Kyoto's Maple Season: How to See the Old Capital at Its Most Beautiful

Japan has a word for the turning of the leaves, koyo, and a pastime to go with it, momijigari: maple hunting. Nowhere is it pursued with more devotion than in Kyoto. For a few weeks each year the old capital's temple gardens, eastern hills and western river gorge turn crimson, amber and gold, and the city looks exactly as it does in every painting ever made of it. It is also, alongside cherry-blossom season, the busiest moment of Kyoto's year. Seeing it well is a matter of timing, geography and a little discipline.

When the colour comes

The colour moves downhill. The mountains and northern valleys around the city turn first; the temple gardens of Kyoto itself usually reach their peak from mid-to-late November into early December, with the exact weeks shifting by a week or more depending on the autumn's temperatures. Japanese weather services publish foliage forecasts as the season approaches, and they are worth watching. For a trip booked months ahead, the second half of November is the safest bet. Arrive a little early and the hills will already be ablaze while the city gardens are still turning; arrive a little late and the moss beneath the maples is carpeted red, which some consider the most beautiful stage of all.

Where to find it

The eastern hills of Higashiyama hold the densest concentration. Eikando, a temple known for centuries by the nickname 'Eikando of the maples', is the season's emblem, and its evening illuminations are among the most beautiful sights in Japan. A short walk north, the Philosopher's Path follows a stone-lined canal toward Ginkaku-ji, passing Nanzen-ji and a string of smaller temples on the way. Further south, Kiyomizu-dera's great wooden stage stands above a hillside of maples, and the temple opens after dark during the season to light them.

In the south-east of the city, Tofuku-ji offers perhaps the most celebrated single view of the season: the covered Tsutenkyo bridge looking across a ravine filled with maples. It is also the most crowded, and worth reaching at opening time. To the west, Arashiyama pairs the gardens of Tenryu-ji with the wooded gorge of the Oi River, best taken in from the Togetsukyo Bridge or from a boat on the water. And for those willing to travel an hour north, the village of Ohara and the mountain temple of Kurama deliver colour that comes slightly earlier and crowds that are markedly thinner.

Kyoto in maple season is not a secret, and never will be. The art lies in choosing your hours rather than your temples.

How to see it well

• Go at opening time. The celebrated gardens are at their calmest in the first hour after the gates open, before tour groups arrive.
• Save your evenings for illuminations. Many temples reopen after dark during the season to light their gardens; dates and tickets are announced each autumn.
• Walk, and take the trains. Buses on the main sightseeing routes are notoriously crowded in peak season, and walking between neighbouring temples is often faster.
• Look beyond the famous names. Smaller sub-temples beside the headline sights frequently have colour every bit as fine, with a fraction of the visitors.
• Book early. Kyoto's best hotels fill months in advance for the second half of November.

Where to stay

Where you sleep decides which side of the city you see at its quietest. Four Seasons Hotel Kyoto, wrapped around an 800-year-old pond garden in Higashiyama, puts the eastern temples within easy reach and makes its own garden a reason to linger between outings. On the western side, Hoshinoya Kyoto is reached by private boat through the Arashiyama gorge, a journey that in late November runs between banks of colour. Its gift is the evening: once the day visitors have left Arashiyama, the river and its hillsides are, for a few hours, almost entirely yours.

The season also rewards a wider loop. Nara, a short train ride south, has maples of its own among the temples and deer of Nara Park, overlooked by the Nara Hotel, a Meiji-era classic that has welcomed guests since 1909. And in the hot-spring hills of Hakone, where the colour tends to arrive a little earlier, the Fujiya Hotel has been receiving travellers since 1878. Begin in Hakone, follow the colour west by bullet train, and finish in Kyoto as the city's gardens peak: it is one of the most beautiful journeys Japan has to offer.

The counsel is simple. Choose your base by the side of the city you most want to see, plan your days around the early hours and the illuminated evenings, and leave room for one unplanned temple. In maple season, it is often the one you remember.

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