it's finally fall in Japan, one of the most beautiful and also nicest seasons, on the other hand Japan is a country were all seasons are really nice for one or the other reason.
In Japan fall is the season of book reading and tasty food. Two of my most favorite past times. Unfortunately it also gets very cold especially in the night and inside the houses, for they are very poorly isolated. But fall is specially nice because of the color changing leaves of the trees, here the most famous and beloved are Momiji (red Japanese maple), but I also really like Ginkgo trees which turn bright yellow.
To enjoy this season the best I can, I went to Arashiyama, one of the nicest areas of Kyoto. I have been there a couple of times before but it is a very beautiful area, no matter what season. I went there right after school and since I didn't have too much time (almost all temple and shrine close around 4 or 5) I looked up which temple I wanted to go to and went there first.
My way led me to Rakushisha (落柿舎), not a temple but a cottage of a famous poet named Mukai Kyorai. The name Rakushisha means the cottage of the fallen persimmons and has a very nice story.
"Kyorai had about forty persimmon trees in the garden of his hut. One automn when they were heavy with fruit, he had arranged to sell the persimmons. But the night before they were to be picked a great storm arose. The next morning not a single persimmon was left on the trees. Kyorai was enlightened by this experience, and from then on called the hut Rakushisha."
The small cottage is really beautiful to look at and the small garden surrounding it has the atmosphere as if a poet could be inspired there.
Next I made my way to Jojakkoji (常寂光寺) which was founded only in 1596 and is located at the side of a mountain. The garden is really beautiful with a lot of moss and maple trees. There are small ways surrounding the buildings that lead through a nice garden. The atmosphere is really great, but unfortunately there were a lot of people because of the nice weather and colored leaves.
I crossed the famous bamboo forest and came to a very small shrine that I always visit when going to Arashiyama. It is called Nonomiya (野宮神社) and has a small moss garden. Here it was also really crowded but I guess you just have to live with that in a tourist spot like Kyoto.
Last I made my way to the most famous Temple in Arashiyama called Tenryuji (天龍寺), a world heritage site. The name means "Temple of the heavenly dragon" and is a head temple of a part of Zen Buddhism called Rinzai Zen Buddhism. It was established in 1339 on the site of the first Zen Temple ever established in Japan. Like many other temples in Japan it had to be rebuilt very often due to fires. The buildings that can be seen now were mostly built in the Meiji period (1868-1912). The most fascinating feature of Tenryuji is its landscape garden, one of the oldest in Japan, created in the 14th century.
After satisfying my thirst for colored leaves I walked through the tourist shops, ate some Japanese food and just enjoyed everything. Here are a couple more pictures I took on the way.
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