The Van Gogh Museum has uploaded high resolution files of their ukiyo-e (pictures of the floating world) collection and made them available to download, for free! Click here to be taken to them :)

Some of my favourite can be seen below.

During an exploration by Martin and me in Higashine today we discovered an ancient and beautiful tree. The locals have propped up branches to aid the tree and to me it looked like an old man with a walking stick!

This huge zelkova tree is around 1,500 years old and a Designated National Monument in Japan. Natural wonders such as this are thought to be where Kami reside. Kami are natural spirits that are worshipped in the old Shinto religion of Japan. Elements found in nature, animals and sometimes those who have passed on, Kami are both revered and sometimes feared too. Rather than being separate to nature, Kami are the manifestation of the natural forces - both negative and positive. The specific Kami for trees are Kodama.

Here is the video of us by the tree:

And here is another video on Kodama: