From Tokyo with love, Japan

ok, last for today we are going to Tokyo...another somewhat neglected country - no Japanese post since February 2012...and ive acquired a few Tokyo cards in the meantime, so here are they all...

however, before I get down to the cards, I wanted to share something with you that is somehow related...namely, two videos of a Tokyo choir singing...Macedonian traditional songs! I was just speechless when I watched these for the first time because these people DO actually sing in Macedonian..and on one hand it seems so amazing, on the other it's kinda funny..I really wonder if they do understand the words, but needless to say their pronunciation is just surprising! in the most positive way!
the first video shows them during practice, the second one is a performance on stage with the probably best Macedonian opera singer, Blagoja Nacoski, who is the one responsible for these Japanese people having the chance to learn something Macedonian. Hats down to him for that!!





this is just one of those moments when you get that fuzzy feeling in your heart..




I just admire the clarity with which they sing the words of a language that they probably never have heard before....



ok, now onto the Tokyo cards...where just each and every one of them seems to be showing the Tokyo Tower...

First is an official received back in 2010...

JP-113289

And what's the Tokyo Tower actually? - It is a communications and observation tower, which with its 333 metres is the second tallest structure in Japan.
It is an Eiffel Tower-inspired lattice tower that is painted white and international orange to comply with air safety regulations. Ill mention the bridge a bit later...

I love it how  Satomi, the sender, included the vignette or whatever additional part of the stamp this is...looks amazing! It was issued in 2007 in a set of 10 stamps for the Letter Writing Day, representing Poetry and Paintings...and if I could identify it right, this one shows the waka poet Sarumaru no Dayū


the following two cards are blank, so I can just take wild guesses about the origin and year of arrival..

first one is a night view of the Tokyo Tower.....

...while the second one shows the Rainbow Bridge...a somewhat similar card to the first one, except this one shows a wider picture of the same place..even the colours are the same :)

the Rainbow Bridge is a suspension bridge crossing northern Tokyo Bay, whose construction started in 1987 and was completed in 1993. The bridge is 798 metres longwith a main span of 580 metres. Its name has been decided by the public - a good one I must say!
There are lamps placed on the wires supporting the bridge, which are illuminated into three different colors, red, white and green every night using solar energy obtained during the day.
Sounds like something the Japanese would think of :)))


and well, the last card was in my favourites for a long while and then I finally received it in the favourites tag last year thanks to Masako!

There is just something special about the perspective of the card that makes it soo appealing...not to forget the predominant dark-blue colour. Just love it!!

and Masako used to great train stamps! the left one is a locomotive from a set of two issued in 1975, showing the Class 9600 Locomotive No. 69820
. the other stamp was issued in 1977, again in a set of two, commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Japanese Underground Railway.

Well, that would be all for today folks...just four posts, but so many cards...hope you liked some of them...

till next time, stay well!

D51 Steam locomotive, Japan

Here comes a great card I received as a surprise from dear Maggie who spent some time in Japan recently!

This train is in front of the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo, and its gift shop also sells cards with it, and right now I am the happy owner of one :)

This D51 class steam locomotive is a type of 2-8-2 steam locomotive built by the Japanese Government Railways, the Japanese National Railways and various manufacturers from 1936 to 1951. The name consists of a "D" for the four sets of driving wheels and the class number 51 for tender locomotives that the numbers 50 through 99 were assigned to under the 1928 locomotive classification rule. This one here particularly shows a D 51 231 model.

the stamp is from the Endangered fauna set of 5 stamps issued in 2011.

Thanks a lot to Maggie for pointing it out coz she knows I always have problems with locating the  Japanese stamps :D
And thanks so much again for the fantastic surprise!!

Tokyo, Japan

Well I dont collect plane cards, but it was very funny to receive this one.

If you take a better look, you will see that this plane belongs to the ANA airlines :D I know it sounds self-centered, but it was really cool to receive a card where an airline bears my name. You can see it on the tail of the plane :)
The card in particular shows Haneda Tokyo International Airport, which is one of the two primary airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area. By passenger throughput, Haneda is said to be the second busiest airport in Asia and the fifth busiest airport in the world.

the stamp is from a set of two birds stamps issued in 1997.

Thanks a lot to Relie for this nice surprise :)