Autumn Colors in Tokyo
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November 23, 2014 - Autumn Colors in Tokyo
Inspired by local Autumn Colors reports, I spent the beautiful Tokyo weekend hunting for hues of yellow, orange and red. As I live in Shinjuku, Gyoen was the first natural place to go. I did not expect much (based on to date Tokyo reports) but the walk in the park is always pleasant, especially during such a glorious morning as was on Saturday. Plus, some nice colors have developed over the past days and after a stroll around the Japanese and French gardens, I got out through Sendagaya gate and walked to Icho Namiki.
Just as foreseen by Joe's Tuesday's report, ginkgo trees were a mixture of green and fantastic blazing yellow. I got frantic and took a few (tens) of pictures as the scene is simply breathtaking. I was hardly alone, both alleys looked like Yamanote line train during rush hour.
My next destination was Showa Kinen Koen - it was not my first visit and just as the first one (during flower festival in April), I did not go home disappointed. Again those ginkgo trees, the yellow was fascinating and there are quite a few of them around the park, notably in the playground area where their colors mixed with pink camellias. True feast was vast Japanese garden where the blazing yellow was replaced by burning red and several orange-y trees. Ginkgo avenue in the western park was my last stop before I circled the main pond and headed home with a camera full of pictures and eyes hurting from the color attack.
Sunday morning showed again some blue skies and I started in Koishikawa Korakuen - the park was nearly serene and the colors were fantastic, this time more orange and reddish tones with blinding red from one of the trees (momiji?) on the island. Still water allowed for some pretty reflections and when I was leaving an hour later, serenity was gone, replaced by constant flow of visitors - so if you're going on a weekend, come before 10 AM.
Short stroll back to Iidabashi and a quick 2-stops ride on Tozai Line got me to Takebashi Station from where it's only a few steps to Imperial Palace East Garden and its lower part, Ninomaru. Colors were not as blinding as in Showa or Korakuen but it was worth a visit anyway. As it's not a major koyo spot, it was not very crowded and the walk around the garden was rather quiet - should I know what my next place looked like, I'd savor it more:-)
I got out through the south gate and headed to Tokyo Station for Yamanote line to go to Komagome Station to visit Rikugien. Long line in front of the side gate (which is normally not open) made me go to the main entrance which was way calmer (so I highly recommend doing the same). Inside, there was nowhere to run as the narrow pathways were crowded and photographers blocking the most attractive spots weren't helping (including me of course). While some of the trees still leave something to be desired, there were again absolutely blinding shades of red and orange in a group of trees close to the entrance and no wonder Rikugien is so popular.
All in all, my first koyo was a great experience and I'm looking forward to visit some of the places again next weekend, especially Rikugien during evening lighting. If you are in Tokyo or will be in the coming days, visiting some of the parks is a must, especially if you like photography. And, speaking about photos - I didn't photoshop any of the photos in terms of color, this ain't no color booster, this is the real thing (yes, I use polarizer in case you're wondering about the deep blue skies).
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2014/11/23 - Autumn Colors in Tokyo |
