Tofukuji, Kawai Jinja, Shimogamo Jinja in Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan

I have left Uji and I am on the JR Line back to Kyoto. It's grey, raining, and getting a bit dark, but it's actually still early in the afternoon. I have plenty of time. I decide to make a stop at Tofuku-ji, a temple a friend had recommended for its autumn leaves.

From Tofukuji Station I get confused at the crossroads and ask the traffic guy for directions. He points me the way and I find many people going in the same direction. How wrong I was to think that because it's raining there would be few visitors. Tofuku-ji is a popular destination for koyo (autumn leaves) viewing after all.

I obtain a 400-yen ticket for access to Tsutenkyo Bridge and Kaisando Hall, then follow the umbrella wielding horde along the established route through a garden of maple trees. The maple trees are a splatter of green, yellow, orange, and red, and the ground is a carpet of orange leaves and green moss. The colors made more vibrant by the rain.

The path leads to Tsutenkyo Bridge, a very popular area (a lot of foot traffic and no stopping for photos allowed signs) because it provides a view of the maple grove we had just walked through. It is the end of November and most of the trees are going bald, but the view itself is still worth the rainy walk amidst the crowd. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).