With the autumn leaf season kicking off in Kyoto, we are spending four days (November 18-21) reporting from famous koyo spots across the city.

Today we visted Daigoji, Yoshiminedera and Arashiyama.

Daigoji Temple
by scott

Today I visited Daigoji a temple complex in the mountains southeast of the Kyoto city center. Most of the maples in the area seemed to be at their peak, and the gardens of Sanboin were especially spectacular. Unfortunately, picture taking from inside the residence was not allowed, but there was still a lot to see and photograph up at Shimo-Daigo, the main temple area.

Bentendo was beautifuly surrounded by red maples, and with such good weather it wasn't hard to get nice pictures. The only setback today was that I was unable to hike up the mountain to Kami-Daigo, the upper temple that has views over Kyoto and Osaka. Unfortunately one of the buildings caught fire last August, and the area is temporarily closed.

Yoshiminedera Temple
by francois

Having travelled yesterday to Enryakuji, located in the mountains east of Kyoto, today I chose to head in the opposite direction and see the fall colours of a temple in the mountains to Kyoto's west. Today I went to see the changing leaves of Yoshiminedera Temple.

Like Enryakuji, Yoshiminedera is a Buddhist temple with a long history. It is, however, much more accesible than Enryakuji, and its temples are fewer and more closely situated. I took a bus to Yoshiminedera this morning, and was able to see the entire temple in less than two hours.

The colours at Yoshiminedera were excellent, even better than at Enryakuji. The area was quite busy with people taking pictures and admiring the leaves. Moreover, the sky was not covered like yesterday, so it was good for taking photographs. Now must surely be about the peak for koyo at Yoshiminedera.

Arashiyama
by schauwecker

Autumn colors in Arashiyama have not quite reached their peak yet, but are already quite spectacular.

Central Arashiyama was bursting with tourists as usual, and car traffic was close to a standstill. In my opinion, the district would be better off with a ban on non-residential, individual car traffic on weekends and during the peak of the autumn leaf and cherry blossom seasons.

Today, I visited several of the small temples located north of central Arashiyama along the wooded slopes of the mountains, which make up the northwestern boundary of Kyoto City. I used a rental bicycle, the recommended means to get around the area most efficiently.