Archive for November, 2008
Autumn colours
In spring Japan goes mad for blossoms, in Autumn it’s all about the turning of the leaves. There’s an appreciation for the seasons here that i haven’t really seen anywhere else. There is always seasonal decorations, seasonal food and ever things which can be made all year around (like peach flavoured kit kats or molasses ice-creams) are only available in the “correct” season. I’ll admit it’s a bit annoying when green tea kit kats (which I love) go out of season because it’s no longer winter and i know the only place i can get them until next winter is Kyoto, but on the other hand it’s actually kind of nice to be reminded of the seasons even though i’m living in the midst of the world’s largest metropolis. The greater Tokyo area (which includes Japan’s 2nd largest city – Yokohama) has a population of over 35 million people. That’s close to twice that of Australia!
One of the places close to Tokyo which is well known for the changing of the leaves is Nikko so a few weekends ago we headed up there to do a short walk in the mountains. Traffic was horrific and we nearly missed the last train but it was beautiful up there. Which, of course, was why there were so many people. Here are some photos of the delicate maple leaves changing colour.
