China, Japan, Year of the Dog postcards,

Canada, Lotus cover,

Russia, Lilac flower,

Thí spring flower I saw it in garden of my dormitory in France and the way to my schoool too. I love its beauty. Seeing this one makes me remember my nice memories.

Finland, Endangered animal cover,

 The stampset shows 3 endangered animals living in Finland: Atlantic Salmon, Snowy owl and Acrtic Fox.

Slovenia, Year of the Dog postcard,

Australia Antarctic Territory, Seal maxicard,

The sounthern territories really fascinate me not by only their lanscapes but the nature as well. I love the seal a lot. They look so cool.

Hungary, Postcrossing cover,

The sender used the new Postcrossing Minisheet as the postage fee for this cover. Hungary is the next  country releasing the stamp about Postcrossing. 

The sheet shows the postman riding his bicycle to delivery a postcard to a young boy. The smile on the both faces, such as the postman deliveries the hapiness.

Japan, Raijin first day cover,

Raijin , I know about it when I was a child by manga such as Yaiba by Aoyama Gosho or some others by Clamps so it is not something stranger to me.

Raijin (雷神) is a god of lightning, thunder[1] and storms in the Shinto religion and in Japanese mythology.

His name is derived from the Japanese words rai (雷, "thunder") and "god" or "kami" (神 shin). He is typically depicted as a demon-looking spirit beating drums to create thunder, usually with the symbol tomoe drawn on the drums. He is also known by the following names:

-          Raiden-sama: rai (雷, thunder), den (電, lightning), and -sama (様, a Japanese honorific of reverence, glossed as master)

-          Yakusa no ikazuchi no kami: Yakusa (八, eight) and ikazuchi (雷, thunder) and kami (神, spirit or deity)

-          Kaminari-sama: kaminari (雷, kaminari, thunder) and -sama (様, master)

-          Narukami: naru (鳴, thundering/rolling) and kami (神, spirit or deity)

Myth

Raijin was created by the divine pair Izanami and Izanagi after the creation of Japan. There is a legend which says the eight lightning gods were charged with protection of the Dharma by the Buddha. This kind of syncretism, called Shinbutsu-shūgō, is not unusual in Japan, even after the 1868 order that formally separated Shinto and Buddhism. Raijin's companion is the demon Raiju. In Japanese art, the deity is known to challenge Fūjin, the wind god.

Some Japanese parents tell their children to hide their belly buttons during thunderstorms. This is due to a folk belief that Raijin is sometimes credited with eating the navels or abdomens of children, and in the event of thunder, parents traditionally tell their children to hide their navels so that they are not taken away.

 This stampset shows the masterpiece of Tawaraya Sotatsu: Wind God and Thunder God (紙本金地著色風神雷神図). 

Wind God and Thunder God (紙本金地著色風神雷神図) is a pair of two-folded screens made using ink and color on gold-foiled paper. It depicts Raijin, the god of lightning, thunder and storms in the Shinto religion and in Japanese mythology, and Fūjin, the god of wind. The screens have no inscription or seal, but its attribution to Tawaraya Sotatsu is not questioned.

It is a particularly prominent work in the Rinpa school because two other of its major figures, Ogata Kōrin (1658–1716) and Sakai Hōitsu (1761–1828), replicated the painting in homage (see Kōrin's version). All three versions of the work were displayed together for the first time in seventy-five years in 2015, at the Kyoto National Museum exhibition "Rinpa: The Aesthetics of the Capital".

Each screen measures 169.8 cm × 154.5 cm (66.9 in × 60.8 in). They belong to the Zen Buddhist temple Kennin-ji in Kyoto, but they are exhibited occasionally in the Kyoto National Museum. They are a National Treasure of Japan.

Thank you so much, Masako!

Indonesia, Dog year maxicard,

This mail arrived with two maxicard inside. Year of the Dog one and orchid one.

 On the cover, the ASEAN GAME 2018 stamp were used as postage fee. ASEAN game 2018, commonly known as Jakarta Palembang 2018,  is a pan-Asian multi-sport event scheduled to be held from 18 August to 2 September 2018 in Indonesia. Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium in Jakarta will host the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games. And of course Vietnam participates to this game.

Thank you so much shinta!

Vietnam, Travelling Year of the Dog card,

My travelling postcard backed home finaly. I posted it on 15 Jan from Vietnam to Taiwan. Left Taiwan on the 26 Jan for its next destination: China. Left China on the 17 Feb and left the last country: Japan on the 16 Avril to its home: Vietnam. Such a long journey. Four countries the card have travelled.