Take our user survey and make your voice heard.
The cherry blossoms are nice, don’t get me wrong and I love a viewing party as much as the next person but it’s the enticingly sweet dip towards winter that is my favorite time of year in Japan and here is why it should be your favorite too.
The immediate change from unbearably hot to pleasantly cool
A change that is so instantaneous that you could swear it had been marked down on someone’s calendar. It brings with it a blessed relief from the months of stifling humidity and a newfound desire to spend time outdoors in the cool, evening air. Suddenly, biking to work is a pleasure rather than a chore, one where you don’t end up a sweaty mess by the time you’ve clocked in. The air feels crisp and it smells fresh and new.
The nabe parties
There is nothing in the world like nabe. It’s delicious, it’s (sometimes) healthy and it’s the perfect balance between a starter soup and a hearty meal. The best part? Getting to sit around the coffee table with friends, feasting together on the best meat, tofu and vegetables the season has to offer. Enoki mushrooms, agedashi tofu, Chinese cabbage – whatever you like, just chuck it in the pot, add some soup and turn up the heat. It’s pure joy, even if you’re all terribly cramped in your tiny, tiny apartment. Feel the love and share nabe with the world.
The autumn Leaves
Now I’m not a huge fan of Japanese seasonal tourist events (cherry blossoms in spring, fireworks in summer and Luminare in winter) but there is a special place in my heart for the viewing of the autumn leaves. There is something unspeakably beautiful about the change of colors, from a bright luminescent green, to dull shades of yellow and muted tones of red. It’s as if the very change of leaves brings about a certain change in the air, and thus affects change in our own lives. And while the reason I mostly avoid these seasonal events is because of the crowds, they seem to bother me less at this time of year, and in truth I could not tell you why that is. Perhaps I simply have more patience during this time of year? (Note: If you’ve ever met me, you’ll know this is highly unlikely).
The winding down of the year
There seems to be something more than just a crisp breeze in the air. I’m talking about that indescribable feeling of the days and months coming more quietly and more swiftly to a close at this time of year. Perhaps it’s merely the early onset of darkness or the unavoidable awareness that winter is coming. Either way, that feeling at work or at home that the end is nigh makes life a little more relaxing, and a lot more enjoyable.
© Japan Today
14 Comments
Login to comment
Tamarama
Aki is also my favourite season in Japan. Perhaps partly because the Japanese Summer is so objectionable, but Autumn is pure poetry. The season cools and the air becomes beautiful and clear and the colours are simply exquisite. I love it.
powderb
I have never, in fact, felt autumn as a particularly distinct season in all my time in Japan. Living in Tokyo it feels more like half a year of summer, then a brief few weeks of both autumn and spring between a pleasant winter of a few months (yes, the math might be off a bit, but the idea remains).
The fact that it is October and I'm writing this in shorts and a t-shirt on my balcony, well, it's still summer to me, despite what the calendar says.
zenkan
Oh, absolutely the best time of the year. Any time during October to the beginning of May ticks my boxes. I don't like compartmentalising seasons and events as it becomes a limiting factor. The weather is the be all and end all - I'll go to the coast any day of the year if the fancy takes me. The leaves ARE pretty, but when people flock to the prime locations it turns the viewing experience into a frustrating trial. (aerial shots of holiday weekend traffic spurred this!)
nath
My first visit to japan 20 odd years back was in autumn. We were in hakone & it was simply stunning! Autumn has stayed my favourite season since then.
gaijinfo
Well, I've never been to a nabe party, but I do like it when it cools off, though. I still sleep with my AC on every night, and usually do into Nov. When I take my early morning walks, I still wear shorts/t-shirt until Nov as well, and then only a windbreaker.
However, this weather does remind me of being a kid. Thanksgiving, X-mas, presents and two weeks off from school were just around the corner.
oikawa
Good writing. Thanks for the article. Yes, I think autumn is the most intense season, though I dislike it for the same reasons the writer likes it I expect.
avigator
Because when you are indoors it will be a little bit coolers because they do not want to turn on the air con with the excuse that they have to save energy. Finally it feels cools. Iguanas will then starts sunbathing.
gaijintraveller
Spring, rainy season, which Japanese tell me is not a season because it would mean they have five seasons and everyone knows they have four, and autumn are too wet. Winter is dry but too cold. That leaves summer.
"There seems to be something more than just a crisp breeze in the air." Yes, it is called rain.
JeffLee
The problem with the Japanese autumn is that it's too short.
presto345
It's not too short, well it may depend on where you live. The problem is you want it to be longer. The hot summer lasts three months. The comfortable autumn two-and-a half. I enjoy part of the hot summer, because I like the changing of the seasons, and every minute of the autumn!
Serrano
What's wrong with spring? It's finally nice and warm after the long freezing winter!
presto345
The seasons in Japan are influenced by the zones the islands stretch across, 20 degrees latitude to about 45 degrees, but also by ocean currents and prevailing winds. Weather patterns and seasons changing are very different from Okinawa to Hokkaido. And different people experience autumn, the subject here, differently in their respective regions. And BTW, voting down someone for their opinion on how they experience a season is something I can't quite grasp.
Nessie
In Hokkaido, you do get crisp, glorious days like today, but more often it's wet in fall. And the mountains are lifeless compared to spring and summer.
I'll take a spring day where the air thinks it's summer and the ground begs to differ: shortsleeve hiking on a three-meter base of packed snow, come home tanned. Or summer, when rain means hiking wet but warm and the end of the trail is a jump into whatever river, lake or sea you find there.