If you are looking for somewhere slightly off the beaten track for your momiji-viewing pleasure, how about heading out to Kougenji in Aogaki, Tamba.
Access – maps and other information available on the temple’s website http://kougenji-tanba.or.jp/ (Japanese only)
Photos by Clint Denison, Sasayama-shi, 2007-2012
During winter vacation, I traded Hyogo’s rice paddies and fallen leaves for the pineapple fields and mangrove forests of Okinawa! Hoping to take advantage of off-season prices and fewer crowds, a fellow ALT and I embarked on a journey of island hopping, ocean kayaking, coral reef snorkeling, and a long list of other exciting activities….
Festivities in Kobe’s Chinatown during the first weekend of February celebrated Shunsetsu, and the start of the year of the Rabbit. Beginning February 3rd with the new moon (to end January 22nd, 2012), Rabbit years are said to be for catching one’s breath after the dynamism of the Tiger. This year’s Rabbit is associated with the element metal, so the fluffy bunny may have a bit of a sharp edge (perhaps dulled a little by the fact that it’s yin metal, not yang this year)! Nankin-machi was thronged with visitors all weekend long, and on display were performances of dance, acrobatics, tai chi, as well as the famous lion and dragon dances.
This article is brought to you through a partnership with the Heart of Japan blog, a project by the Hyogo International Association. Having defeated a renowned swordsman in a decisive battle at the age of 13 in the early Edo Period (somewhere between 1584 and 1645 according to legend), the fame of masterless-samurai, or rounin,…
Do greet and be greeted by every single hiker you pass. Don’t wear regular sneakers to climb the highest mountain in March (you will have sad wet and cold feet). Do use the free huts to sleep in. Don’t expect running water or electricity at the huts. Do take the ferry to Yakushima…
After reading the most recent Hyogo book club selection, From the Fatherland, With Love, I felt I already had a connection to the city of Fukuoka, where most of the novel takes place. Fortunately, there have been no recent attempts to invade the prefecture’s capital, though interestingly enough, the origin of kamikaze stems from one…
About this time last year, I’d been hearing stories of this epic bike ride called the ‘Shimanami Kaido’, seven bridges that span between the islands from Onomichi in Hiroshima Prefecture to Imabari in Ehime Prefecture. After further research I found out that the first bridge (if you start in Onomichi) is usually bypassed as it…