Late autumn @ Shinjuku Gyoen Park: Nov. 30, 2013

The season is turning from autumn to spring. I visited Shinjuku Gyoen Park to enjoy a late autumn day.

The autumn color was its peak at Shinjuku Gyoen. Maple tree’s red; gingko’s yellow – all were impressive. The sky was sunny.

There were many visitors in the park. Some of them were lying down on the lawn to get sunshine. Others were taking photos and drawing pictures.

Autumn Color @ Yoyogi Park: Nov.17, 2013

I had a walk in the mountains in Tokyo-Kanagawa border area to enjoy autumn color yesterday (Nov. 16, 2013). Today, I visited Yoyogi Park, which locates in the very center of Tokyo.

The trees were colorful in the park. Some trees kept green leaves whiles others had red, orange and yellow leaves. Many people were taking pictures.

The sunset is about 4:30 pm at this season in Tokyo. It is still warm in the daytime. The autumn color season will continue another two weeks and the season will turn into the winter.

Koshu Kaido Walk (6) Takao (Hachioji) -Obara: Nov. 16, 2014

It is turning into the season of autumn color in Tokyo.

I had a walk from Takao in Hachioji city, western Tokyo, through the Kobotoke Pass (Tokyo- Kanagawa border) to Obara (Sagamihara City in Kanagawa Prefecture), as a part of my Koshu Kaido Walk. The rout went through mountain area and I enjoyed autumn color.

There are hundreds of gingko trees at the sides of Koshu Kaido in Takao area. I found that they had just changed into yellow. It was beautiful. Local “Gingko Festival” was held.

I passed old Komagino shukuba station area and moved into mountainous area. I climbed a steep pass through cedar and other trees, then I arrived at the Kobotoke Pass. 

It is 548 meter high and is the border between Tokyo Metropolitan area and Kanagawa Prefecture.

There were many hikers and climbers in the area. They all enjoyed the autumn color. “Walking in the nature” is getting more popular among Japanese.

The railway tunnel of JR Chuo Line runs under the Kobotoke Pass.

The Chuo Highway runs at the side of the mountains in the area. The highways were supported by more than 30 meter-high bridge piers in some places. They went into tunnels through the mountains in other places. Seeing such scenes, I felt “surrealistic” impressions.

Beautiful mountains, autumn color and “surrealistic” highways scenes -- all reflect the reality of Japanese society.

I walked down to Obara shukuba station. It is more than 60 kilometers from Nihonbashi.

Second-hand Book Fair @ Kanda: Nov 3rd, 2013

When we visit Kanda Jinbo-cho, which is only 500 meters north from the Imperial Palace, we find many secondhand bookshops.

There are more than 100 such shops. The local community advertises the area as “the largest town of second-hand bookshops IN THE WORLD”.

Today, I visit the town as annual fair was held.

Special bookshelves were placed in the sidewalks. Hundreds of open-air stalls were open in some roads. Thousands of visitors were there.

The environment surrounding book is changing rapidly because of the development of net and electronic books. The bookstores (both for new books and secondhand books) are also facing drastic changes.

Kanda Jinbo-cho, the Mecca of secondhand book in Japan, is also changing. More shops were closed in recent years than before. More shops are trying to concentrate in special fields (such as maps, cinema books, drama books etc.) rather than attracting various guests.

Still, I felt today that the fair preserved good old book culture. I enjoyed it.