2012年11月29日
Maple Leaf Hunting
Fall is a beautiful season in Takamatsu. The weather is usually perfect (barring the occasional typhoon) and the colors of the changing leaves against the dark evergreens can be enjoyed for much longer than in my native Canada.
The Japanese come out en masse to enjoy them, flocking to much publicized viewing spots. The focus appears to be on momiji, or Japanese maple, in particular. In fact, the characters for the word “momiji” are also used for the word koyo, meaning “scarlet autumn leaves”. The Japanese term for the popular pastime of viewing autumn leaves is momiji-gari, which literally means “maple-leaf hunting”.
I dropped into Ritsurin Garden to "hunt" maple leaves there. The Garden is open at night for 2 weeks during the height of the season (Nov. 23 to Dec. 2 in 2012) with evening concerts and food stalls, but not being an accomplished photographer, I opted to go in mid-day, when nature would compensate for my lack of skill.
I was not alone. In addition to photographers, both amateur and professional,
I bumped into several bird watchers as well.
One bird photographer could imitate a variety of bird calls. He drew several different species close enough to capture on camera – on his camera, I should say. Here he is calling a bush warbler. A flock of them came, but I only managed to photograph twigs.
References to maple leaf viewing can be found in Japan’s oldest collection of poetry, the Manyoshu, which dates back to the 8th century. At that time, it was mainly a form of entertainment for the aristocracy but by the 17th century, viewing the autumn colors had become more widespread.
The contemporary form of leaf viewing, in which people make special excursions to famous spots, is more recent, dating back to the late 19th century. I am just happy that they still do it. What a wonderful way to spend a fall day! .
Ritsurin Garden:
Access: Located 2 km south of JR Takamatsu Station. Take the JR line from Takamatsu Station to Ritsurin-koen Kitaguchi Station (5 min., JPY200, 2 trains/hour). It’s a 5-minute walk from the station to the garden’s north gate. You will do a lot of walking in the park so unless you have a lot of time and like walking, I suggest taking the train or a taxi.
Admission: JPY 400 (JPY 170 for children). Free every March 16, as well as for Kagawa residents.
Hours: Open sunrise to sunset, so the hours change each month. Opens at 7:00 AM at the latest and closes by 5:00 PM at the earliest.
The Japanese come out en masse to enjoy them, flocking to much publicized viewing spots. The focus appears to be on momiji, or Japanese maple, in particular. In fact, the characters for the word “momiji” are also used for the word koyo, meaning “scarlet autumn leaves”. The Japanese term for the popular pastime of viewing autumn leaves is momiji-gari, which literally means “maple-leaf hunting”.
I dropped into Ritsurin Garden to "hunt" maple leaves there. The Garden is open at night for 2 weeks during the height of the season (Nov. 23 to Dec. 2 in 2012) with evening concerts and food stalls, but not being an accomplished photographer, I opted to go in mid-day, when nature would compensate for my lack of skill.
I was not alone. In addition to photographers, both amateur and professional,
I bumped into several bird watchers as well.
One bird photographer could imitate a variety of bird calls. He drew several different species close enough to capture on camera – on his camera, I should say. Here he is calling a bush warbler. A flock of them came, but I only managed to photograph twigs.
References to maple leaf viewing can be found in Japan’s oldest collection of poetry, the Manyoshu, which dates back to the 8th century. At that time, it was mainly a form of entertainment for the aristocracy but by the 17th century, viewing the autumn colors had become more widespread.
The contemporary form of leaf viewing, in which people make special excursions to famous spots, is more recent, dating back to the late 19th century. I am just happy that they still do it. What a wonderful way to spend a fall day! .
Ritsurin Garden:
Access: Located 2 km south of JR Takamatsu Station. Take the JR line from Takamatsu Station to Ritsurin-koen Kitaguchi Station (5 min., JPY200, 2 trains/hour). It’s a 5-minute walk from the station to the garden’s north gate. You will do a lot of walking in the park so unless you have a lot of time and like walking, I suggest taking the train or a taxi.
Admission: JPY 400 (JPY 170 for children). Free every March 16, as well as for Kagawa residents.
Hours: Open sunrise to sunset, so the hours change each month. Opens at 7:00 AM at the latest and closes by 5:00 PM at the earliest.
Posted by cathy at
20:31
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