*Happy Tanabata! *

On July 7th, Japan starts celebrating the Star Festival, and festivities last for around a month. The lunar
calendar's August 7th is also considered a celebratory date because the Japanese holiday is based on a Chinese
folk tale. The story goes that the Sky King had a daughter who wove beautiful fabric throughout the sky that made
it beautiful to look at. She was always so busy weaving that she never met anyone or had anyone to love, and she
was sad and lonely. So her father found her a husband, a cow herder, and they fell in love and married. But they
were so in love and wrapped up in each other that they forgot to do their duties, she her sky weaving, and he his
sky herding, and so the sky's balance was thrown off and the sky king was angry and separated the lovers on each
side of the milky way.

The princess was so heart broken and cried so much that her father took pity on her and allowed them to meet once
a year on July 7th. He provides a bridge to cross the milky way river, but if it rains too much, the water rises
and covers the bridge. The first time this happen, she cried and cried until a flock of magpies flew over and made
a bridge with their wings for her to cross. I have a feeling all these details of crying and raining and wetness
have something to do with the fact that tanabata falls right in the middle or end of rainy season in Japan, depending
on the year, and when it's rainy and cloudy you can't see the stars at all, three of which represent the three characters
in the story.










People celebrate tanabata by making paper crafts and chains and decorations to hang on bamboo branches. They write a wish
on colorful paper tags and hope for the sky king to grant it to them on this auspicious day of the star lovers' reunion. We
went to a tanabata festival in Kappabashi to see all the paper decorations and to write out own wishes.










***************************************************************************************************************************************************

Love,
From Japan,
Kathryn*

Kyoto 1

To celebrate our 5 years of love and marriage we decided to visit Kyoto a few weeks ago. We rode through the night on an expressbus filled
with curtains like a cramped hospital ward. We woke up in Kyoto bleary eyed and sleep deprived but energised by the early rising sun, and set
off straight for Fushimi-Inari-taisha. By 7am the sun was alright high and bright and shining between tree branches and shrine roofs and torii gates.
We traversed an endless tunnel of repetitive lines and shapes as sunlight flashed through the cracks. Delicate and varying shades of reds, roses, pinks,
and oranges passed by on both sides.









We found a small path off to the side and wandered away from the main spectacle to explore a new scene, and found ourselves on a mountain trail,
first leading through a cedar forest, then slowly morphing into a bamboo world. The sunlight reflected off the bamboo in an eerie green glow, and each stalk
in the forest was its own hue. We basked in the green monochrome world a little while and moved on down the path to find a small shrine next to a waterfall
with countless tiny fox statues and torii gates.







0





I'll remember the beautiful, colourful, peaceful, inspiring things I saw that morning forever. The kanji carved into the wood posts, the mini carpets of moss growing at the base of everything, the beautiful all-female ritual we witnessed at the tiny hidden shrine where they all wore white and sang and chanted together around the waterfall, the intricately woven spiderwebs catching sunbeams and dewdrops and perfectly framing mini shrines and historic archways, and the beautiful soft greens of the bamboo forest. <3<3<3


Love,
From Kyoto,
Kathryn <3

2 Girls Flower Rompin'

The end of May/ beginning of June marks the start of Rainy Season in Japan. Humidity levels rise, thunderstorms become quite frequent, downpours are expected several times a week and every store you pass is touting different kawaii/ fashionable rain gear- rainboots, rain shoes, light rain coats, ponchos, and umbrellas in every color and style you can imagine. But the best part is the sudden explosion of blooming hydrangeas (ajisai) that last all month and add so much vibrant color all over the city, surrounding suburbs, and the rest of the country for that matter. It kind of feels like a second-wave sakura season. There are destinations where hundreds to thousands of hydrangea are planted just for viewing pleasure and appreciation during June. There are festivals in many well known hydrangea-heavy areas, and even some snacks shaped (and maybe?) flavoured like the ajisai.

I made a bosom-friend through instagram a bit ago, and we went exploring one day to a park in a little Tokyo neighborhood to take in the scenery. We also went to a festival together, but I didn't have my camera with me then, and all the booths were empty or being taken down by the time we arrive in the late afternoon anyway. It was still a lovely time though. These photos are from a park in Oji, where tons of hydrangea are planted along a little footpath at the base of a park and along some train tracks. It was the most beautiful sight. I love going places with Sarah because we're really similar in the way we like to explore and enjoy things. She also gets really into taking in details and scenery, and we have a lot of fun taking pictures to together and appreciating beautiful things. I never feel rushed or like I'm worried about wasting her time or making her bored, and it's nice that our paces seem so in tune. She's also an INFP so I'm sure that helps;) Anyway, she let me take some photos of her- isn't she lovely? And she was kind enough to take some of me too- thank you Sarah!<3