It’s Kouyou season!

Kouyou (紅葉)　literally means “red leaves,” and while maple leaves do tend to take center stage, there are plenty of shades of other colors to enjoy as well. I had a little free time yesterday so I took a walk around the castle grounds, and was very refreshed to see all the different colors and how the fallen yellow leaves contrast the black stones, and how the green and red leaves contrast the black castle, and how bright they all were against the grey sky. I took the time to take note of what kinds of trees were in which places so can look forward to seeing them again in future seasons. For now, there are still more colors to come–it’s nice that autumn takes its time here!

Kouyou is not simply of a matter of noticing the leaves are changing–Japan has nature-viewing down to a science.

As much as I like noticing the leaves throughout town, there are certain spots that are very well known as leaf-viewing spots (thank you, Luc, for assembling the list corresponding to this map!):

1. Kagikage Valley 鍵掛峠（かぎかけとうげ）
2. Mount Daisen Sky Resort 大山スキー場 （だいせんスキーじょう）
3. Kinmon Gate 金門 （きんもん）
4. Lake Ono 大野池（おおのいけ）
5. Sekka Valley 石霞渓（せっかけい）
6. Kiyomizu-dera Temple 清水寺（きよみずでら）
7. Yuushien Garden 由志園（ゆうしえん）
8. Matsue Castle Jozan Park 松江城山公園（まつえじょうざんこうえん）
9. Gakuen-ji Temple 鰐淵寺（がくえんじ）
10. Adachi Museum of Art 足立美術館（あだちびじゅつかん）
11. Tachikue Valley 立久恵狭（たちくえきょう）
12. Ichibata Yakushi Temple 一畑薬師（いちばたやくし）

While there are stunning pictures of these places around the net…


…I’m still fond of the little places nearby.

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