21 March 2025

2023 Japan Adventure - Part 15: Akita Excursions

Welcome to the next entry in my Japan Adventure series! These posts recap the days my husband and I spent in 2023, cruising around mainland Japan, and our time in Osaka before and after ✨ Last time, we departed from Niigata and sailed to Akita! A lot happened during our single day in the prefecture, so this post will focus only on the guided excursions that were organized by Silversea. Let's go!

Wednesday 23 March 2023 - Akita Excursions

As became my wont, I took another photo of the beautiful morning sea 💙

"Welcome to Akita" at the Akita Cruise Terminal!

This unmissable landmark is Akita Port Tower Selion 😮
More about it in the next installment 😉

Our ship was welcomed with an awesome performance of traditional music 💖

A delegation of stylish and friendly "Akita Tourism Ladies" greeted us, too 🖤

It wouldn't be a trip to Akita without meeting some of the namesake dogs 🐶✨

A huge theme in this area is the namahage 👹 In front of two massive namahage statues, this sign states their UNESCO designation as intangible cultural heritage. Also captured in this photo was something I loved seeing all over Akita: wind turbines!

Our first destination was the Mt. Kanpu "Panorama Sky Park" Rotating Observation Deck (寒風山回転展望台) in Oga. We took a tour bus up the mountain.

At the top of the observatory, you can sit and literally watch the world go by, as the seats revolve around the room 😮 There are several maps which point out visible landmarks. This was one of the few opportunities I had during this trip to simply sit and sketch the scenery 🖊️✨

There was much more to see inside the observatory, which is also a museum. These included a huge kokeshi doll, a dugout canoe, and this 3D map of the area!

I loved this adorable sculpture outside the building. It's called Namahage-kun (ナマハゲ君) which in this case can be translated to something like Little Namahage.

Our next stop was the Namahage Museum (なまはげ館), also in Oga.

The museum helpfully offers an English information pamphlet ✨

There were tons of cool exhibits, including this room with screens displaying a variety of videos, installed in these wooden posts 🤯

Part of the museum included a namahage experience inside a traditional thatch-roof house!

We were offered tablets that let you choose your language and read about the experience before it unfolds. This is an incredible feature!

An exhilarating and unforgettable experience 👹✨ I highly recommend it if you get a chance to visit the Namahage Museum!

I learned that the straw that falls from the namahage's traditional coats after their visit is considered lucky for study if you tie it around your head 🤓✨

My husband, Sean, posing with some namahage 👹

And my pose!

One of the most breathtaking exhibits was this room full of namahage!

Our next and final stop was only a short distance away: Shinzan Shrine (真山神社)

At the shrine shop, they had namahage masks you could don for photos!

Namahage Sean 👹✨

I adore the lion-dogs (こまいぬ) at Shinto shrines. Today I learned the Japanese name for them means Ancient Korean Dog 🤯

That's it for this post but not for our adventures in Akita! I'll be back soon with part 2, including our self-guided exploration of Akita Port Tower Selion. Please look forward to it and, until next time, stay happy, healthy, and safe~❤️

04 March 2025

2025 February Roundup

Spring is already springing here at Studio Mikarts. The temperatures have warmed up so much that I had to reduce the number of blankets on my bed in order to sleep well at night. I usually don't have to do that until late March 🤯 The sound of birdsong the past couple days has been so vibrant and energetic 🎵🎶 I'm very much looking forward to the first flowers' blooming 🌼 Not much longer until the March Equinox! But the purpose of this post is to take a moment to look back. Here's what I got up to in February, the last full month of winter.

Patreon Rewards

Last month, I started and finished another Maginaturalist's Sketchbook illustration. This one depicted Gaasyendietha, the Nessie of Lake Ontario. Studio Mikarts Patreon members who are signed up for physical rewards received giclée prints featuring this fiery dragon enjoying a starlit dive into the lake.

Patreon is the best way to support my creative work. Members' presence alone provides social proof to those who might be on the fence about joining, the funds they contribute help with costs such as digital art programs and physical art supplies, and most important of all, their belief in my work helps me keep creating! Click here to become a Patreon member today 💌

deviantART

The only piece I finished in February was Gaasyendietha, which makes it the default choice for my dA feature 🖼️

View, fave, and comment on dA.

deviantART is another place where you can support my creative work. Commission me for a chibi caricature or become a member to get printable coloring pages! Thank you for your support 🤗

Livestreaming

I streamed three out of four weeks in February, having lots of fun making art and chatting with viewers on Twitch 😄 Here's the recording of the last stream of the month:

Chibi Friday 120: Kara Di'ren, Part 3

Check out my schedule on Twitch to see when I'll be streaming this month. The first week of March (starting tomorrow!!) is going to be super special, so I hope to see you there! If you'd like to support me on Twitch, and get cute Studio Mikarts emotes in the bargain, just click here to subscribe ❤️

Charity Fundraising

Each month I use my Twitch streams to raise funds for a pro-animal charity. For February, I selected Vegan Outreach. Excitingly, Studio Mikarts supporter Wolfaxe2 donated the entire $10 to our fundraiser!

Thank you so much, Wolf, from me and all the animals that your donation helped!! 🥰💕 On top of that, each month I use my unique viewers count on Twitch to calculate my own donation to our featured charity.

I had 23 unique viewers in February. Using the formula $0.10 USD per viewer, min $10, max $100, that meant another $10 donation to Vegan Outreach 👏✨ (As usual, I covered the processing fees, as well.)

Thank you to everyone who donates to my fundraisers and visits my livestreams on Twitch. You truly help make my work so much more meaningful 🥹

Gryphia Progress

I'm excited to report that I finished the second draft of chapter one last month! Only eleven more chapters to go 😆

One of my goals for 2025 is to work on this project every workday. I managed to keep the streak going all through February!

As of today, I'm about halfway through draft two of chapter two. This part of the process is super fun, so daily work has actually been rather easy. In fact, I often find myself lamenting the fact that I can't spend more time on it!

Other News: Spring Cleaning

The last week of February was a Rest Week, which meant no livestreaming. I used that time instead to work on some miscellaneous tasks that have been languishing. The biggest of which was tidying my studio!

There's still plenty of tidying to do before I can call my workspace completely organized, but this is a huge improvement! There is no longer anything on the floor that doesn't belong there, which means I can access all of my supplies and tools, without shifting piles of stuff, for the first time in a couple years 😅 I'm looking forward to tidying more during my next Rest Week!

🌟🌟🌟🌟

That's all for this roundup, thank you for reading until the end! It's getting nice and stormy outside, my favorite kind of weather 🤩 Is this a reward from Mother Nature for staying on task and getting this post done in a single day?! 😆 Anyway, I'll be back again soon, probably with another Japan Adventure post! Until then, may you stay happy, healthy, and safe 💖

18 February 2025

2023 Japan Adventure - Part 14: Nighttime in Niigata

It's been almost two years since setting out on my two-week cruise around mainland Japan. I hope to return sooner rather than later, so this year, I am focusing on completing this blog series! I want to share this trip with you before I embark on my next one 😉 In the last installment, I shared my daytime adventures in Niigata. Now it's time to reveal the true highlight of the day: the Geisha Dinner Experience!

Wednesday 22 March 2023 - Nighttime in Niigata

After being seated at Kappou Daizen (割烹 大善) our first course was served!

Kappou Daizen was AWESOME because they had no problem offering vegan food 💚

Having the best time with Sean! We enjoyed chatting with our tablemates throughout the night.

One of my vegan courses: konjac sashimi and grilled tofu 😋

It was mesmerizing to watch the geigi (芸妓; Niigata geisha) dancing 🩵

The long kimono sleeves show that this is a junior geigi.

This dance had two geigi performing together.

The synchronized dance was enchanting!

In another dance, a senior geigi joined.

You can see the shorter sleeves that the senior geigi wears, as well as the subtler accessories.

After the dances, we were taught about various aspects of everyone's costumes.

Here you can see the white makeup that continues even around the back.

We had a wonderful interpreter helping us understand the information that was being shared 👏

This geigi looks so elegant in this photo! 💖

Group photo with the geigi! Sean forgot to put his mask on 😆

Group photo of the beautiful entertainers 💙

This geigi had just debuted! She gave us stickers featuring her new geigi name: Sachiko (咲地子) which could be translated as Child of the Flowering Land 🌸

I'm not 100% sure but I believe this was steamed yuba!

Fried butterbur and fatsia sprouts 🤤

For dessert, a wee chocolate cake and strawberry 🍓✨
(In this post, I've only included a small selection of the plentiful food & drink I enjoyed!)

The room we were seated in was decorated richly; this was one of my favorite pieces.

After returning to our cabin aboard the Silver Muse, we were greeted with our breakfast menu, an end-of-cruise travel arrangements form, and our daily newsletter, along with more tasty chocolates 🍫

So ended our fantastic day in Niigata. One of the employees of Kappou Daizen invited me to return, and so I shall, someday! I hope to see Sachiko again and ask her how work as a geigi has been going. Sooner rather than later, if possible. I still have the sticker she gave me; I keep it in my clear phone case, where I see it every day 🥰 But that's all for my adventures in Niigata in 2023. Next time, we'll be visiting Akita! Please look forward to it. Until then, may you remain happy, healthy, and safe 💖

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