Autumn Colors in Kansai

We purposely timed our visit to Kansai to coincide with its famous fall colors.  Thus many of the photos I have posted previously from this magnificent region will show you the breadth of beauty found this season of warm yellows, oranges, reds and browns.

Today I share a few more autumn photos from that trip to celebrate a season we don't really have at home in tropical Philippines.

I sure wasn't the only one reveling in the flaming colors of the maples!

Kansai, 2009

Extra:

Manila, 2011

I took this final photo last evening. This line of friendly pumpkins are on the street in front of our neighbor's house, waiting to greet the kids of the village coming by on Saturday for group "trick or treat" fun.

Halloween was not known in Finland where I spent most of my childhood, so the only time I got to dress up and go "trick or treat" was a couple of years in my early teens in Vancouver, BC. Fortunately I never did have much of a sweet tooth and I outgrew this pretty fast.

Do you celebrate this event in your corner of the world? Do you have any special memories?

Linking with other autumn images at Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday and (for the last image) to Pat's Thursday's Things in a Row.

Autumn Gold

The Kansai region of Japan may be more famous for its pink cherry blossoms in spring and red maple leaves in fall, and no one could possibly deny their stunning beauty. But I fell in love with the golden ginkgo tree.

 Osaka, 2009

The botanical name of this tree is ginkgo biloba. It is a unique species of tree with no close existing relatives, and but for a few possible locations in eastern China, it does not grow in the wild; it is an entirely cultivated tree. And yet it may be one of the oldest species of trees on earth. 

If you suffer from lapses of memory like I do, they say the extract of the nuts and leaves of ginkgo can help restore your powers of concentration. I've bought it before, but I never remember to take it.  In concentrated form ginkgo is also used to help people (yeah, me too) with blood circulatory issues.

Whatever its benefits, I just find it a beautiful tree with unique shaped leaves. This is the kind of gold I can get attached to.

I'm linking with the blogging communities at Mellow Yellow Monday and Mosaic Monday.

Cat Lover

I really don't know the first thing about cats, never having owned one as a pet, but I have gleaned that when people love cats, they really care for all cats, never mind the size, shape or color. (Dog lovers, in notable contrast, seem to be very particular about breeds.)

But I had never associated cat adoration to any particular culture until I went to Japan. There, it struck me, cats are not just loved, they are revered. Cats -  images of cats - are found: in art, in cartoons, on posters, and all over consumer merchandise, from clothes and fashion accessories, to stationery, to giftware and home decor. Cats, in short, are everywhere!

It wasn't surprising to me then to see this young woman spend significant effort to capture these presumably stray cats in a park, totally oblivious to my capturing her.

Kyoto, 2009