100 Countries

I come across some strange things when walking in Japan due to the lack of space. Even in areas that would be considered the countryside, space is used in very different ways than it would be in the US. On today’s walk, I cam to a small lake that had been formed by a dam:

Nothing special about that except what was directly below the dam. There were two houses that had been built no more than ten yards from the base of the dam:

Considering that Kobe has had one of the largest earthquakes in Japan in recent times, I’m not sure how comfortable I would be sleeping each night in a house like that…

(14,056 steps)

I take daily walks no matter where I am to explore, rejuvenate, relax and enjoy. No matter where I am, I always seem to find something new and interesting on my daily walks. Today’s walk was 11,777 steps.

I’ve noticed that in parks around Japan, they take the time to name the trees. This isn’t done by the government or local town, but by kids at nearby schools. I think it is a wonderful way not only to teach the kids, but also educate anyone who happens to stroll by the park. The kids gain the knowledge and also pass it onto others. Here are a few signs I came across on my walk today:

The Japanese put a lot more effort into educating the public about the names of plants. What is striking about these name cards for the trees is that they aren’t unusual in Japan where they would be in the US. In fact, even at my apartment complex, many of the plants have name and information posted next to them. It seems like a wonderfully simple way to educate — it’s a shame it isn’t done more often in the US…

I’m back in Japan after a three month absense and arrived at the tail end of the cherry blossoms in Kobe. The trees already have all their green leaves, but there are still enough flowers on the trees that when it rains or the wind blows, they leave a blanket of peddals on the grouns that look like snow:

I’ve vowed to do a lot more traveling this year both inside and outside Japan to increase on the number of countries I’ve visited and regions within Japan as well.

This blog is an ongoing art project for people that are traveling. 100 different sketch books will be given out to people to write, draw, doodle, sketch or do whatever else they want in them. They will then hand off the sketch book to another traveler that they meet with the hope that the sketch book eventually travels to different countries all over the world.

It is hoped that those who receive the sketch book will will visit this site to update where there book is, share photos of where they took the book and there thoughts about what they found inside and what they left.

Once the books are filled, we hope they will be returned to us so that we can scan all the pages and share them with anyone.

 I will be putting together the first books tonight and hopefully distribute them beginning at the end of this month. All questions and comments are welcome about this community traveling art project.