J A P A N

Last October I finally got the chance to visit Japan, after years of watching Hayao Miyazaki films, reading Murakami novels and dreaming about going. It was one of the best experiences of my life so far (not to sound too cliché) and I keep finding myself daydreaming in class about all the places I visited when I was there. We spent the first week touring round Honshu on the Shinkansen, visiting Osaka, Hirsoshima, Miyajima, Kyoto and Hakone. Miyajima is the most beautiful wooded island near Hiroshima. Everything there is maple-leaf themed and at night, when the ferry was all lit up, it reminded me so much of that scene in Spirited away when she gets stranded in the spirit world (lol nerd). They even have wild miniature deer which are just casually allowed to wander round the island and shrines. Below is a picture of one of the shops there which was literally completely full of weird (but cute) maple leaf soft toys, Hello Kitty merchandise and candy. I cannot emphasise enough how much pink there was.

We then spent three days in Kyoto where we went to countless shrines, zen gardens and even a tea ceremony. Spending time in the gardens reminded me of my 2015 resolution to start meditating which I never stuck to but I keep wanting to fulfil. We then spent two days in Hakone, one of my favourite places that we went to, where we visited the Open Air and Pola art museums and I found the most gorgeous Picasso piece from his blue period.

In the second week I went to Tokyo which has to be one of THE COOLEST PLACES I have ever been to. I definitely want to live there at some point in my life. It sounds silly but everything there is so much bigger and more vibrant. I can't really put it into words tbh.

Which is the art?¿ at The National Art Center, Tokyo

Coolest selfie lighting eva in Osaka

EDO-TOKYO museum

\(^o^)/

La Pleureuse 1986

François-Xavier & Claude Lalanne