香嵐渓の紅葉

In the spring Japanese people gather to appreciate sakura (cherry blossom) trees in the short few weeks between when the flowers bloom and fall. Six months later they go around to look at kōyō, the red leaves of trees in fall. (In Japanese this is written, sensibly, with the kanji 紅 'red' and 葉 'leaves'.) These are two times of the year when many Japanese people make the time to go out with their family & friends and appreciate the passing of the seasons. This tradition of watching sakura blossoms and fall leaves also reflects an important part of Japanese aesthetics -- appreciating the fleetingness of life and nature.

Recently I went to a place called Kōrankei (香嵐渓) about an hour away from my town. It's famous for its kōyō so it gets mobbed with visitors in the fall. I went with a few friends on a drizzly Monday, so it wasn't so crowded. Here are some photos.

In one part of the park there was out of nowhere an older Japanese guy in a tent surrounded by eight (8) synthesizers playing some new age-y music to suit the scenery. I wanted to ask him why 2 or 4 synths wouldn't have sufficed, but he was pretty focused on his music.

The other day I was at a video rental store with my friend and we noticed there was a guy in line wearing a very similar outfit as me. I'm on the left:

Here's a nice song from 1977 by Hiromi Ōta (太田裕美). It's called しあわせ未満.

It's gotten chilly here but after the subzero temperatures and snow last winter, I'm very happy to be in Aichi and not Hokkaido. My semester ends next Friday. I had a good first semester here and am looking forward to a few more. I can feel that my Japanese has improved in the few months I've been here so I'm looking forward to seeing where it will go (I still have a long ways).

Winter break is a few weeks long, so I'm using that time and a bunch of frequent flyer miles to romp around Taiwan and southeast Asia. In Taiwan I'll be with my classmate Setsu who is from Taipei. In Vietnam I'll be trying to meet up with a good friend from university before heading to Angkor Wat and Thailand. It will be nice to mix it up a bit and see something new.