Japan: UNESCO World Heritage Sites

On Monday I got two postcards: a really great card from Japan and one from Germany.

The card from Japan shows different UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Japan.

The Himeji-jo Castle (left up) in the Hyogo Prefecture is the finest surviving example of early 17th-century Japanese castle architecture. Since 1993 it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The picture shows also blooming cherry trees.

The Itsukushima Shinto Shrine (left down) is in front of the island of Itsukushima in the Seto inland sea in the Hiroshima Prefecture. The Island of Itsukushima has been a holy place of Shintoism since the earliest times and is one of the Three Views of Japan. The Itsukushima Shinto Shrine illustrates the Japanese concept of scenic beauty and is since 1996 a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Aoi-matsuri Festival (centre up) is one of the three main annual festivals held in Kyoto. It is held on 15th May of each year.

The Tō-ji pagoda (centre down) and Kinkaku-ji Golden Pavilion (right up) are Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto in the Kyoto prefecture. Kyoto was built in A.D. 794 and was the imperial capital of Japan from its foundation until the middle of the 19th century.
Tō-ji pagoda is the highest wooden pagoda in Japan.
The upper floors of the Kinkaku-ji Golden Pavilion are covered with gold foil.
The Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto are since 1994 a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Mount Fuji (right down) is a sacred place and source of artistic inspiration. The top of Mount Fuji is often snowcapped and Mount Fuji is an internationally recognised icon of Japan. Since 2013 is the Mount Fuji a UNESCO World Heritage Site. On the picture it is seen from the Shizuoka prefecture.

The picture shows also a Shinkansen train. Shinkansen is the name of the route network of Japanese high-speed train and also of the trains. The Shinkansen connect the Japanese big towns with a top speed of 300 km/h.

Stamps:
Year of the Horse 2014 (issued 25-11-2013)
Year of the Horse 1978 (issued 01-12-1977)
with a special postmark of the stamp for the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Japan and Kenya

They are a nice start for my collection of Year of the Horse stamps!

Thank You very much Ai!