Tokyo: Beyond Peak

As the autumn color season winds down, the best viewing period for most places has also passed. To recap japan-guide.com's autumn color chase, we started the season in Daisetsuzan in Hokkaido-where the colors are usually the first the change in the country- in late September when the colors were at their peak. The weeks that followed saw typhoons in October, and a rather long and early cold front from the end of October that proved to be enough for the rest of the country to catch up on colors. We reported peak colors in the major cities of Tokyo and Kyoto to be roughly a week earlier compared to the average year.

The cooler weather helped preserve and maintain the colors slightly longer, and despite reaching their best about a week earlier, there were still lots of colors and leaves to see at the end of November. We're in the last month of 2017 and many of the popular autumn color spots in the country have more leaves on the ground that on the tree branches.

To round up our 2017 autumn color season reporting, I headed to Tokyo to check out a few gardens and popular autumn leaf spots. Evening illuminations have ended for autumn leaf viewing, but winter illuminations have begun and those who want to see some dazzling light displays should consider going to those instead.

My first stop was the ever popular Icho Namiki in Aoyama. After weeks of providing the background for endless autumn pictures, today, the leaves have mostly dropped ad the ground covered in yellow. Till next year when the color spectacular begins again.

Moving on from there, I headed to the Institute of Nature Study in Meguro. Here, I'm pleased to report that the colors are still at their peak and will remain at their best till at least the end of the week. Those who want to see the last remaining colors in the city this weekend may get a chance here.

From there, I moved to two gardens. The first was the Kyu-Furukawa Garden which is less than a ten minute walk from Nishigahara Station. The garden's main feature is a western buidling which requires an additional fee and prior registration to enter. I found the colors here to be past their peak and do no expect the remaining colors to last beyond the end of this week.

About a 15 to 20 minute walk from the Kyu-Furukawa Garden is the popular and well known Rikugien Garden. Those considering going to both gardens should buy the combination ticket for 400 yen. Like at the previous garden, the colors here are on their last legs and will not last for much longer.

We hope you have enjoyed our 2017 Autumn Color Reports. All of this year's reports as well as the previous years can be found here should you want to relive the warmth of autumn as we head into 2018. It'd be the cherry blossom season sooner than you know it (less than four months to go!). Till then, happy holidays and enjoy the rest of 2017 from all of us here at japan-guide.com.