AUTUMN IN JAPAN AND THE WONDERFUL TRAIN SYSTEM

 09.12.2024

We both had a much needed good night’s sleep after our lengthy flight from Australia. Showered and refreshed we had a good breakfast with Nana and Yuri. We ate my favourite pancakes from the local Lawson, which is convenience store

After breakfast, we ate my favourite pancakes from Lawson, Nana dropped Mami and I at a station to catch the train to Kyoto.

Our first stop was Arashiyama, famous for autumn leaves and we were not disappointed. They say a picture is worth 1000 words so I’ll let the pictures do the talking. 

Autumn leaves are called こうよう,Kouyo ( Koh-yoh) and attract many tourists. The normal こうよう season is mid November to early December. However this years’ こうよう season was much later. This meant many people who had booked months ago for November-December arrived to the disappointment of most trees still with green leaves. Mami and I were lucky to arrive when we did as the trees looked absolutely brilliant. It was a really great experience, especially for me as it was my first time seeing the autumn leaves. 

Mami on the other hand had seen こうよう many times, as she spent four years completing her BA degree at Kyoto Women’s University. Nevertheless she still was excited to see this wonderful sight again.

Of course to get to Arashiyama we had to travel by train. Today we travelled on six different trains, which I absolutely loved. All trains in Japan are fantastic! Why so good I hear you asking? This is why:

• Trains in Japan are all spotlessly clean inside and out. 
• The carriage design, inside and out, is brilliant unlike the drab trains we have in Australia.
• No one is allowed to talk on a mobile phone while travelling on a densha (suburban train) and if you wish to do so on a Shinkansen (bullet train) you have to leave the carriage and take the call standing up near the toilets and luggage racks in between carriages.
• People waiting to board the train, let exiting passengers get out of the train before they start entering it. It’s called manners!
• There are no brain dead morons who decide it’s a good idea to tag the inside of a carriage or slash the seats. That’s called respect.
• And last of all the trains are always on time unless there’s an earthquake or other natural disasters.

Have a look at the videos of the trains we rode on today and you may get a glimpse of why I am totally enamoured by Japan’s brilliant public transport system. It is fantastic.

P.S. Love to hear any feedback especially on my obsession with trains!! 🙂