Monday 3 December 2012

Travel Log: Autumn in Tokyo

It feels weird making this a "travel log" entry considering how close Tokyo is to Shizuoka, but Saturday I decided to check out some of Tokyo's best "koyo" (autumn leaf veiwing) sites while I got some Christmas shopping done...


Tokyo has only a few worthwhile places for viewing autumn leaves. One of them is Gingko Avenue (Icho Namiki) a street lined with gingko trees which are currently at their peak in colour this autumn season. Gingko Avenue can be found near the stadium west of Aoyama-Itchome subway station.










Aside from visiting public parks like Yoyogi Park, Tokyo's smaller, walled gardens (accessable to the public for a fee) are another great place to view koyo. I visited Rikugien Garden (entry 300yen, open 9am to 9pm during autumn) near Komagome JR station to see what the garden had to offer. Apart from the bustling crowds, the garden presented a serene view of traditional Japanese gardening landscape. The garden was created in the 1700s in an attempt to reflect some of Japan's best poetry about nature. Wandering around the garden, you can spot famous scenes from these poems (some are pointed out with signs or in your brochure) and there 88 to enjoy.






The garden was staying open later at night for a special autumn illumination event as you can see in this video from MustLoveJapan.com...

After some final pit stops in Shibuya for Christmas gifts for family back home, I caught this stunning picture of  Shibuya Crossing at night... 


Check out Japan-Guide.com's great article about were to see koyo in Tokyo. Have a great week everyone!

2 comments:

  1. Tokyo has some great places to see the Autumn leaves. It must be getting pretty cold in Japan around now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am shivering in the staff room right now (despite thermals and lap blanket). :)

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