No time to write a real post, but I just have to share these amazing photos from my adventures out and about in Tokyo a few weeks ago. Yes, a few weeks. I’m so behind!

I had heard about and seen photos of the fall colors in Japan, but I hadn’t had time to get out and see them for myself and I was worried I was going to miss them. So the Saturday after Thanksgiving (which was an absolutely gorgeous day) I decided it was time to be a tourist again in my own city.

I consulted the Top 10 Tokyo book I borrowed from my friend, CoyLou, and set off to see what I could see in Bunkyo-ku, one of the wards north of me where there are a couple of big parks.

**Note: these photos are not in order because my computer is having issues and I don’t have the patience to reorder them. Also, I haven’t edited any of them…partly because I want to share them untouched, but mostly because I have no desire to spend more time on my computer than I necessary.**

My first stop was Rikugi-en. It did not disappoint!

The light in the park was absolutely perfect. And I had lots of fun playing with it.

Possibly my favorite photo from the entire day.

When I took this, I thought it looked like I was standing on some fake fall set of a T.V. show, but it wasn’t. Just this beautiful, mossy knoll, covered in leaves, with a ray of sunlight shining down.

Koi. Huge koi. My older brother would have been very jealous.

Playing with shadows.

Playing with sunlight.

Following Rikugi-en, I headed down the street to Kyu-Furukawa Gardens. I had read about the beautiful rose gardens and grounds of this western-style mansion, but assumed I would not be seeing roses so late in November. I was happy to discover I was mistaken. The rose garden was incredible.

I share this picture not because of the fall foliage or the grounds, but the Bo Peep.  A common sight in various parts of  Tokyo, but kind of random here.

A beautiful stone staircase in a hidden part of the grounds. The sunlight peeking through was stunning.

Charles de Gaulle

Rio Samba Rose

As I was getting ready to leave the park (again, photos not in order), I happened upon this little concert that was just starting. The kokyū musician was playing Disney songs with recorded, orchestral accompaniment. I can’t lie. It was pretty magical.

The audience collected on the lawn and this was our view. I would have loved to have performed on a stage like this back in my singing days. Talk about a great backdrop.

Blue Light Rose…maybe my favorite.

So basically, autumn in Tokyo was even more vibrant and breathtaking than I’d heard, seen, or even imagined. I don’t think that there’s a tree out there that can hold a candle to a Japanese maple (or 紅葉 / もみじ / momiji in Japanese) in the fall and they are everywhere here. And then you add roses, and well, it’s pretty much perfect.

That said, I do hope that I get to stick around here through the spring because I’m sure that the photos don’t do that justice either.