Autumn Leaves

In Japan, the changing of the seasons is quite an important phenomenan. While Dutch people seem to take the changes of nature for granted and are rather dissappointed when it seems that the winter once again isn't cold enough to really go skating outside or when the summer again features more rain than sunshine, Japanese people can't wait to see the obvious signs of the passing of time like the turning of the leaves or the cherished cherry-blossoms.
To get a better picture of this attitude and to see if it's really that special, I went to Kamakura with a Japanese friend last sunday to enjoy the autumn leaves. Kamakura is a small historic city about one and a half hour south of Tokyo. Of course, in Tokyo there are quite many trees with turning leaves as well, but in Kamakura the accompanying setting with old tempels, hills and Japanese gardens is more favourable to fully enjoy the natural phenomenan that the Japanese are so fond of. And I must say, Kamakura is really a nice place. There are many old tempels, there's the grave of Minamoto Yoritomo (the first Shogun of Japan, even though most Japanese probably don't really know this. He acquiered the title of Shogun in 1193 and thus established a system that would basically stay in place untill 1868) and the forests on the surrounding hills are easily accessible.
When getting off the train, I got scared seeing how many fellow Tokyo-inhabitants had chosen the same destination for that sunny sunday. It seems like the crowds of Tokyo are inescapable, but when we walked through the backstreets of Kamakura later on it was nice and quiet. So we enjoyed the temples and the nature, but the autumn leaves, the goal of our visit, where only sparsely brightly yellow and red collored. Most leaves just stayed green or turned into a more unappealing brown. However, the few nicely colored trees were popular attractions for the photo-philic Japanese - and indeed it can result in some nice pictures. The forest around Kamakura was nice aswell, but the yellow-red-green dotted hills that I had hoped for showed mostly the usual green/brownish shades of colours. But at the end of the day the setting sun compensated largely by turning into a perfect red circle, what you would call the hi no maru (name of the Japanese flag).
After this pleasant passtime we headed back to Tokyo, but before we got to Shibuya (an important station in Tokyo), we got off the train and visited a friend of my Japanese companion. We had dinner with two other Japanese girls and the menu proudly presented that perfect Japanese winter dish (even after a warm autumn day) nabe. It consists of one large cooking pot filled with dashi, a kind of bouillon, in which all kinds of vegetables, meat, squid etc. are boiled. Being a vegetarian, I could just pick the things I could eat and also enjoy this sociable dish. It was accompanied by beer and nihonshu (Japanese sake/ricewine), so before long the atmosphere got pleasantly lively. I was surprised to be able to understand most of what they were talking about, and if I didn't understand they were kind enough to patiently explain everything to me. I also wanted to study that evening, but maby this first-hand experience of talking, eating and drinking with Japanese is the best way to learn both the language and the culture. Anyway, it definitly is the most enjoyable method ; )