Recently a friend of mine from college posted a picture of our campus in all its fall color splendor. I was dumbstruck – not from the heart-stopping beauty, mind you, but from my total lack of recall. I don’t think I ever noticed campus looking like that.

I got the same feeling this past weekend strolling the grounds of Yohashira Shrine.

I don’t have a good excuse for never taking note of my campus in autumn. I might have one for missing the fall colors here at Yohashira-jinja every year until now: with the coronavirus situation still going on this is the first October/November in years I haven’t largely spent guiding tours through other parts of the country.

With any luck I’ll be back on the road next fall. This season, then, in Matsumoto, will be one to savor.

This year’s foliage is by now past its peak. But again, with a little good fortune people will be back to traveling by the time next fall rolls around.

If you happen to be in the neighborhood, swing by Yohashira Shrine.

And swinging by could not be easier. Yohashira-jinja is right there next to Nawate-dori, aka Frog Street, just down the street from Matsumoto Castle.

One more thing to note: due to Matsumoto’s elevation the leaves here change color well before the rest of Japan’s more traveled destinations like Kyoto, Tokyo and Nara – meaning you can catch the colors here without having to miss them along the rest of your way through Japan. 

Let’s just hope that it won’t be long before we can all get back to traveling!