Itinerary for 4 week Autumn Colours trip 2018

Hi Four years ago we did a memorable trip to see the cherry blossoms in Japan and fell in love with the people and the places. We would like to return later this year and do a 4 week trip to see the autumn colours as our native vegetation where we live in Western Australia is evergreen!! We will fly out from Perth WA and thought maybe we could arrive in Sapporo and depart from Osaka (we haven't booked airfares yet so other options are possible) We travelled everywhere by train and/or bus last trip and would like to do the same this time. We are in our late 60s and enjoy walking too. Any suggestions would be much appreciated including approx ideas of when to arrive. Thanks

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2014.html

I cannot fathom why Towada/Oirase is given three "stars"; it is terrible.

Hi Paddi. I've been to Japan on the first 2 weeks of November and particularly enjoyed Showa Kinen Koen, Icho Namiki and Shinjuku Gyoen. Fall foliage around Kyoto isn't at peak during this time so it was quite a bummer when we did the Sagano Romantic Train in Arashiyama. I could imagine it to be lovely though given the right time. I think it's safe to visit starting 3rd week of November for Tokyo and Kyoto. If you're starting from Hokkaido, then it could be earlier.

I cannot fathom why Towada/Oirase is given three "stars"

Because Lake Towada is one of the most outstanding places to see autumn colors in all of Japan. Oirase Stream alone I would only give one or two stars, though.

it is terrible

Your timing must have been bad.

Hi Paddi,
You can visit country Victoria in Australia around this time of year and you'll see great autumn foliage!
Certainly where I live it's awesome!

But I understand, there is always a good excuse to visit Japan.

I guess you have to time it right, but if you're spending 4 weeks and spanning Japan from North to South, you will catch it somewhere. This year, the cherry blossoms started about 17 days earlier than expected so I don't know when the autumn foliage would be. Generally speaking, November is peak Autumn foliage, but accommodation in places like Kyoto would be fairly expensive especially in the second half.

When do you plan to travel?

Perhaps Towada/Oirase is given a lot of positive feedback is because of the length of the gorge and the relative ease to walk the entire length. It's relatively easy to get to as well.

Thanks for the replies and information - we are flexible with travel dates October /November- we did travel Victoria in autumn a few years ago and especially loved the area around Bright. We find Japan so easy to travel around and the people are so welcoming and helpful. Will start planning!

While there are definitely a lot of autumn color spots that you can reach by public transport, consider that it is different from Sakura. Sakura essentially are trees planted for that some purpose and thus you can get great Sakura experience in the middle of megalopolis. With koyo that is different you are more looking for the authentic countryside/mountains where even in a country so famous as Japan for public transport it get scarce.

I am sure there are nice spots in Kyoto or also in the center of Tokyo (Shinjuku Gyoen) where you can see nice foliage but the best are in much more remote locations.

Saying this, just consider if you could hire a car for at least the Hokkaido and Tohoku portion.

Driving in Japan is easy (and they drive on the same �gwrong�h side as you guys Down Under do) so should not be a problem.

Enjoy your trip to Japan!

It was around 10 years ago, but I've done Onuma and Oirase/Towada and enjoyed both. When I visited Onuma, they were also having a carved pumpkin festival.

I've also done some leaf viewing outside Nagano in Ueda and Kawanakajima. Kawanakajima in particular had some gorgeous maples and was relatively quiet. Plus you get to see lots of apple orchards nearby which are also quite attractive.

I currently live in New England though, and people travel from other places to come here to see Fall foliage. The trees in my own yard are amazing in the right circumstances, so traveling specifically for koyo is now a lot less tempting. It's like snow, I personally can not see the appeal of seeing snow, but I also live somewhere where we lose lots of school days to snow every year.

I guess I would say if you want to see koyo in Japan it would depend on when you want to travel. If you prefer traveling in late October into November you want to stick to Tohoku/Hokkaido/Chubu. If you want to travel November into December you'll be looking more at Tokyo/Kyoto. Koyo is nice because it generally lasts long than sakura and it is harder to miss it the way you can with sakura.

Good luck!

Thanks again - I did start planning this trip as a visit to the New England area but we are keen to go back to Japan and it's quite an easy trip from Western Australia. You are right about the snow - it has never snowed where we live - however down in the south west of WA it very occasionally has a light sprinkle in one spot and people drive hundreds of kilometres to see it :) We were lucky with the Sakura to arrive in Tokyo at the peak time. However, we found the mountains out of Osaka and the scenery along the route from Osaka to Kanazawa just as beautiful and again on the journey to Takayama - the night lit palace gardens in Kanazawa were magnificent - particularly with a full moon. Will investigate the car hire option as it easier for us driving on the same wrong side of the road :)