Travelers give their picks for the best places to take a trip to see seasonal leaves and feel yesteryear vibes.
We’re right on the cusp of peak fall color season in Japan. The leaves have already started turning to vivid hues of crimson and gold in northeastern Japan, and are now working their seasonal shade-changes down towards the rest of the country as well.
Compared to the lively parties of cherry blossom season, the fall leaves tend to elicit a more tranquil, relaxed response. As such, they’re a great match for places with an old-school, laidback atmosphere, and Japanese travel portal Jalan has released the results of a recent user poll ranking the 10 best retro-atmosphere fall color viewing spots in Japan, so let’s run through the top 10.
10. Watarase Keikoku Line (Gunma and Tochigi Prefectures)
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Keikoku is the Japanese word for “gorge,” and this train line lives up to its name, running through a range of steep mountains on the border of Gunma and Tochigi Prefectures. The line connects the towns of Kiryu and Nikko, and the most photogenic section of all is said to be between Sori and Haramuko Stations. During the fall color season, a train called the Torokko Wasshi, pictured above, has special runs with its side windows open, so that passengers can see and snap photos of the trees without any glass glare getting in the way.
9. Kurobe Gorge Line (Toyama Prefecture)
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Another mountain train line, this one runs through Kurobe Gorge, one of the deepest in Japan. The Kurobe Keikoku Line also has special trains that run when the leaves are changing colors, with bench-style seating to offer better views of sights such as the bridges and lakes you’ll pass along the route, which is contained entirely within the expansive city of Kurobe.
8. Tadami Line (Fukushima Prefecture)
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The Oku Aizu region of Fukushima Prefecture is known for both its fall colors and its autumn fog. When the two mix together, it makes for a timeless atmosphere that visitors can savor while traveling along this train line that runs from Aizuwakamatsu to Uonuma and passes over the mirror-like waters of the Tadami River.
7. Meijimura (Aichi Prefecture)
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Coming down from the mountains, the next spot on the list is Meijimura, an open-air museum of preserved historical buildings from Japan’s Meiji era (1868-1912) that have been relocated to the town of Inuyama. In addition to its 67 structures, the museum’s grounds also has maple and dogwood trees that provide a beautiful scarlet backdrop to the architecture in the fall.
6. Shibu Onsen (Nagano Prefecture)
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One clear advantage that fall color season has over sakura season is that the former makes a better combination with a visit to a hot spring town. With Nagano’s mountainous geography, there’s no shortage of forests with fall colors in the prefecture, and Shibu Onsen is one of its most charming hot spring towns, with wooden inns and cobblestone streets providing picturesque paths at the beginning and end of your leaf-viewing day.
5. Mimasaka Takio Station (Okayama Prefecture)
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This one is probably of limited interest to international travelers, but this rural station on the Inbi Line in the town of Tsuyama served as a filming location in the Otoko wa Tsurai/”Tora-san” franchise, one of Japan’s longest-running movie series. As such, it gets visited by both rail fans and cinema buffs, and the quaint station building, constructed in 1928, has views of autumn leaves from its waiting room benches.
4. Otaru canal area (Hokkaido Prefecture)
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Here’s a surprising pick: a fall color spot on the coast. Instead of maples of gingko trees, the colors here come from the vines that climb up onto the sides of the historic canal district buildings, creating a unique way to enjoy the season. This is Japan’s northernmost, and coldest, prefecture, though, so be sure to bundle up extra-warmly if you’re planning to admire the view after sundown.
3. Former Iwasaki Residence Garden (Tokyo)
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The Iwasaki family might not be one that most people are familiar with by name, but the company they founded, Mitsubishi, is world-famous. This estate near Tokyo’s Yushima Station no longer belongs to the family, but is instead a garden and museum with a preserved mansion that’s an early example of classical Western architecture in Japan, and the surrounding grounds include maples and a gingko tree believed to be 400 years old.
2. Sagano Romantic Train (Kyoto)
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“Romantic” here is used not in an amorous context, but in the in the sense of grand, sweeping emotional impact. The Sagano Romantic Train travels along the Sagano Scenic Railway, a relatively short line on the west side of Kyoto City that follows the Hozu River. The scenery is beautiful in any season, but it’s at its best, many would say, in the fall.
1. Ginzan Onsen (Yamagata Prefecture)
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With its wooden architecture, pedestrian-only central district, and gaslight illumination, Ginzan Onsen has long been considered one of the most beautiful towns in Japan. The hot spring town is most famous for its snow-covered scenery, so much so that it now caps the number of day-trip visitors in winter, and it’s not too shabby on an early summer afternoon either. Sure enough, Jalan’s survey participants say the place is lovely in autumn too, making it their number-one pick for a retro-atmosphere fall color trip, and providing one more reason to visit Yamagata.
Source: PR Times
Top image: PR Times
Insert images: PR Times, Jalan
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