An explosion of Fall Colour

View from the bus: I tried to get a paraglider, but the bus was moving so fast, I only managed to snap scenery!

View from the bus: I saw a lot of valleys with colour and large, fluffy white clouds overhead.

At the public park, there was a tree going through all the colour stages of autumn: green, yellow, orange, and red

Since coming to Japan, I've noticed that the Japanese have an inherent appreciation for nature. So far, I've taken photos of snowfalls (really... not massive snowfalls... but just snow falling in Tokyo), taken photos of the cherry blossoms blooming in the spring (it's a really, REALLY BIG thing here), taken days off for the spring and autumn equinox, and now I've gone on a Kouyo tour as well. Kouyo is the pronunciation for the kanji that means "changing leaves".

The tree in the foreground only has brown leaves and they are hanging on for dear life! The trees in the background are still going through their explosion of colour!

This the 375m long Ryujin Tsurubashi. This name means something like dragon luck suspension bridge. This bridge is so strong it can hold the weight of 30,000 people! As you can see, at this point in the day, it started to get overcast and a bit chilly!

Fukuroda Waterfalls. This name literally means "bag of ricefields". I can't see the rice fields in the falls.

It was another Hato Bus tour departing from Hamamatsuchou station. The first stop on the itinerary included getting to a national park and walking around, taking photos, and enjoying some small waterfalls. We then had a bento lunch served on the bus, but we waited until we got to the next destination, Ryujin Tsurubashi to eat a picnic lunch. The last stop was the Fukuroda Falls in Ibaraki Ken, supposedly famous for being one of Japan's prettiest 3 waterfalls.

I've included some photos. For this post, I've decided to put captions on them because I have a sore arm and I don't feel like writing long descriptions of all my impressions for the day.

On the suspension bridge, there were a number or grates where you could look straight down. Under this grate, there was a beam and apparently, like at the shrines and temples, people threw coins through the grate. Much farther below the grate, you can see the changing leaf colours.

At the very end of the day, we were lucky to see a Heron down in the river flowing out from the waterfalls. He stuck his head in the water a number of times and I managed to get a snap of him in flight!

Hakone - Ajisai and other flowers

Last weekend, we went to Hakone. We investigated going independently, but found that taking a Hato bus tour was actually less expensive, and for us more convenient, since we wouldn't have had to figure out any of the Japanese signage. Although, the entire tour was conducted in Japanese. Hato bus offers the same tour in English. We decided to keep a little challenge in our day.

It was the last weekend of the Ajisai tour (hydrangea). I managed to snap a few shots of them. But the tour included a public outdoor garden, so I managed to get some shots of other seasonal flowers. This post is about the flowers.

The above sign could be seen everywhere on the platform while waiting for the Ajisai Densha. Last week that platform was crowded. The flowers were in full bloom last week. They call the train that takes you up to the cablecar at Gora and 550 m above sea level from Yumoto the Ajisai Densha at this time of year because enroute, you will pass over 10,000 different Ajisai plants. Most were in Full bloom, only a handful were just beginning to bud. The array of colour was spectacular. The hillside is so steep that the train conductor actually has to change end cars 3 times so the train can make it's up the steep incline, like a herring bone pattern. If you're a snowboarder, it looks like the side to side movement on one edge of the snowboard. This move is usually done by beginners who don't know how to turn, or if you like to always see what's in front of you. Also can be done if you don't have a wide enough turning radius to complete a full turn. This is the case for the train to Gora.

While there were plenty of photo opportunities, I didn't actually take advantage of them as the train was packed at about 10 am in the morning. Most of us in the tour group had to stand, myself included. Also, I couldn't really appreciate the scenery that much since it was so stuffy in the non-air conditioned train. And there really was no breeze. The only time, I felt a hint of a breeze was during the stops that the train opened it's doors to let people out and in before Gora. For the record, no one gets off, they only get on. The Ajisai Densha can best be described as extremely uncomfortable, hot, crowded with no air flow. It is much, much worse than the regular Tokyo rush hour on the Yamanote line or the subways.

The following photos were taken from the outdoor botanical garden. It wasn't a great season to go since, right now, there aren't a lot of flowers in peak bloom, but I did manage to snap a few interesting species.







Click here for some great information on Hakone.

Matsumoto Castle

On the same trip out to Nagano at the start of March, we veered into a northerly direction and headed towards Matsumoto Castle. It's a spectacularly well-preserved castle that managed to escape the fate of being demolished and sold for parts at least twice. I believe some parts of the roof and other ornaments are considered a National Treasure (by 'considered' I mean, it is labelled and officially documented as such). One of it's nicknames is Crow Castle since it looks so black. The original castle and all it's land encompassed pretty much all of Matsumoto city. Now, Only the Castle and grounds up until the innermost moat have survived.

When you purchase your ticket, you get admission into the Castle grounds and into the castle itself. To help preserve the Castle floors, which are made of cedar wood, you must remove your shoes, place them in a plastic bag, and carry them with you through the entire tour. They provide you with one-size-fits-all slippers. Normally, this wouldn't bother me. However, some of those ladders (which they called 'stairs') were so steep they may as well have zero incline. And the gap between each rung... I've done stairmaster exercises that were almost as difficult. Add to the mix, the winter boots that I was carrying, as well as the 1.5 kg camera and accessories, all the open windows in the middle of winter, and the slippers flip-flopping off my small sized feet... and it makes for a somewhat uncomfortable tour. We went at our own pace, but I notice that the taller people in the group wanted out as soon as possible. All ceilings were low and the space was tight.

The uncomfortable aspects aside, it WAS a well preserved castle from the height of the samurai era. Everything just felt so old. There was surprisingly few creaky sounds for the age of the wood. The quality of the wood of the castle is evident.

I have posted my favourite outside view from the day. There were also 2 swans in the moat. I don't know how they got there, and they weren't visible at the start of the tour, but I managed to get a fairly closeup angle on one. Both photos were shrunk for easier uploading.

Jigokudani Snow Monkey Onsen

One of my favourite trips was the trip out to Nagano where the famous snow monkey onsen exists. These monkeys are native only to Japan and have been featured on the cover of National Geographic and Discovery magazines before. They naturally have a bright pink face; no enhancement was done to this photo (the photo was shrunk to make uploading online easier).

The park is nestled in the monkeys' natural habitat in a small valley with a stream running through it and a small onsen where the monkeys love to gather in the coldest months of the year. We joined an English speaking tour group for this one. Normally, I like the flexibility of driving and controlling where we go and when we go. However, in Japan, you drive on the wrong side of the road (that's right, the left) and the toll fees to get to Nagano and back cost a small fortune. In the end, it was easiest to go with a group and I'm glad we did.

Jigokudani monkey onsen is not a field trip for the faint of heart. You can only drive up to the middle of the mountain and then park. In January and February, the choice parking spots are usually all taken, thus forcing you to park lower on the mountain. Once you park your vehicle, it's about a 10 minute walk to get to the lake, which gets you to the foot of yet another mountain with a rail-thin pathway to get to the park. At this junction, there is also a bridge going leftward toward an onsen for humans. Before you cross the bridge, there is a huge geiser that spits up water to about the 5 floors high. You don't go left and cross the bridge; you turn right and face a 2 storey sets of stairs. After climbing this set of steep-ish stairs, you have another 15 minute walk on a thin snow covered pathway with no railings, which I wouldn't exactly call child- friendly. Enroute, if you pass people returning from the snow monkey onsen park, usually one group has to step aside as the path really is that narrow in most places. If you are afraid of heights, don't look to your left as you make your way to the entrance. There are plenty of signs to help you get there. If you can't read Japanese, signage in English abounds, as do the pictures of monkeys, so you really can't miss it.

I don't recall the price of admission. Less than $10USD for sure, but for us it was included in the price of the tour. Once you pass the admission hut, it's another 5 minute walk on narrow snow covered pathways to get to the onsen, river and small bridge to get in front of the small waterfalls (nothing like Niagara Falls, but a small wonder all the same). Here is where you can get your best photos of the adorable little creatures. Once you have passed the admission point, the monkeys start approaching you in small groups. When you reach the bridge to get to the Onsen on the other side of the valley, you can't turn your head without catching a glimpse of one; they're everywhere at this point. At first, I kept the camera close at hand kept clicking without achieving the perfect conditions... then when I realized that there would be plenty of opportunities to take some cute snapshots, I slowed down a bit. You don't even have to go to them - they come to you.

I have posted one of my favourite posts from the day. We went at the start of March. The snow had already started to melt, even in the mountains of Nagano. Most of the monkeys seemed to be warm enough without having to jump into the Onsen. Jigokudani means "hell valley". It was such a memorable experience. If you get a chance - you should definitely go.