Sawai 25 November 2007

On another wonderful day in fall Japan we decided to make a sunday short trip to the northwest of our beloved city Tôkyô with the goal of visiting a Sake brewery in the small mountain village Sawai. There you can of yourse learn how Sake is made as well as enjoying hectolitres of Sake on the spot. I already knew that the Japanese Fall would shine in many colours but reality was much more fantastic than expected. It was not a very warm but wonderful day and it was the very first time that an unprecedented colourful tree scenery met my eyes. Now many of you might say "Fine but this you can experience everywhere". This might be a bit true but obviously not only the leafs are more shiny than e.g. in Germany but rather there is only a very small time-frame in Germany to enjoy such things as it rains too much and therefore the leafs seem to get rotten before displaying there full colour. So the Japanese Fall scene lasts longer and begins much later than in middle Europe. The maple trees here shine truly in a breathtaking tint. So after 1,5 hours we first made a short walk, then already took place at a table outside and the boozing drinking began. 2,5 hours later we found ourselves in the train back to Tôkyô and at 7 o´clock in the evening in bed, completely unable for any movement. Afresh I realized how tasting but also strong Sake can be...

Shinjuku Gyoen December 2 2007

Once again after displaying wonderful colours in the cherry blossom Shinjuku-Gyoen is also worth a visit in autumn. Besides permanently changing natural scenes you also can find here japanese gardens and an amazingly clean park. This can be seen for a very small admission fee of 200 Yen. In addition to the nice sight to the centre of Shinjuku you can relish Hyde Park atmoshpere here and - as you can see on the photos - enjoy being inspired by fantastic colours. Traditionally japanese as it is there is also water on the site, in the form of a nicely done pond. This park is definitely worth a visit when you are around in Tôkyô.