Autumn in Japan

By

Jose Kalathil

As the summer Fireworks festival bids adieu, comes autumn in Japan, with the blue sky adopting a gentler hue. This is the best time to be in ‘The land of the rising Sun’, where there is transition of colours, seasonal festivals of harvesting, outdoor excursions, autumnal hikes, feasting on seasonal delights and a profusion of art and culture. The maple leaves slowly turn a shade of red and yellow and the autumn foliage reveal a breathtaking landscape at every turn!

Taste the autumn

With the cool breeze and freshness of autumn comes the craving for natural sweetness and seasonal savouries that can be found in the heartier fruits and vegetables of the season. One can taste these delicious delights like pears, persimmon fruit to rice, soba noodles and sake at Kyoto. The city’s countless temples, shrines and other historically priceless structures make it one of its kinds. A tour of one of the oldest breweries in Fushimi Sake district can be a once in life experience. For a quirky tour of rice-field-art, head to Inakadate village in Aomori.

Celebrate Harvest Moon Festival

In Japan, Harvest Festival is about celebrating the rice harvest. Interestingly, one is allowed to consume rice only after the conclusion of this festival. The country is filled with dances, processions and huge feasts in celebration. The Autumn Takayama Festival or Hachiman Matsuri is an example of this annual festival that takes place in the Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine region in Japan. You may also find yourself surrounded by several hundred people dressed in traditional costumes, carrying portable shrines of their deities.

Say hello to Halloween

Though Halloween has its roots in the West, it is celebrated in Tokyo, Osaka and Kanagawa with carnivals, street parties, parades and flash mobs. Hotels, restaurants and bars have special costume parties called ‘Kosupure’ for celebrations.

Indulge in Art and culture

Unwind! From religion to science and from history to art & craft, the museums here will surprise you with exquisite masterpieces. Visit the iconic Hokone Open Air Museum which is filled with radiant green moss garden and coloured leaves.

Autumn is also the time for Japan’s best exhibitions. In 2017, Tokyo organized some of the stunning art exhibitions like Van Gogh & Japan at Metropolitan Art Museum, Fear in Painting at Ueno Royal Museum, Museum of Together at Spiral Mina-to, etc. Walk the colour-laden streets and enter any museum to soak up the entire season in your heart. A visit to any National Parks in the country is also advised. In Shikotsu-T?ya National Park, Hokkaido take adventurous hikes and treat your eyes to soothing vistas. Take a trail to Chubu Sangaku National Park, near Alpine Route to explore Japan’s green mountains.

Jose Kalathil

Jose Kalathil is a senior journalist based in New Delhi. With more than three decades of experience in India and abroad, he is comfortable writing on any subject under the sun. He may be contacted at [email protected]