Travel

Fall in love with the very best of autumn in Japan

by Trans World Features | @twfindia 10 Aug 2018, 11:26 am

After bidding farewell to the Fireworks Festival of Japan, which concludes in the summers, the blue sky adopts a gentler hue welcoming the Autumn season.

This is the best time to be in ‘The land of the Rising Sun’. In Japan, autumn is about the transition of colours, seasonal festivals of harvesting, outdoor excursions, autumnal hikes, feasting on seasonal delights and a profusion of art and culture.

The maple leaves slowly turn a shade of red & yellow and the autumn foliage reveal a breathtaking landscape at every turn!

Taste the autumn

With the cool breeze and freshness of autumn comes the craving for natural sweetness and seasonal savories that can be found in the heartier fruits and vegetables of the season.

During autumn, you can savour delicious Japanese delights at Kyoto like Pears, Persimmon fruit to Rice, Soba noodles and Sake. The city has countless temples, shrines and other historically priceless structures which makes it one of its kinds. Fushimi Sake District in Kyoto has some of the oldest breweries and a tour of the breweries can be also done over here. For a quirky tour of rice-field-art, head to Inakadate Village in Aomori, a place that is gaining fame through the internet.

Celebrate Harvest Moon Festival

In Japan, Harvest Festival is about celebrating the rice harvest.

Interestingly, one is allowed to consume rice only after the conclusion of this festival. The country is filled with dances, processions and huge feasts in celebration. The Autumn Takayama Festival or Hachiman Matsuri is an example of this annual festival that takes place in the Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine region in Japan. If you find yourself surrounded by several hundred people dressed in traditional costumes, carrying portable shrines of their deities, don’t be surprised - It is autumn in Japan!

Say hello to Halloween

The festival, though having its roots in the West, has found itself being pompously celebrated in many parts of Japan, like- Tokyo, Osaka & Kanagawa.

One thing to strike off your bucket list is to experience Halloween in Japan. The carnivals, the street parties, the parades and flash mobs that happen as part of welcoming the autumn, is something not to be missed!.

Hotels, Restaurants & bars around Japan celebrate Halloween with special costume parties called ‘Kosupure’. (Cosplay) Grab a drink & party Halloween, the Japan way.

Indulge in Art and culture

Unwind! From Religion to Science and from History to Art & Craft, the museums across Japan will surprise you with its exquisite masterpieces.

Visit the iconic Hokone Open Air Museum which is filled with radiant green moss garden and colored leaves.

The best exhibitions around Japan take place during autumn. In 2017, Tokyo organized some of the stunning art exhibitions like Van Gogh & Japan at Metropolitan Art Museum, Fear in Painting at Ueno Royal Museum, Museum of Together at Spiral Mina-to, etc. This season is traditionally considered the right time for arts in Japan and rightly so. Walk the colour laden streets in Japan and enter any museum to soak up the entire season in your heart.

Autumn is the right time to celebrate nature. In addition to the autumn attractions above, experience the various National Parks all across Japan.

In Shikotsu-Tōya National Park, Hokkaido take adventurous hikes and treat your eyes to soothing vistas. Take a trail to Chubu Sangaku National Park, near Alpine Route to explore Japan’s green mountains.

Come, visit Japan this autumn. And if you find yourself wanting to feel the autumn tale in Japan yet again, trust your instincts. Because, In Japan, once is never enough!

ABOUT JAPAN

‘The land of the rising Sun’, Japan is a sovereign island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asian mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and China in the southwest, with dense cities, imperial palaces, mountainous national parks and thousands of shrines and temples.

Tokyo, Japan is 3 hours and 30 minutes ahead of India and to visit Japan, Indians have to apply for a tourist visa or short term visa or Temporary visitor visa for sightseeing without guarantor. A short term visa allows a stay period of up to 90 days for tourism purposes. There are several flights that connect Japan to India either directly or with a stopover.