Kyoto: Approaching Peak

Following on from Matt's Kyoto report last week, today I visited a few different leaf viewing locations to see how things have progressed in the former capital.

Many of Kyoto's spots for autumn colors tend not to reach their peak until the end of November in recent year, but as we've now passed the midway mark there were certainly some vibrant colors to be seen.

Overall, this coming couple of weeks should be a great time to visit these spots, as some of them are just about reaching best viewing now, while many still have a fair bit of green amongst the reds and oranges.

My first stop was to the Arashiyama area, of bamboo grove fame. As the bamboo isn't much of a seasonal indicator, I instead visited Togetsukyo bridge, Tenryuji and Jojakkoji, and each were close to their best viewing, with Tenryuji being the furthest along.

While the cherry trees on the south side of Togetsukyo Bridge were already past their most vibrant colors, Mount Arashiyama itself has yet to reach its peak, currently exhibiting rusty oranges and browns which will likely soon brighten up.

Tenryuji Temple was beautiful, with lots of brilliant reds and oranges throughout the gardens, looking particularly picturesque in the sunlight.

Jojakkoji was a little more varied, as the maple trees by the entrance were still largely green, whereas the ones a little further up and more exposed to the sun by the pagoda were a bright red. Some pockets of color here and there will likely become more brilliant in the next week or two.

Next I headed east to the serenity of Shorenin Temple. At this temple, you take your shoes off and enter into the hall where you can sit and admire the central pond, before putting your shoes back on to walk around the grounds. During my trip, the colors were still quite muted around the pond, while the northern Kirishima Garden was a little further along, but still with considerable patches of green.

After recently completed renovations, for the first time in years, Shorenin is now doing nightly evening light up events for the autumn colors from November 7 to December 7, 18:00 to 22:00 (last entry 21:30). Tickets cost 1,000 yen per adult.

Finally, I visited Eikando, which had certainly progressed since Matt's visit. There was noticeably more red this time, particularly just after walking through the entrance. Here, you take your shoes off to walk a specified route through the temple buildings and come out at the other end. The most vibrant colors were to be found by the small courtyard pond near the Shaka Hall, and by Hojo Pond, but both still had some green, suggesting the overall colors are not quite at their full potential.

Autumn illuminations at Eikando will run in the Amida-do and gardens from November 15 to December 10, 17:30 until 21:00 (last entry at 20:30) and cost 700 yen.