“momijigari” autumn leaves hunting 2014/11/30

“Momiji” in Japanese means colored leaves of maple tree and gari(kari) means hunting.

“ momijigari” is popular pastime among Japanese to walk around mountains or towns to view autumn leaves during their best season. It reflects traditional Japanese tendency to enjoy seasonal changes of natural surroundings.

 

Last week, I went to Kyoto to enjoy “ momijigari”. Kyoto is surrounded by mountains and there are lots of historical shrines and temples which have traditional and picturesque gardens. Therefore Kyoto is one of the most popular place to enjoy  “ momijigari”. AlsoiIt was just the right time to enjoy autumn leaves. I spent 3 days there and was fully satisfied with beautiful leaves and also traditional Japanese cuisine in an old capital.

 

Each garden has respective attractive points. For example, Ninnaji which was built around 1000 years ago, has a garden of well positioned red leaves and beautifully pruned green pine trees with a five storied pagoda in the backyard.

Daitokuji which had close contacts with Seno Rikyu, founder of tea ceremony family, presents profound atmosphere of autumn leaves and green bamboos.

 

Japanese archipelago has 4000 km length from north to south and contains from subarctic climate to subtropical climate. Autumn leaves front shifts from north to south with around one month time lag.

2014_1121_124403-CIMG1120  Ninnaji  temple