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Winter approaches...
We enter December with cooling temperatures and shortening days! It is quite easily seen that we are very much in the midst of autumn now, with winter following up quick. However with autumn comes the beautiful changing foliage, crisp morning air, and clear skies. But make sure to stay warm!
Meanwhile in Japan, the heat continued on for a little while, however autumn has officially made it presence known. The leaves are changing, Mt. Fuji has a beautiful snowy hat on, and momijigari is in full force! October and November saw quite a bit of action as well! In the sumo world, the Kyushu Basho was held at the Fukuoka Kokusai Centre, with Ozeki Kirishima emerging victorious. There were also many festival in the autumn season, such as the Karatsu Kunchi in Saga Prefecture, where large floats were paraded to celebrate autumn, and the Tokyo Midtown illuminations!
This month we’re bringing to you even more amazing regional travel guides and articles, there's a lot to get to!
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Answer our quick survey by 10:00AM on 11 Dec for a chance to win 1 of 2 'Tokyo Outdoors' travel books!
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Learn about the art of wagashi from Yasuhiro Hikiami about his experiences with the famed Japanese confectionery and his recent pop-up exhibition.
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Learn about the history of the Ainu in Hokkaido at a new exhibition at Japan House London.
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Explore one of Japan's most beautiful regions, filled with nature and fantastic experiences!
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Look forward to all the amazing openings that Japan will have to offer in 2024!
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Discover some beautiful autumn foliage spots in Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu. From temples to giant ginkgo trees, these spots are some of the best in Japan!
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Winter approaching, snow, frost, and the new year!
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As we are now in the peak of autumn foliage, leaves are falling and the weather is cooling, and snow has even been covering the ground in parts of Japan. For the word of the month, we're going back in time a bit!
The Japanese months are usually written and pronounced with a number and the Japanese word for "month". For example, January is "ichigatsu", written as 一月 (the character for one and the character for month). However, the months used to have differing names depending on the season and events. Let's look at two of them!
November, nowadays known as "juichigatsu", used to be known as "shimotsuki", or 霜月. "Shimo" means "frost" in Japanese, and "tsuki" in this context means "month". By combining the characters, you get "frost month", which would make sense, as many early mornings in November feature frost on the ground! December, while now called "junigatsu", was originally called "shiwasu", or 師走. Made of the characters for "teacher" and "run", the word together represents the busy hustle and bustle that teachers, such as Buddhist monks, went through during end of the year festivities. The remaining months all have some fascinating names, so I suggest looking them up and finding a favourite!
The tail end of autumn and the beginning of winter in Japan has lots to offer in terms of things to do. With this approaching chilly weather, it's important to keep yourself warm, but venturing up north or into the mountains will definitely reward!
Here's some of what we learnt the past few months:
1) Tohoku is one of the best spots to visit all year round, from winter wonderlands to summer festivals, it should be at the top of any travel list!
2) Kyushu is more than a summer getaway, its autumn colours are something that everyone should be travelling to see!
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Explore Echigo Yuzawa, in Niigata Prefecture, with Lia from Ryokan Wanderings!
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Read about the new Shinkansen extension and some fun spots along the route to check out!
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From the Tokyo Outdoors Guidebook, discover Tokyo again by foot, bike, or up in the mountains!
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That’s it from us for this month!
Keep up with all this and much, much more by following us on Facebook and Instagram.
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