo was if I found that city as crowded as New York. I think I found parts of Tokyo (especially the rush hour subway) more crowded with people than New York (although Times Square on a Saturday Night is crazy). Between the locals and all the tourists, Tokyo was packed with people. But one thing I did find different is that there seems to be more space between buildings and the roads in Tokyo, so in some ways even though there were soooo many people, New York (or Manhattan at least)  feels more crammed. I think there is more green space in Tokyo too. 

Thanks Jeanie for such a good question.

So now that a good chunk of my morning has gone by, I will sign off. I'll be by to visit  blogs later on  (like this evening) since why waste a beautiful Sunday at home when I have SOOOO much yard work calling me.

Thanks for visiting. I appreciate all of you stopping by for certain!