Spectacular Snow Monsters

Last year I posted about how I was sick of all the snow we'd gotten here in the northeastern US. Yet I would love to see the snow corridors of Japan. This year has been even worse and we are all equally snow-weary. But once again, I find another snow phenomenon in Japan that I would love to see!

"Snow monsters" or juhyou (frost-covered trees), covered in snow and hard rime, from the northern regions of Japan.

Mt. Zao, Yamagata prefecture

Mt. Moriyoshi (Moriyoshi shrine), Akita prefecture

Mt. Zao, Yamagata prefecture

Via pinktentacle.com where they have collected tons of spectacular photos about this.

Q-pot Island Is Awesome

A friend of mine shared this site with me and before I could even ask her where she found it, I was all over it. It's called Q-pot Island and is a line of Japanese accessory shops. This Strawberry Milk Melt ring immediately caught my eye:

As well as this meticulous Rose Cupcake ring:

And this is just the ring portion! They've got necklaces, charm bracelets and such beautifully detailed trinkets as this Choco Biscuit Strap:

And last but not least, the Caviar Ring:

They have an English version of the site, but the online shop is only in Japanese and only ships within Japan. There are three places to get their wares in the states, Ala Moana Center in Hawaii has the largest selection, as well as the MoMA Design Store and Takashimaya in New York City (although limited items).

Either way there seems to be more than enough eye candy to keep me busy for days to come. :D

Everything is Relative

This has been a very hard winter here in the northeastern US. In fact, it's been pretty hard for the entire US. Record rainfall in the west, snow in the south and blizzards up here. Two blizzards in one week, in fact. We're complaining and cold and tired of shoveling. Just went out today to buy a new shovel or maybe even something gas powered to help with the ol' back and there's patio furniture out! Ugh. Not one shovel in any store here.

So to help myself feel a bit better and not think to much about the snow piling up on our roof, I searched out some photos of Yuki-no-tani, or 'snow corridor' in japanese. The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route sees snowfall near the 20 meter mark and allows for snowplows to create these corridors which attract tourists the world over. I wouldn't mind seeing it in person some day myself.