Hidden Beyond the Autumn Leaves ~ Beauty of Japan

about 2 years ago

Man those autumn leaves are pretty!

I took this from one of my favorite places. I think I've shared photos from here in past autumns. If you have some knowledge of Japan, you might be able to guess what it is from the white strips of paper hanging (shide) from it.

But I won't keep you in suspense. If you don't know, it's a Shinto Shrine. This one is someone hidden within a grove of Japanese maple trees. It's actually part of a larger Buddhist temple. It's a long story as to why you sometimes (hmm...actually, often) find shrines within temples. Without getting too much into it, the two religions were mostly the same for most of Japanese history, and we can still see a lot of the remains of that merge.

Anyway.

The autumn leaves are already gone. They didn't last long this year! Usually they hold on for most of December, but this year some very fierce rainstorms knocked them all down. So it goes. But the wonderful thing about nature is they'll be back again next year! (hopefully they'll last longer next time)

I still haven't gotten around to editing my shots form Korankei yet. I know, I know. I'll get to it as soon as I can. I still haven't completely gotten over this caffeine withdrawal. A few comments told me it takes about two weeks, and I'm only a few days over a week, so it might be a few more days. The headaches are mostly over, and I'm not so tired anymore, so I hope I'm on the final stretch of this thing.

I'll give more of an update on that later in another post. This one if more of a photo post so let's try to stick on topic.

I know there are many varieties of the Japanese maples, but this bright red one seems to be the most common, at least in this area. When the rain doesn't bring it down like this year, it usually lasts for several weeks.

I'll try to get to the Korankei photos this coming week, but we'll see! December is a busy time around here, with lots of year-end business parties. But I'll try! For now, enjoy the above!

❦

	David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku.