Good afternoon,
It is an ordinary late August day in Tokyo, with the exception of the unusually tolerable summer weather that I would rather not discuss any further, so as not to jinx it.
But I hope this relatively good weather will carry us all the way through autumn, the timing and meaning of which is a rather complex topic in Japan.
First, with the main school year and financial calendars following an April-to-March cycle, September doesn’t have the same fresh-start feel that it does in many other Northern Hemisphere countries.
The country’s tall and skinny geography also leaves little room for a collective sense of fall. Signs of the season show in the northern parts of Hokkaido as early as August, while its most beloved signifier, the colorful autumn leaves, does not reach cities like Tokyo and Kyoto until well into late November, and I am not sure if the season even makes an appearance further south in Okinawa.
But this also means we get to have a delightfully long autumn colors season, with many destination options to experience the foliage between September and mid-December. And unlike the far more capricious sakura, which grace its hosts with only a week-long presence, the gradual transformation of the leaves that takes around three weeks means that even if your trip does not coincide with the absolute peak, you are still likely to catch some version of the spectacle.1
This, unsurprisingly, brings us to this month`s topic: some of my favorite foliage-viewing destinations in Japan, in chronological order from September to December.
The tone of the letter will be similar to Hiking Japan and Reading Japan letters, covering multiple places around a single theme in a name-dropping style, with quick mentions of places and links to more detailed posts where available. That said, the geographical jumps will be a little more exhausting, with constant switches between north and south and high- and low-altitude destinations. As you will notice, the list below covers mainly the northern half of the country, as Kyushu and Shikoku, two regions I love, somehow tend to be spring trips for me.
So, here we go, starting where we actually left off last month.
One of the earliest places to see autumn colors in Japan is Daisetsuzan National Park in Hokkaido, which was also the topic of last month's letter.
Starting in mid-September, the entire area surrounding Hokkaido`s tallest peak, Asahidake, turns into an outdoor exhibit of every possible tone of foliage, offering one last spectacle, shortly after the wildflower season, before those beautiful ponds, pine alleys, and flower fields disappear beneath the snow, not to be seen again until May or June.
The easiest way to enjoy the autumn scenery is to take the ropeway connecting the Asahidake Onsen Village to the Asahidake trailhead, which offers a ten-minute ride with a bird's-eye view of the color fest below. Once on the ground, the 4-5 hour trek to the Susoaidaira Valley is worth the effort as the vividness of the foliage along the valley perfectly matches the diversity of the alpine plants it hosts, or that is what I hear.
Despite visiting the area numerous times, most recently last month, I personally never had the good fortune of seeing the autumn colors in Asahidake. The very low odds of good weather, a weekend, and peak colors all happening at the same time, along with a reasonable airfare, push the trip, possibly perpetually, onto my list of things to look forward to.
Another famous high altitude spot that greets the peak fall colors early in the season - shortly after Asahidake in late September - but without requiring the trip that far north, is in Kamikochi in Nagano.
The Kamikochi Valley itself, known for the iconic view of Kappa Bridge with the Japanese Alps in the background, doesn’t see much color activity until at least mid-October. But Karasawa Cirque, just a steep hike above, reaches its peak foliage in late September. This bowl-shaped glacial valley, surrounded by rocky peaks and home to hair-raising trails, is perhaps the single most popular autumn color hike in the country.