Red Maple Carpet at a Flower Temple

Reflection of autumn leaves on an entire floor

Takako Sakamoto Sep 10, 2014 - 1分鐘閱讀時間

<p>'Autumn Leave Floor' is my favorite place in this temple. Most of the time I have to stand in line to take photos of it</p>

<p>'Nobori-ro Corridors' have 399 steps in total in the upper, middle and bottom parts, which is EXTREMELY tough to climb</p>

<p>In the middle of the long Nobori-ro staircase, red maple leaves hanging from above will welcome you</p>

<p>Marvelous gradation of yellow, orange and red</p>

<p>A cute hand-shaped maple leaf greets you: 'Welcome!'</p>

<p>Mossy stone lantern...everything you see here comforts and heals you</p>

<p>I stopped in my tracks and appreciated these beautiful red leaves...however hard I tried, it was difficult to climb up the long stairs to the top</p>

<p>Looking up I found these dazzling red colors</p>

<p>At 'Raido (Prayer Hall)', visitors were praying earnestly. The visitors and the statue of the Goddess of Mercy were looking at each other tenderly</p>

<p>Classic Machiya (Japanese traditional wooden house) in Monzen-cho (a temple town) adds a traditional feel to the temple street</p>

<p>This giant ginkgo tree in Hase, near Hase-dera Temple, is the tallest ginkgo tree in Nara prefecture</p>

Hese-dera Temple, which is also called 'The Temple of Flowers', provides impressive scenic beauty each season. In spring, you can enjoy beautiful weeping cherry trees and various peonies in bloom.

But what you should not miss is the maple trees in autumn. This is a unique feature created by the temple's hillside location. There is a difference of temperatures (due to the altitude difference) even within the temple grounds, which makes the maple trees here last longer than other maple trees in other areas.

Takako Sakamoto @takako.sakamoto

I was born in and grew up in Tokushima prefecture, and have lived in many places since then: Nishinomiya, Kyoto, Nara, Mie, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Fukuoka and Fukui. I am currently living in Yokohama City. All the places I lived, all the places I visited, I have loved dearly. The histor...