Fall in Aichi Prefecture– Korankei

Having family in Tokyo, I would visit them every year growing up. Being a student my whole life, however, means that my breaks were in the summer, and therefore would only see Japan during the summer months. Because of this, one of the things I was most excited to experience during my year abroad in Japan was the different seasons. Being late November, the leaves are starting to change around me as the air becomes chillier. A popular pastime for the locals is to travel to see the kōyō (autumn foliage). This Wednesday, I was invited out about two hours from Nagoya city to a small town called Korankei, which is famous for its beautiful scenery, and a popular spot for locals to visit to see the beautiful colors of the leaves. 

Knowing that it was quite a bit of a commute, I woke up early Wednesday morning to take the subway and then the regional lines to Toyotashi, where my friend is from. This in itself took about an hour. Then, we took another hour-long bus ride to our final destination– Korankei. The first thing I noticed about 30 minutes into the ride was how quickly the scenery changed from close-knit buildings to open rice fields, old traditional wooden houses, and tall, colorful mountains. There were even certain points in the bus ride that felt a bit dangerous, as the roads became narrow and winding, looking out over a cliff straight down to a river.

Once we arrived, I was shocked to see how instantly populated the area was. From an empty countryside to a suddenly bustling tourist destination, it was then that I realized how popular this place was. What I especially loved was the yatai that lined the maze of streets in this town. These are food stalls that sell, in my opinion, the best Japanese food that you can get from takoyaki, okonomiyaki, yakisoba, bebi castella, yaki ika, taiyaki, and so much more. When we first arrived, we toured the many yatai and decided on what to eat. My friend went to get some cookies on a stick made from mochi as well as dango, while I got some takoyaki. I was already feeling so content walking through the streets and having my fill as I looked around at the beautiful scenery surrounding me. 

We then walked across a beautiful red bridge over a winding river that ran through the town. This was a pretty popular spot to stop and take pictures of nature. Once we crossed, encountered many scenic trails in a less populated area before paying 300 yen (about 2 USD) to enter the oldest part of the town where they still did traditional crafts. From washi to knife making, there were so many crafts to buy and see, that we spent over an hour in this one little area alone. Walking on trails back to the bus stop, we also came across a traveling monkey show! I had never seen monkeys outside of a zoo before, so it felt like a surreal experience to watch this monkey do his special tricks out in the open. All in all, this trip was worth the four-hour commute and it more than fulfilled my dreams to see this country in all its kōyō glory!