Episode49: Appreciate autumn

In the autumn, the leaves of various trees turn yellow, orange and red. Mountains are painted in gradational colour. Japanese people appreciate the autumnal colourful hues since ancient times. Every year, many people visit the places which are famous for the beauty of autumn foliage. Momiji-gari is a very popular event as well as Hanami.

It was raining on that day since early morning. I was in Bourton-on-the-Water in Cotswolds of south central England.

ー"Little Venice", on dit souvent comme ça, mais je ne sais pas pouquoi. En fait, à Bourton-on-the-Water, il n'y a qu'un petit canal comme un ruisseau, et il n'y a aucun gondole. Le village est loin d'être Venise. Cependant, ce coffre à jouets attire beaucoupde gens par sa beauté modeste'. ( "Little Venice", people often call it. But I didn't know why. In fact, in Bourton-on-the-Water, there is only one little canal like a stream, and there are no gondolas. The village is far from the image of Venice. Nevertheless, the village, like a toy box, attracts people with its modest charm.)　

I found a note that I had written down at that time. I remember clearly. The trees along the canal were turning autumn colours. They gave me a quite modest and calm image.

Then we went for Westonbirt, The National Arboretum by bus. When we arrived there, the rain had already stopped. The sunlight was falling among the leaves. They were brightly brilliant, because of rain drops. A beautiful sight. The National Arboretum had red colour leaves, albeit most of European trees turned yellow and orange. It reminded me of a Japanese autumn. 

However, I felt something was missing. When I approached the leaves on trees branches, I realised they were less brightly-coloured than Japanese leaves. And also the falling leaves on the ground looked comepletely dead, although, of course, I know the falling leaves are dead leaves. But, Japanese falling leaves keeps their colour for much longer before they completele die. So, they look like a red carpet on the ground. I presume that a large temperature gap and  a wide variety of deciduous trees make for better colour variety and clarity in Japan.

Unexpectedly, I found the beauty of Japanese autumn abroad.

※毎月1日、15日に掲載予定です。
※この記事は、The Traveler’s Time vol.3に収録。

第49話　秋を愛でる

秋になると、木々の葉が黄色やオレンジ、赤色に染まり、山々はグラデーションを帯びた色調に塗り込められる。日本人は古代より、色とりどりの秋の色彩を愛でてきた。毎年多くの人々が紅葉の美しい名所を訪ねる。紅葉狩りは花見と同様に、人気のある行事である。