It’s Beginning To Be Spring

This necklace was an amazing piece to borrow.  It’s rose gold, which I’ve never had the opportunity to wear before.  I’ve decided I like it better than yellow gold.

So.  One last color set before Black and White Week starts on Monday.  Visit my partner in crime at Chic on the Cheap to see Lydia’s black and white photos too!

Grab the banner and join us!

You may have noticed my absence yesterday on a day that I normally always post.  I participated in For Japan With Love, a bloggers day of silence to raise money and awareness for the situation in Japan.

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I think I’ve probably shared this already, but I studied abroad in Japan for spring semester 2008 during college.  Japan is also one of my top international destinations: I’ve been three times.  None of my friends live farther north than Tokyo so I’m relieved that they’re well out of the disaster area.

I wasn’t blogging yet during study abroad and none of my photos got viewed by anyone other than probably my sorority sisters and neighbors.  I’m finally sharing my adventures now, these photos were all taken with my old Sony and I so wish I had the Canon then, can’t even imagine the amazing photos I would have gotten!

In rough chronological order from January to May 2008, click through if you want to see them larger on flickr.

Fushimi Inari, the shrine of the god of rice.

Looking out over Kyoto, taken somewhere near the top of Fushimi Inari.

Kobe, near the harbor.

In Chiran they don’t decorate the sidewalks with something as common as grass… no, they have koi ponds between the sidewalk and the street.  Of course they do.

Standing at the bottom of an active volcano looking back towards Kagoshima, a southern regional capitol.

Sakurajima (an active volcano) in the background.  Sakura were just beginning to bloom in the south.

Shops in Gion (a district in Kyoto, also the setting of Memoirs of a Geisha) during the sakura viewing festival.

Sakura and a traditional gate in Gion near Yasaka Shrine.

View from up top in Roppongi Hills (Tokyo).

And because this is a fashion blog I’ll point out three fashiony photos from Tokyo: (1) Takeshita Street is one of the main streets in Harajuku.

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(2) Yohji Yamamoto storefront in Omotesando.  It’s very austere inside.

(3) Tsumori Chisato’s super cool window display in Omotesando.  I really regret not getting photos of the inside of the Comme des Garçons store, it looked like the MOMA.

The always bright Dotombori district in Osaka.  Tsutaya is like the Japanese Barnes and Noble, there are even Starbucks in most of them.

Sunrise over the rooftops on my last day in Japan.

Comments

  1. says

    First of all, I have to say I am so jealous that you have been to Japan – I hope I get there myself someday. Second – your photos are gorgeous, my mantra is “it is never the camera, only the photographer.”
    (but I can completely relate to how you feel, I continually wish I could go back to places I’ve traveled with tripods and wide angle lenses an all the time in the world to just photograph everything exactly the way i’d like…)

    • says

      If you ever have the opportunity, go! Language barrier could be difficult and the time change is hellish for 3+ days (sleeping pills!) but it’s unlike anywhere else on earth. I’m one of those crazy people who wants to EVERYWHERE. I’m hoping for Morocco to be next… someday.
      I like to think that probably 90% of photography is having an eye, and 10% is actually knowing how to use an SLR. You can still take some really terrible photos even with an SLR (I definitely have taken some yikes photos).

    • says

      If you ever have the opportunity, go! Language barrier could be difficult and the time change is hellish for 3+ days (sleeping pills!) but it’s unlike anywhere else on earth. I’m one of those crazy people who wants to EVERYWHERE. I’m hoping for Morocco to be next… someday.
      I like to think that probably 90% of photography is having an eye, and 10% is actually knowing how to use an SLR. You can still take some really terrible photos even with an SLR (I definitely have taken some yikes photos).

  2. says

    These pictures are gorgeous. Thanks for sharing them and allowing them to be a reminder to pray for the Japanese.

    On a completely different side note, I love your whole outfit. The colors together are so chic, and I love the depth your dark tights add!

    • says

      I’m glad people actually get to see them, they’ve just been languishing on my hard drive. Seemed a good time to bring a few out :) I liked this outfit too! I can see myself wearing this again with bare legs and sandals in the summer but I totally agree about the darker tights, I ended up liking them more than I thought!

    • says

      I’m glad people actually get to see them, they’ve just been languishing on my hard drive. Seemed a good time to bring a few out :) I liked this outfit too! I can see myself wearing this again with bare legs and sandals in the summer but I totally agree about the darker tights, I ended up liking them more than I thought!

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  1. human fashions…

    Pretty good post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon….