On next morning car was returned in Takamatsu and took high-speed ferry to Sodoshima – literally “small beans island”. Picked up a reserved Kei car for 4 hours upon arrival.
high-speed ferry
oliv-bu-shima-chen
kei car
Kankakei (寒霞溪)
drove uphill to top ropeway station at about 600m and dropped by a tea house at about 300m. In the end we noticed that koyo was at peak in latter rather than at the summit. Though Kankakei can be reached by bus and ropeway, we rented a car to avoid potentially long lines in peak koyo season. Indeed, there were many visitors at the top ropeway station.
koyo at 300m
views from observatory prior to summit
views from observatory near top of ropeway station
Olive Park
next we drove downhill for lunch in Olive road station. Nearby there is an olive park where olive has been first grown in Japan for 100 years. It attracted plenty of visitors as it was also the venue of a local movie shot a few years ago.
After brief lunch in Okoke boat pier, we headed to Okuboji via expressway. Being the #88 temple with 1300 years of history, there were pilgrims, apart from usual visitors. Koyo was also at peak.
Ritsurin-koen (栗林公園)
Next we headed back to Takamatsu city where we stayed 2 nights. Prior to hotel checkin, we visited this beautiful landscape garden. As it was after 4pm, there were not many visitors.
After checking out of the Iya onsen hotel on next morning in chill and wind, drove further inside the valley to visit Kazura-bashi – a bridge made of mountain vines.
Iya valley views along the way
koyo and biwa waterfall around the bridge
Oboke boat ride
next we headed to Oboke for a boat ride. It was smooth and lasted for 30min.
Heading downhill we arrived at Shiromine-ji – #81 temple where koyo was at peak. It was also the tomb of Sutoku Emperor (崇徳天皇白峰御陵).
Sutoku-Tenno
pilgrims
Kotohira-gu (金刀比羅宮)
next we dropped by Kotohira-gu, which is the main shrine of Kompira shrines in Japan.
Climbed several hundred stairs to reach the main hall. Nice views of Kotohira town and Sanuki-Fuji in the distance.
Asahi-hall in the middle
main hall
Sanuki-Fuji
Kotohira town below
Lunch in a modern restaurant operated by Shiseido at the foothill.
Shiawase-san. Konpira-san.
Iya valley (祖谷溪)
After leaving Kotohira-gu in Kagawa prefecture, drove via a narrow and meandering mountain road for an hour into Iya valley in western Tokushima prefecture.
Visited Shikoku and Kinki – Kobe/Nara/Kyoto/Biwako for koyo (fall foliage) in mid to late November for 2 weeks.
Aerial views of Shikoku prior to landing in KIX
Shortly before landing, plane flew across Shikoku where it looked like to be the mountain ranges in Kochi and Tokushima Prefectures. A Wind farm is on top of the mountain ridge on the right photo.
mountain ranges in Shikoku
windfarm
In KIX, had sushi lunch in one of our fav sushi shops from Osaka/Namba. Before checking in onsen hotel in Kobe/Minato, had a nice cake and coffee in Kobe/Sannomiya.
Ganko (“stubborn”) Sushi
Kan-buri, Shima-aji
Zuwani-kani, Hotate-gai
Uni from HOkkaido
Hamo !!
Aburi (fired) Nodoguro, wife had an encore of Uni
Cake and coffee in Kobe/Sannomiya
Dusk till dawn of Kobe harbour from balcony
Stayed overnight in onsen hotel for 3rd time to relax 🙂
at dusk
half crescent moon set
dawn
On next morning, took Sanyo Shinkansen from Shin-Kobe and change at Okayama for JR express train heading to Shikoku for the first time via the Seto-Ohashi. Arrived at Marugame around noon and pick up car.
Overall driving itin in Shikoku – Marugame > Zentsuji > Shiromine onsen (1N) > Goshiki-dai > Kotohira-gu > Iya valley > Iya onsen (1N) > Kazura-bashi > Oboke/Koboke boat ride > Okuboji > Ritsurin-koen > Takamatsu (2N), including day trip to Sodoshima by ferry.
It was our first visit in Shikoku (Kagawa and Tokushima Prefectures). In general, road traffic is less heavy than in the countryside of Honshu and Kyushu. Locals are nice, lodgings and dining are slightly less expensive.
Marugame Castle (丸龜城)
The Marugame Castle is one of the twelve original castles in Japan. Climb was steep at some points though we were rewarded by nice views of Sanuki-Fuji in the distance. Also bumped into Jugatsu-zakura (October-sakura) and the 47th Marugame Chrysanthemum Festival.
Had late Sanuki-udon lunch in town. It was delicious and inexpensive. Since then, we have been craving for the same elsewhere 🙂
Marugame Castle
Sanuki-Fuji in the distance
Jugatsu-zakura (October sakura)
chrysanthemum festival
outside the moat
Sanuki-udon for late lunch
Zentsu-ji (善通寺)
The birthplace of Kobo Daishi, #75 temple in Shikoku 88-temple pilgrimage.
As it was raining, slowly getting dark and cold, we did not stay long and drove back to Shiromine onsen in Sakaide.
Miedo
Kondo
5-storey pagoda
#75 temple in Shikoku
Goshiki-dai (五色台)
literally five-coloured plateau. It has 5 peaks named in 5 different colours. Drove uphill after checking out from onsen hotel, where the Shiromine-ji is closeby.
Nice views of the Seto Inland sea and the Seto-Ohashi in the distance from the observatory.
Our 3rd stay in this onsen hotel in Otsu. Panoramic views of Biwako stretching from Hieizan in the west to the distant coastal towns in the east.
water display on the dykes
Hieizan in the distance
After checking out from Biwako hotel, we headed back to Kyoto for one last koyo spot, had lunch in Shijo, strolled the Nishiki market before heading to our hotel in Osaka/Tennoji.
Jonan-gu (城南宮)
Jonan-gu is in southern Kyoto. It was less crowded than other popular spots in Kyoto while its garden displayed some spectacular koyo.
This was the end of our koyo trip in Kansai after 1 week. We did not visit any koyo spots in Osaka, but to relax and did some shopping in Tennoji before departure.
Moved to Biwako hotel in Otsu for 2 nights. Picked up a car to visit koyo around Biwako for the first time. Very heavy traffic heading north on the western rim where there is no expressway. Arrived at a spot in Omi-Takashima where supposedly there should be a boulevard of fiery red Meta-sequoia trees, but it turned out to be in pale green/yellow and rain started to pour abruptly. Drove eastward to Keisokuji but decided to skip it after 10min as there was a long queue of cars heading towards it on a narrow road.
Saimyo-ji (西明寺)
Finally, we arrived at Saimyoji in eastern Biwako in late afternoon. There were few visitors around and koyo was brilliant in the setting sun, which found its way through rain clouds. Visited in about 30min before closure but it was worthwhile.
Hondo
Enryaku-ji (延暦寺)
On next morning drove uphill to Hieizan to visit World Heritage Enryakuji. We visited the Todo (Eastern Hall) area only. Though the Chuo-do (根本中堂) has been under major renovation, we visited it and it was worthwhile. Monks were conducting normal rituals inside and two head monks were speaking to visiting locals. Koyo was still gorgeous which was beyond our expectation in late November up on Hieizan.
Kondo (lecture hall)
Manshuro
Amidodo
Biwako as viewed from Hieizan
Miho museum
Drove eastward after lunch to visit Miho museum, which was nestled inside mountains. After parking our car, we had to walk through a long tunnel to reach the museum entrance – though free trolley was available, the queue was long.
The architecture was designed by I.M. Pei to create a modern version of Shangri-la. We were surprised by its huge private collection of artifacts from ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Roman Empire, China etc up to the modern era. We spent about 2 hours and had to return as traffic was heavy.
tunnel leading to museum
end of tunnel is a bridge leading to the museum entrance
Okochi-sanso is a private villa with a large premise. Following its foot paths we wandered up and down the hill. Bumped into a semi-rainbow along the way. Finally, we arrived at its tea house where we took a brief rest and enjoyed its complimentary tea set. Koyo was also at peak.
Arashiyama on the other side
rainbow over Kyoto
tea house
tea set included
Kodai-ji (高台寺)
Before ending the day we arrived at Kodaiji in Higashiyama. The famous garden and pond were beautiful with peak koyo too. Had a coffee and caught sight of the silhouette of distant Hokanji in the setting sun.
So glad to be back in Kyoto during peak koyo season for the 4th time. Visited Jojakko-ji, Komyo-ji, Okochi-sanso and Kodai-ji in 1.5 days.
Jojakko-ji (常寂光寺)
Took JR commuter train to Saga-Arashiyama, then taxi to Jojakko-ji to save time. Though it was a smaller temple, it was on a hill covered in a forest of fiery red trees. Koyo was brilliant and we spent almost 2 hours there !! By the time we left it was already sunset.
Entrance
Komyo-ji (光明寺)
Visited Komyoji in Nagaoka-kyo. The famous “Koyo tunnel” was indeed gorgeous.
looking back at the entrance
Hondo
Koyo Tunnel
Arashiyama
Returned to Arashiyama by Hankyu train. Walked along Hozugawa and across the Togetsu bridge. It was so crowded around the bridge junctions that there were people directing traffic and crowd flows. Koyo in Arashiyama looked beyond peak. We had a quick lunch before visiting Okochi-Sanso on the back of the bamboo forest.
On the next morning, we visited the Momijidani Park and Daisho-in before leaving Miyajima. Wild deers were roaming freely in the Park. Though koyo has passed peak, it was still nice. Koyo was still in peak in Daisho-in. It was serene when the day trippers have not arrived yet.
From Momijidani Park to Daisho-in
Koyo was slightly past peak in park
on the way to Daisho-in
Daisho-in entrance
Koyo was reminiscent of Eikando in Kyoto
on the back of Hondo
Senjokaku and Pagoda
cool monk statues 🙂
Torii Gate – night and day
As we had visited the Itsukushima Shrine less than one year ago, we gave it a pass. I strolled around after dinner and reached the Torii Gate viewpoint in less than 15 min. It was nice to see it illuminated. By the time I was about to return, a small passenger cruise was sailing through the Gate.
By the time we checked out early drizzles had turned into rain. It continued when we were on Shinkansen in Hiroshima. Returned to Kyoto after lunch and checked into hotel on top of Kyoto station.
