Gifu Prefecture

The Japanese are very conscious of the seasons changing around them, often celebrating little, or not so little, milestones between each to mark the transitions between their much-touted “4 distinct seasons.” Long sleeve or short sleeve shirts, for example, are there one day but gone the next as the season officially ends for them. Similarly, spring and fall enjoy their milestones, “hanami” and “koyo,” and taking a moment to enjoy “the moment” of each is a national obsession. Viewing the changing colors of fall leaves, which is called either koyo or momoji in Japanese depending on the type of tree viewed, is Japan’s autumn answer to the more famous cherry blossom viewing of spring; a traditional chance to get outdoors to live in the moment of the season, and to reflect on the impermanence of it all. Since ancient times in Japan, this urge to experience the beauty of the changing seasons has been custom; you can find it referenced in the classical Heian Period (794 to 1185) novel “The Tale of the Genji;” one of the world’s first novels. Starting in mid-September, the “koyo front” slowly moves its bands of color south from Hokkaido to central and southern Japan…