Basic Info: Fall Foliage/ Autumn leaves in Kyoto

(Updated October 2011)

If you visit Kyoto in the late autumn, you should not miss the very very fantastic fall foliage (autumn leaves) !!!

The most popular kind of fall foliage in Kyoto is Japanese maple (Acer palmatum), called momiji. Actually, we can easily find Japanese maple trees in most of the historical sites in Kyoto.

The splendid sights of ancient architectures with autumn colors definitely leaves an unforgettable deep impression. I can say with abundant self-confidence as one of the inhabitants of Kyoto that the mid of November to the beginning of December is the best season to fully enjoy the beauty of Kyoto. Actually, I strongly recommend my friends to visit Kyoto in this season.

In the meantime, I also recommend my foreign friends to see the fall foliage in Kyoto. But it's a little bit difficult for foreign tourists to plan their itinerary since there is little detailed English information on the fall foliage in Kyoto, even in the famous guidebooks, although the fall foliage seams extremely important for a better understanding of Kyoto from both cultural and artistic viewpoints...

I'm a woman who is absolutely fascinated with the fall foliage in Kyoto, and visit many places to see it every year in this season. In reality this weblog has been highlighting the fall foliage in Kyoto and has uploaded many articles on it for several years. But unfortunately all the articles are written in Japanese.

I'm not a native English speaker and don't have much experience in writing the articles in English, but I'll try to upload the real-time information not only in Japanese but also in English periodically in this weblog for foreign tourists and my foreign friends anyway. Please overlook my poor English. lol

It would be my pleasure to help you.

Well, first of all, I would like to give some basic information on the fall foliage in Kyoto in this article.

Why Kyoto's fall foliage?

Kyoto is a showcase of top ranked Japanese ancient gardens. From 8th century, lots of gardens were created for the emperors, court nobles, samurais, Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines by the prominent gardeners.
The gardens were designed to express the abstract of nature with seasonal plants. In autumn, most of the gardens get the most colorful with fall foliage. The sight comprised of the subdued color of the ancient architectures and vivid maples is so much awesome.

The fallen maple leaves on the vivid green moss give not only an enjoyable colorful impression but also more or less sorrowful aspect of non-stationary world. This allows us to meditate deeply.

How to watch

Off course you may enjoy watching fall foliage, anyway you like. Actually, it is really good to gaze fall foliage itself.
The alternative is to watch fall foliage from inside the architecture through the window. Please note that the best position to see the garden is generally in the guest room in front of garden. I strongly recommend you to sit the centre of the guest room and look at the scene of outside the room. That scene through the window is called "the garden in a picture frame".

The visual components outside the garden (e.g. mountains, city view …) are also important. Such kind of components are called "rental landscape". Those components are often well suited to the garden, since the garden is primary designed so as to harmonize the original view. Sometimes we are startled at that smart contrivance.

When and Where to see

The most important point to enjoy fall foliage is to visit the site where the leaves have already changed color at that time. Even if you visit the popular place to see the fall foliage, you can not enjoy the autumn colors when leaves have never changed color yet. I think it is rather difficult for foreign tourists to satisfy this proposition because there is a little English information available. Basically, the front of autumn colors gradually sweeps from north to south. But, it's not so simple….
As mention the above, I'll upload the real-time English information every 3 to 7 days in this weblog this year. The problem is that I'm a little bit optimistic. lol

Transportation

From the mid of November to the beginning of December, a large number of people from all over Japan, visit Kyoto to see the fall foliage. So, traffic jams often occur in the city of Kyoto, especially in Higashiyama and Arashiyama area. In the early morning, we may feel no stress at all, even in Higashiyama area. But from 10:00 to 20:00, incredible crazy traffic jams often occur!
To avoid traffic jams, you'd better only take "punctual" train and subway. The bus and taxi are really problematic. In Higashiyama area, walk is much quicker than bus in the peak season. I'm convinced that a bicycle is the quickest way to get around. There are many rental bicycle shop in Kyoto.

Forecast

Forecasting in 2010:

In the summer of 2010, seasonal mean temperature in Kyoto was the highest value. I'm afraid this abnormal climate gives bad effect on the appearance of fall foliage. Fortunately, most of maple leaves look quite fine at this time. But it seems that the maple leaves in Kyoto might start to turn red 1 week later than usual. This trend would continue in the autumn of 2010. In reality, the weather forecast said it would be warmer than usual until December while rainfall would be more than usual.

Forecasting in 2011:

In the summer of 2011, seasonal mean temperature in Kyoto was slightly higher than usual. This trend still continues in October. So, it seams the start of the season arrives a little bit later than usual. But it's not later than that of 2010 at least.