Cherry blossom, schmerry blossom. Japan's favourite season is autumn, offering a brief window of respite between insufferable heat and insufferable cold.
These pics were taken in late November, on a beautiful bleak sunny day in Hakone.
It's about half an hour away from Gotemba, in the neighbouring prefecture of Kanagawa, famous for its hot springs, cable car ropeway, and a really good Indian restuarant that is always closed.
Carebear loveheart pixie tree
Three different trees covered this patch of forest floor with three stripes of coloured leaves.
The colours are particularly fantabulous this year because of the high amount of rainfall us cyclists endured during
Bright yellow maple leaves, itching to turn red.
Yeah, it was totally worth having trenchfoot for the entire month of June, just so I could make this my desktop.
Probably definitely poisonious.
Trees: officially better than flowers. But harder to wrap in cellophane and sell on petrol station forecourts.
Brilliant scarlet, slashing the sky! Anyone else feel a haiku coming on?
