• About
  • Featured
  • Home
 
Muza-chan's Gate to Japan
12 years of travel throughout Japan
Discover Japan through the eyes of a seasoned traveler
  • A Japan photo per day
  • Travel in Japan
  • Customs & traditions
  • Japanese food
  • Japanese history
  •  Anime & otaku
  • Did you know?

Japanese traditions, Momijigari, autumn nature celebration

Thu, November 14, 2013, by Muza-chan

Except for the winter, in Japan there are nature celebration traditions in every season: the cherry blossoms in spring, the lotus flowers during summer and the colorful leaves in the autumn… The later is a very old autumn tradition, dating from the Heian Period, called kōyō or momijigari [ 紅葉狩 ], meaning “hunting the red leaves".

As with the cherry blossoms, reports called kōyō zensen ("autumn leaf front") are informing the public about the best momijigari period in various places: the leaves are starting to tint first in Hokkaido, around mid-September, and from October till November the colorful autumn tint front crosses the whole country from North to South.

Here is one of the best places for momijigari, in Nikko, at the Rinno-ji Taiyuin, where I found this beautiful red maples tree with the evergreen background of the coniferous forest…

Click on photo for higher resolution:
Stone Lanterns, Rinno-ji Taiyuin, Nikko
Stone Lanterns, Rinno-ji Taiyuin, Nikko
If you want to license my photos for commercial use, please contact me

EXIF Info:

Nikon D300
Lens: 18-70mm F/3.5-4.5G
Focal Length: 27mm
Aperture: F/6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/250s
ISO Sensitivity: ISO 250
Japanese traditional architecture, Ishi-no-ma-zukuri
Yesterday’s Japan Photo:

Japanese traditional architecture, Ishi-no-ma-zukuri



  •  
     
    • # Sakura, cherry blossoms

    • # Kyoto travel

    • # Travel tips for visiting Japan

    • # Tokyo travel

    •  
    • # Modern Japanese architecture

    • # Japanese gardens

    • # The 12 surviving Japanese castles

    • # Japanese manhole covers

    •  
    • # Castles in Japan

    • # Traditional Japanese house

    • # Trains in Japan

    •  
    • # Night time photos from Japan

    • # Zen gardens

    • # The 12 surviving Japanese castles

  • Traveled areas 2007-2017
  • Creative Commons License
    Photos and text by Muza-chan are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
    If you quote or use photos from this site, you must give appropriate credit and a link to the site:
    "Based on a work at muza-chan.net"
    Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available by contacting us (privacy policy).