Matsushima Light Up

I'm a million years behind on my blog, autumn is long past, John and I have now left Japan (sob, sob) and are currently holidaying in Korea before heading home next week, but I still wanted to share these lovely photos. For pretty much the whole time the leaves look pretty, Matsushima Bay holds a light up event. Every evening, a few of the islands, and all the trees inside the Entsu-in Temple are lit up. 

We managed to accidentally time it to pretty much the perfect day to go. By this point, all the leaves near our house were already down, but Matsushima is fairly sheltered, and the leaves were pretty much at their peak. The result was truly beautiful, even on the drizzly and very very cold night we went. Despite the rain, it was very busy and a lot of patience was required to get people free photos from the best spots, but we still really enjoyed ourselves. Obviously it's too late to go this year, but I'd definitely recommend it if you're in the area next year (assuming they hold it again, but it seems to be an annual thing). 

I wasn't a fan of the green islands. They look like somewhere the Wicked Witch from a fairytale might live. Too scary! 

But this was the view that greeted you as you went into Entsu-in Temple. Reds and yellows and oranges and greens everywhere! 

More scary witch stuff behind the main temple building...

...but the lanterns were lovely, especially when falling leaves got caught in them.

Due to a combination of different trees and different lighting, there were so many different colours and shades throughout the garden.

Trees reflected perfectly in the pond

Looking at those leaves makes me feel like it's autumn!

Momiji Walks

I've been a bit useless on my blog recently, mostly because I'd run out of space in my picasa album, and I had to delete all the photos I didn't need before I could upload any more. But I finally got round to doing that, so now I can spam you all with our gorgeous autumn leaves photos!

We've been hiking a lot recently, making the most of our last bit of time in Japan, and admiring the beautiful colours of autumn. It really was beautiful around here from the end of October until the middle of November. Unfortunately, last weekend we had a really windy couple of days, and all the leaves disappeared overnight. Now, it's cold and wintery, but these photos really bring back the lovely weather of autumn!

View from Mount Izumi, over towards our house

John bullying small children!

It was a little early for the lovely colours just yet, but I love how the colours change as you get down the mountain.

I went on an early morning hike up the mountain behind our house, and although it was a bit hazy, the hills around were gorgeous.

This amazing tree and adorable little shrine are hidden away in someone's back garden!

Japanese maples are the most beautiful trees ever!

Our apartment is snuggled up in these beautiful hills

I've been to this reservoir in Spring and Summer, and we went back to enjoy the autumn leaves around its shores. There were so many beautiful trees, and John was saying continuously "I think autumn is my favourite season in Japan, I love autumn"! 

The trees that are all colours at once are the best!

We found a lovely little riverside spot near our house that I wish we'd found earlier!

This was after the wind storm that blew most of the leaves off, but these ones retained a few!

This amazing tree is in a tiny little children's park, next to our supermarket. It still has some leaves, and is continuing to make me happy every day!

Autumn Leaves are Coming!

It's time for payback! Back in March, I was depressed at the weather forecasts from England that were announcing glorious warm weather, while we were still shivering and dipping below freezing. However, good things come to those who wait, and whilst England has been having it's first snow flurries of the year, here in Japan I am getting ready to glory in Momiji, the autumn leaves colour change. Whilst they're being shy this year (not to rub it in, but as a result of the gorgeous gorgeous autumn weather we've been having recently), the mountains around my house are getting more orange by the day. Hopefully it won't be too long before they burst into colour, and the trees higher up the mountains are already looking lovely. 

I got to see the first of these lovely colours when my Japanese tutor took me on a quick car trip today to Johgi Nyorai Saihoji Temple, a Buddhist temple in the mountains North West of Sendai. 

The temple is home to a painted scroll of Amida Buddha which was donated to a 12th Century government official, Shigemori Taira. He donated gold to the Chinese temple that held the scroll to pray for peace in Japan, and in return they sent him the scroll. When he died, he gave the scroll to his servant and asked him to pray for his family and peace in Japan. Following the Battle of Dannoura, the Taira clan were defeated, and the servant fled to the temple's current location, hidden in the mountains. After his death, a small temple was built, and much later, in 1706, a local leader formed Saihoji Temple. 

These days, the temple is fairly modern; most of the buildings were built in the 1900's, and the main hall was only built in 1999. It's believed to bring good luck to those who pray for their families happiness, such as weddings, childbirth and business success. 

The main gate, built in 1931

Apparently, if you pray to this tree, you'll get married soon. That's one powerful tree.

Lots of elderly Japanese admiring the carp in the pond, and apparently ignoring the gorgeous pagoda behind them!

Enough of this temple rubbish, look at the gorgeous colour of this Japanese Maple!

Pretty leaves and pagoda. Lovely! 

But a little further down, the trees are only just starting to change. Hopefully only a week or two more!