In Japan these days, the infection rate has calmed down, but this is what I have learned from nearly two years of Covid and life in general so far:
1) Suddenly you can't do what you normally did (travel, meal gathering.)
2) It is very rare to have time, money, and good health simultaneously.
3) Freedom comes with loneliness.
As a result of solving this simultaneous equation, I made a trip to Kansai (Western Japan) as a celebration event of my birthday. The concept was to do everything I had wanted to do lately.
Due to the route of the Shinkansen (bullet train), the first destination was Kyoto, in all of its autumn colors. I joined Facebook's related group and checked posts for the latest local information. However, everywhere was great and I couldn't decide. The situation of autumn leaves was different depending on the location within Kyoto, such as urban areas near the station, the north or the south.
As a possible destination, I considered Komyoji Temple in Nagaokakyo based on the area size where maples grow, the special exhibition in autumn, and the reasonable admission fee.
This is the temple used for the location of the JR Central's (Central Japan Railway Company) TV commercial "Yes, let's go to Kyoto." However, the website on autumn leaves information said it was "beginning to color" according to the data four days before. On the other hand, Toji Temple near Kyoto Station was in "the best time to see" period.
Autumn leaves of Toji were in their final stages
So I first checked the situation at Toji. It was a short walk from the Hachijo exit (south side) of Kyoto Station. There was a long queue at the taxi stand in front of the station.
Admission fee is 800 yen ($8.) School trips and group guests were there, but it was not so crowded. Autumn leaves were closer to the end rather than "the best time to see." Many leaves were dry and had curly tips, and leaves of some trees had completely fallen.
Even so, the garden in harmony with the five-storied pagoda and pine trees was beautiful, and it felt like Kyoto as the traditional capital.
If this is the "best time to see" as of four days before, the "beginning of coloring" at the same time may be fine. So I had a quick lunch at a set-meal restaurant near Kyoto Station and headed to Komyoji.
I took the JR Kyoto Line for 10 minutes, got off at Nagaokakyo, and then took the local bus for 20 minutes. Since the temples in Kyoto are scattered over a large area, the number of temples that can be visited in a day is limited. If possible, it is best to stay for about a week and enjoy the autumn colors in each quarter, but of course the accommodation costs will increase and the luggage such as spare clothes will become larger.
It's less than two hours from Shin-Yokohama to Kyoto, and it's not that far, so it's good to look forward to another opportunity to visit.
Autumn leaves of Komyoji had a special beauty
Komyoji was built in 1198. There are 500 maples in the large precincts, and they are open to the public during the autumn leaves season (November 13th to December 5th this year.) Admission fee is 1,000 yen ($10.) The number of visitors was small probably because it was a weekday, and there were only Kansai dialect speaking groups and couples.
Some trees were in full autumn colors, depending on the location.
The special exhibition included fusuma (sliding door) paintings from the Kyoto Imperial Palace (photography was prohibited.) There was also a self-portrait of Emperor Kameyama in 1264, which is the original picture from 757 years ago. It was really old and dark, but you could see the facial expression and atmosphere. According to the staff, they have re-mounted the picture on new cloth many times.
Around the exhibition of these paintings, you can see the quintessential scenery of Kyoto.
The biggest climax was the "maple approach," which is a tunnel of maples. While the green leaves still remained, all the colors such as yellow, orange, and red overlapped. If I compared this scenery with human life, it would be the maturity stage of late 30s to 40s. The lush midsummer had passed, but the climax was yet to come.
As the 150-year-old trees-lined road continues, I looked up, stared far away, and looked back, and it felt like forever. The thoughtful and sophisticated sense of the landscaper who worked on this beautiful garden shines through, and you can feel the essence of the city that had lasted for a thousand years as the nation's capital. Regarding Japanese culture, I think the word "jokyo" (meaning "visit the capital") still means going to Kyoto.
Not everything was bright red, but there were still only few fallen leaves, and it was an especially beautiful time when the autumn colors would soon be at their peak.
