Joined the hoards of people rushing towards the mountains this weekend to view the changing of the leaves. Appreciating nature is very much embedded in Japanese culture, so of course the changing of the leaves was the hot topic of the fall season.

While the leaves also change in my corner of America, it is a little bit different here. There is kind of a gradation effect within the tree and it takes it`s time reaching perfection. Perhaps since everyone kept talking about the leaves, I paid more attention, but in America it seems like I just wake up one morning and all the leaves are changed and rushing to the ground. I look forward to observing the difference next fall when I return.

When I tried to explain this to my host father, he seemed surprised that leaves in America even change. He seemed to think that America was full of pines and other trees that remain green throughout the year. A country as large as America surely has variety! It was a good opportunity to introduce a little more information about Pennsylvania and the meaning of the name. 

 My host family didn’t seemed too pleased with the results this year, but I thought it was neat. I suppose we did go rather late since some of the trees were bare and some of the leaves were worn out, but since I’ve never seen it before, I can’t be so critical.

Location: aichi-ken, japan