Because it was so beautiful, here’s another batch of autumn foliage photos from our 2018 trip to Japan.
#Momiji
On our last day in Tokyo, there was a colourful programme. The Icho Namiki is a ginkgo avenue that is still glowing in a magnificent yellow, even though many ginkgo trees have already lost almost all their leaves.
After that, we visited the Yebisu Garden Christmas Marché. However, the supposedly posh Christmas market consisted of just three stalls selling gift items. Next to a Christmas tree, there is also what is said to be the largest Baccarat chandelier in the world. The clock tower at Yebisu Garden Place rounded off the experience. On the hour, its musical clock depicts an Oktoberfest parade.
We would have loved to visit a very special Christmas market in Hibiya Park. It is modelled on the market in Dresden, its 14-metre-high Christmas pyramid was even imported from there. Unfortunately, the market doesn’t open its doors until the 14th of December, by which time we’ll already be back home.
Taking the Yamanote line, notorious for its packed trains during rush hour, we finally headed to two illuminations. The Shibuya Blue Cave Illumination features a light animation from trees decorated with 600,000 LEDs. The Minna no Illumi is more subtle, but no less worth seeing. Here, trees along a riverbank are decorated with pink and yellow LEDs.
Tomorrow we are travelling to the Narita district and will have a look around there for another day.
Today we took it easy wandering through Tokyo. In the Asakusa district, we first visited the Senso-ji. The temple is a must-do on our itinerary every time we visit Tokyo.
After that, we popped into a little gallery where artists were exhibiting miniatures and photos of miniature worlds.
There’s another German Christmas market by the Tokyo Skytree. It’s really small, though, with the selection pretty much limited to mulled wine (more of a mulled punch really), crêpes, beer and bratwurst. But to make up for it, a Japanese a cappella group was singing their songs by the Christmas tree.
The Rikugien landscape garden offered a nice bit of Momiji vibe in the evening light. After sunset, the park gets lit up with spotlights, giving you a completely different view of nature.
Today was just perfect. With the absolute best photography weather, we visited the neighbouring town of Arashiyama. It was super crowded with tourists, but for good reason. The autumn leaves put on a spectacular show of green, yellow, and red shades.
To finish off, we went a bit further to Kameoka. We wanted to check out the ruins of Tanba Kameyama Castle there, but the entrance was closed off.
That wraps up our stay in Kyōto. Tomorrow we’ve got a 4½ hour Shinkansen ride ahead of us to Kagoshima.
The weather was mostly kind to us. Plus, according to the news, the autumn leaves in Kyoto are at their peak right now. We visited a few of the countless shrines and temples in the eastern part of Kyoto, just like loads of Japanese people who stormed the grounds armed with cameras.
Well then, have fun looking at the colourful leaves. 😁
