Autumn in Japan
Autumn is my favourite season in Japan. It's not too hot like the summer with its extremely high humidity, or cold and barren (no snow in Osaka) like the winter, nor plagued by cedar pollen as the spring happens to be. Autumn here exists in an all too short Goldilocks zone and is all the more beautiful because of it.
The top image is of fallen Ginko leaves, they turn a brilliant bright yellow before falling to the ground and begining to decompose. The Ginko is an interesting tree, having two distinct genders, as such, in parks and areas within the city. You'll only find male trees, and the reason is quite apparent once the female trees start fruiting: While the inner seed of the fruit is used in a traditional Japanese dish called Chawanmushi, a kind of steamed custard pudding/quiche, there's usually just one of the small light green jelly bean-like seeds in each serving. The outer fruit rapidly rots on the branch and the ground once fallen and emits a stench very much like dog feces, trust me, it's revolting.
This autumn I visited Enmei Temple in the rural part of southern Osaka prefecture. While more famous and easier to access areas like Kyoto's Kyoumizu Temple and Nara's Nara Park are packed with people, there were relatively few visitors at this temple.
Maple leaves turn wonderfully bright shades of yellow and red! It's really quite remarkable how vivid the colours are!
A constellation of maple leaves across the sky.
Many prints and calligraphy drawings from east Asia depict trees quite differently than the roughly trianglular or single round 'tree' that is often in western children's books. They aren't fanciful or abstract interpretations of trees, some of the trees really do look that way.
One of many statues of Kannon that can be found on the trails of the temple grounds.
Detail of a rope, attached to a bell at one of the sub-shrines within the temple.
One benefit to having few visitors is that scenes like this can be preserved:
Thick fallen leaves, lichen and even plants adorn the top of a wall:
Comments and feedback are always welcome.
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Japan has its magic,good shots.
There certainly are a lot of great places to shoot in Japan.
Enjoyed. Thanks @mweich :)
You're very welcome. :)
lovely autumn. I like the last shot where the leaves still linger on the roof.
Thank you, that's my wife's favourite as well!
you're welcome
Beautiful compositions. Fall always brings out the best contrast of textures and colors. Thanks for sharing your work! :)
Thanks! Fall is wonderful!
ohh i simply love Japan!! In fact, i'll be visiting Japan with my family in about 10 days time!! Spending a white Christmas in Kyoto...
I hope you do get some snow, Kyoto is beautiful particularly with some fresh snow on the roof tops of the temples!
would definitely love that... I'll post some fresh snow if I see them :)
Nice photo set! Japanese maples have such pretty, refined leaves. They are a popular landscaping maple here in Oregon's Willamette Valley. So many sprout in the spring from their seeds. I like your gingko picture, too!
Thanks! Almost everyone takes pictures of the leaves on the trees, but they do make such lovely patterns on the ground.
You're welcome
Great pictures!
Thank you @knircky!
The colors of autumn are simply amazing. These photos are such a great representation of the relaxing ambiance. Definitely my favorite season!
Thank you so much!
Good post and photos! I love gingkos!
Thank you for your support!
@mweich I like gingko's pics the most
I picked up 2 from a friend's tree.
I love autumn - so its just autumn there - we're heading to winter ^ ^
I can't wait!
Yes, autumn has almost finished here. There are still a few trees with colourful leaves on them and many more leaves on the ground!