Hi everyone. Monday has arrived. I must be ready for my summer break because I can't say I am very excited about having some work days ahead of me. I did have a great Sunday though. It was just gorgeous here. Sunny, not too hot or too cold, not too many black flies and a little breeze to blow the ones buzzing about away. I spent a happy day working out in my garden. And the hubby brought his boat home from his mother's house where he stores it for the winter. This is always a very exciting day for him too.
I did squeeze in a little art time later in the day, but for some reason nothing was drying very quickly, which surprised me since it seemed like it would be a good drying day. So my art time didn't last too long since everything I was working needed drying before I could move forward.
But I do have this simple page from my Nature Journal for you today.
Another little flora piece for Jo's Flora and Fauna challenge at Art Journal Journey.
And lastly, as promised, some more photos from the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo. If you want to see the photos from the first post, I put it up yesterday here Favorite Tokyo Spot.
These 2 trees in the next photo are called the marriage trees. I guess that's why they have the rope connecting them. But what is really cool about them is how their branches are intertwined and grown among each other. I thought it was nice symbolism. This is a common place for people to marry and I like the idea of 2 people becoming more intertwined as years go by and as they grow..
And this next photo was a really eye catching wall.
Meiji Shrine is a Shinto shrine. Now I don't really know anything about Shintoism, but we were told that the shrines each have their own "themes" and that you go there to have good luck with whatever the theme is. Since Meiji shrine is about the Emperor and his wife that opened up Japan, you go there to pray to their spirits for luck from them.
This wall is made of empty sake barrels, and there is a connection between sake and connecting to the gods. I believe that drinking sake is suppose to make people be closer and connected to the gods. (But don't quote me on this, as I might be wrong). These barrels were very beautiful and I spent quite awhile looking at them.
You can also pay for a wooden board where you write what you wish for. Then they hang theses at the shrine.
They are written in all kinds of languages.
It is a very popular thing to do from the number of these. I admit I didn't buy or write one, but I did buy a small good health token. It was only a couple of dollars and I thought it was just a cool little souvenir. I don't carry it on me, although it's meant to be in your wallet or pocket, but I do have it along with some other little memory pieces in my studio to inspire me. 
Hope you enjoyed your visit to this shrine, and at some point I will bring you to a few more that are very different.
Have a great start to the new week.
15 comments:
Thank you for your photo's and stories about Japan, I love it! I also loved the page from your nature book, with the butterflies, it is beautiful with flowers and the Japanese woman. Great!
How beautiful, Erika. I love the sake barrels too. Did you have sake while you were there? I like the prayer/ wishes too and especially the marriage trees. That's beautiful symbolism. I can see why this was a favorite spot!
Thank you for this detailed view on that specialShintoism place! I loved it and I adore the marriage trees and this sake barrel wall! WOW!It's not just a fab wall it's also I kind of recycling art - am I right?!
Happy start of the week my friend!
Your page is wonderful - I love it -- the colors are so pretty and the BEyouTIFUL
is just amazing!
Thanks a lot for another lovely and beautiful entry to AJJ - you are such an inspiration!
Hubyy and I have much work in the garden es well now.. some projects to do... but I need MORE arttime! I have to steal time !
Exciting that your motor boat seasoins starts soon! Your hubby missed it for so long - now I wish the best motor boat weather for the both of you!
♥♥♥
Hugs, Susi
The sake barrels are very colorful and make an impressive wall. The wooden signs remind me of Tibetan prayer flags. The wooden signs must make an unusual wind chime.
That was a HUGE shrine. I didn't realize how large it was until you showed the entire piece. And those two trees entwined was adorable, too. I was in awe of those colorful sake barrels. What a joy it must have been to see them close up. They are each so colorful and all so very different.
I also enjoyed seeing how others express their love or their selves for others to see. It was good that you bought one for yourself. It's a nice souvenir and an inexpensive one, too.
I think your journal page is be youtiful, too. You are getting the most out of those TH dolls, aren't you? I need to use more of mine. I think this is fabulous and understated, yet to the point. Thanks for linking it to Art Journal Journey, again.
You art page is so pretty with the TH doll and flower and you certainly chose the right word too as it is a beauty! Thanks so much for sharing this be-you-tiful page with us at Art Journal Journey 😁. Wow, isn't the archway magnificent and I like the thoughts behind the intertwined branches of the marriage trees too 😁. The shrine looks amazing and it was fun seeing all the different beautiful sake barrells and wooden boards. This looks such a lovely place to visit, thanks for sharing and wishing you a happy new week! J 😊 x
Your page is wonderful Erika !! just lovely!
Thank you very much for sharing all those so beautiful photos, they are all interesting, and the sake barrels so beautiful too. Love the wooden boards.
I wish you a very nice afternoon, big hugsss, Caty
Just read your comment on my butterfly in Brazil. The well known saying goes something like this "A butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil and we get a hurricane off the coast of Florida." It's chaos theory. It's the explanation for chaos, which means that something that seems insignificant can actually have a huge effect, even if we are unaware of it.
I hope that explains it.
I love the hessian base for this wonderful page. The flower looks so pretty and so does the happy found relative.
The Shrine looks another fantastic place to visit. I wonder how many folk believe what you mentioned about the Sake.
Other peoples cultures and customs are so interesting to read about.
I am enjoying these posts Erika.
Yvonne xx
Wonderful journal page, love the burlap, and fantastic photos from Japan - wow, what a great visit there you had. Glad you had a good Sunday, hugs, Valerie
Loved your your journal page, and I am really enjoying all of your photos from your Japan trip. that sake barrel wall is amazing-when my husband was very young before I met him he lived in Japan for awhile and loved it there. I am going to ask him about his wall. I have a couple sake sets-they are so pretty I could almost collect them if I had a place for them. the sake is a taste I am not crazy about, but I love it warmed and I love the little mini cups-so now I want to try this again lol I have a bottle of sake from over 40 years ago I should dig that out.
Happy Monday hugs Kathy
well I just asked my husband if he remembered these-oh yes and the barrels are all full of sake and they are an offering to the Gods
Thats a cute page you have today - love the hessian texture too.
Your photos were fascinating ) I think I would have spent hours looking at those super jars and reading all the messages :)
Gill xx
Oh my word - those sake barrels are simply amazing. And the wooden plaques are such a lovely idea.
Alison x
Getting married there would be a powerful thing, with that physical symbol of growing together through the years. I'd never heard of this, but I am struck by how meaningful it would be at the start of a marriage to have this symbol present before you.
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