The land of the rising sun

Deze post heb ik geschreven tijdens mijn eerste kennismaking met Japan in 2014. Inmiddels is mijn website vernieuwd, maar het leek me leuk om mijn oude posts te bewaren en een kijkje te geven in de stappen die ik gezet heb. Vanuit een moeilijke tijd, een sprong in het diepe met angsten, nieuwe ontdekkingen en ervaringen, blijdschap, wederom afscheid, liefde, vriendschap, avontuur en creativiteit. Sorry, deze post is nog niet vertaald in het Nederlands.

My dream

What would you do, if you could do what your heart tells you? What’s your dream? A precious friend asked me this last year. During that period I was fighting a few battles. My dream was about travelling. And in future fall in love with a beautiful sunny place with lots of flowers and colors. And live there.
At that time I couldn’t imagine, I’d be sitting on a tatami floor wearing a kimono/yukata just a few months later. At one of my dream destinations. Japan.

What will happen after this part of my dream, nobody knows. But the excitement, the power of curiosity, the choices only you can make, to fulfill your dream, is so special. Nobody can ever take that away.

Japan, a country of extremes. Ancient, still living traditions and the newest designs. A mysterious culture with symbolic meanings. Japanese arts and crafts and the poetic storytelling behind it. These characteristics aroused my curiosity.

I feel very fortunate I’ve created this possibility to stay here for two and a half months. To try to unravel a few secrets which hopefully leads to sharing inspiration with you and the people I meet. I’ll write about things that seem special through the eyes of a Dutch woman, my eyes. To enjoy the poetic side, as well as the contradictions. To absorb beauty.

The day before yesterday I visited the Narita-san, a buddhist temple. Especially for its large garden. As Japan is the land of the rising sun, I’ll share a few pictures of people and animals enjoying the sun in this beautiful garden.

Temple Narita-san

Garden Narita-san

The next day I travelled to Tokyo by train, I took a walk through Ueno, where I’m staying for one week. The crowd was moving to a specific direction. Of course! The Sakura (kersenbloesem) in Ueno park is in full bloom now and Sakura watching is very popular. The park is full of people enjoying picnics, relaxing around cardboard boxes, with beer and lots of food and laughter. This is Hanami. It felt like queens/kingsday in Holland.

Hanami cherry blossom watching Ueno park

2014 is the year of the horse (which is very special to me) so on every corner I found sweet bread, statues, charms and souvenirs with horses:

2014 the year of the horse

What’s your dream? Sometimes if you think about your dreams consciously and write them down, you will read it over and over and eventually move yourself towards that dream step by step, with ups and downs. You will learn something about yourself, even if it takes a lot of sweat and tears. It’s always a rewarding path. So I’m remembering myself to ‘The plan’ I’ve written about earlier to do what I love. And this is number two: Write down your dreams, wish it and do it!

Feel free to comment or if you have any question don’t hesitate to ask.