The Japanese Alps

Tram to the top

Great views

Beautiful country

The higher we climb, the more snow we see

Gorgeous mountains

The Japanese Alps is a series of mountain ranges in Japan which bisect the main island of Honshu.  The name was coined by William Gowland, the "Father of Japanese Archaeology," and later popularized by Reverend Walter Weston (1861–1940), an English missionary for whom a memorial plaque is located at Kamikochi , a tourist destination known for its alpine climate. When Gowland coined the phrase, however, he was only referring to the Hida Mountains.

At the top we looked out over the Owakkudani Valley. Driving through in March 2017, we saw three feet of snow, beautiful scenery and a light snow fall! Very beautiful vistas!! Very inspiring and I am sure will inspire my next series of art!!

Tokyo- Harajuku

Harajuku Station

Shoppers in Harajuku

Harajuku  refers to the area around Tokyo's Harajuku Station, which is between Shinjuku and Shibuya. It is the center of Japan's most extreme teenage cultures and fashion styles, but also offers shopping for adults and some historic sights.

The focal point of Harajuku's teenage culture is Takeshita Street and its side streets, which are lined by many trendy shops, fashion boutiques, used clothes stores, crepe stands and fast food outlets geared towards the fashion and trend conscious teens.

Lots of people and lots to look at and buy!! Almost too much, a bit overwhelming!!

Tokyo- Meiji Shinto Shrine

Meiji Shinto shrine

Part of the complex

Torii Gate

Dedicated to the late 19th-century emperor who opened Japan to the West, Meiji Shrine, Tokyo's most famous Shinto shrine is wonderfully serene and austere, not colorful or flashy like other Asian places of worship, and is less of a tourist trap than Senso-ji, the big Buddhist temple across town in Asakusa. The 40-foot-high torii gate at the entrance to the 200-acre park is made of 1,500-year-old cypress, and there's a second one like it closer to the shrine itself. Stop at the cleansing station where you can dip into a communal water tank and purify your hands and mouth before offering up a prayer. You can write wishes on little pieces of paper and tie them onto the prayer wall, or do as the locals do — toss some yen into the offering box (it's near the enormous taiko drum), bow your head twice, clap twice, and bow once more.

Tokyo- Senso- ji Asakusa Temple

 

Oldest temple in Japan

Very popular tourist site

Sensō-ji is an ancient Buddhist temple located in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan. It is Tokyo's oldest temple, and one of its most significant. Formerly associated with the Tendai sect of Buddhism, it became independent after World War II. Adjacent to the temple is a Shinto shrine, the Asakusa, It is typical to see a Buddhist temple and a Shinto shrine very close to each other.

Japan- Edo-Tokyo Museum

Scale 1:30 of Edo

Emperor's Palace in miniature

Model of building from Edo Period

Model of Nakamuraza Theater

The Edo-Tokyo Museum is a museum of the history of Tokyo during the Edo period. It was established in 1993. The main features of the permanent exhibitions are the life-size replica of the Nihonbashi, which was the bridge leading into Edo; the Nakamuraza Theatre; and scale models of towns and buildings from the Edo, Meiji and Showa periods. It was designed by Kiyonori Kikutake. The distinctive elevated shape of the museum building is modeled after an old storehouse in the kurazukuri style.

Japan- March 2017

 

Tokyo, capital of Japan, is lmost populated city in the world.

Shibuya is the most populated intersection with 100,00 people crossing it a day!

Lots of neon and shopping!

Park near Shibuya

Japan is a sovereign island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asian mainland, and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk  in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the southwest. Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet "Land of the Rising Sun" in reference to its Japanese name.

Japan is an archipelago  consisting of about 6852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaid, Kyushu and Shikoku, which make up about ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area and often are referred to as home islands. The country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions; Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one. The population of 127 million is the world's 10th largest. Japanese make up 98.5% of Japan's total population. Approximately 10 million people live in the capital city of Tokyo.

The greater Tokyo area is the most populated city in the world. It is the seat of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese government. Tokyo is in the Kanto region  on the southeastern side of the main island Honshu  and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands. Formerly known as Edo, it has been the de facto seat of government  since 1603 when Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu made the city his headquarters. It officially became the capital after Emperor Meiji  moved his seat to the city from the old capital of Kyoto in 1868; at that time Edo was renamed Tokyo. Tokyo Metropolis was formed in 1943 from the merger of the former Tokyo Prefecture.

Some personal observations: Tokyo and all of Japan that I saw is clean. So many people but no litter, no trash cans. People feel responsible for their own trash and take it with them. Everyone is very polite and accommodating. They bow in greeting and good byes. The staff in restaurants, stores, hotels cannot do enough for you. There are signs in English which is helpful at train stations, finding streets, etc.,  but most people do not speak English. And when they do, the accent makes it difficult to understand. There was no TV in English. So people do not hear it spoken very much. People wear uniforms from their jobs in stores and hotels. It is easy to see who works in a place since they are wearing a specific uniform for that company. There is little, if any, honking of car horns. The streets, though crowded with people and cars, are quiet.

Magical Machu Picchu

At an altitude of about 8000 feet, Machu Picchu (Old Mountain), now one of the 7 wonders of the world, is a small city in the Andes, about 44 miles northwest of Cuzco and about 3000 feet above the Urubama Valley. Inca ruler Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui built Machu Picchu in the mid-15th century. It appears to have been a sacred, ceremonial city and astronomical observatory. The largest peak in Machu Picchu, called Huayna Picchu, is known as "hitching post of the sun." The setting high in the mountains is magical.

Most of the roughly 150 buildings in Machu Picchu were built of granite so their ruins look like part of the mountains. The Inca made regular blocks of granite fit so tightly together (without mortar) that there are areas where a knife cannot fit between the stones. Many of the stones used in the site construction weigh in excess of 50 tons. More than 100 stone stairways connect the upper and lower levels of the site.

Many buildings had trapezoidal doors and thatched roofs. They used irrigation to grow corn and potatoes. Smallpox devastated the Machu Picchu before the conqueror of the Inca, the Spaniard Francisco Pizarro, arrived.

The iconic Huayna Picchu Mountain rises up above Machu Picchu. Brave visitors can hike the narrow trail up to the peak which is higher than Macchu Picchu. When I visited, my husband went up and I stayed at our hotel Inkaterra to visit the fabulous gardens with many species of orchids.

Yale archaeologist Hiram Bingham discovered the ruins of the city in 1911. It is pretty clear that the site was never really "lost." Bingham got a lot wrong in his book on Machu Picchu, but there is no doubt that his work in Peru brought the world's attention to the ancient culture of the Inca.

I created several works based on archival pigment prints of digital photos I took of the stones at the site. I then used traditional printmaking techniques to layer images on top of the stone photos. I also used silk organza transfers of traditional Incan motifs. The flowers refer to my visit to the gardens at Inkaterra, our wonderful hotel.

InkaTerra 4

Inka Terra 3

Inka Terra 2

Inka Terra 1