In Autumn in Japan, there are many beautiful colours, and some amazing trees we don’t see so often in Australia. The tree above is a Gingko tree, in a temple courtyard, in full Autumn leaf. They are bright yellow, and can be seen from across the city, lining streets or in temple courtyards.
The days are cool-to-cold, depending on the lateness in the season, and crisp. You can also see a large variety of Japanese Maples, which are usually in red leaf.
With all this cold weather, it is reassuring to know that a hand-and-body-warming hot drink is never far away.
Vending machines (which are everywhere!) have a colour coded selection of cold and hot drinks. All the red tabs indicate hot drinks, so you can get a hot tea, coffee or juice instantly.
Some people have told us they’ve carried a few hot drinks in their pockets while skiing for extra warmth, and a hot drink when they need it later!
Birds at the Train Station, pop songs on train arrival…
One thing you may not know if you have never been to Japan, is that each station has an array of interesting sounds. A noticeably strange one at first is the bird calls. They are sometimes different at different stations, and indicate to visually impaired people the location of the up and down escalators.
Another interesting sound is a distinctive song or jingle that comes on when a train arrives and departs, and is different on each station.
