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Famous places in Kyoto: Autumn Leaves at Tsutenkyo Bridge.

In Japan, when autumn comes and maple trees turn their leaves in burning oranges and reds, it's time to go, it's time for momijigari (maple viewing). The word comes from momiji acer and gari hunt, the old tradition to visit spots famous for the beauty and richness of their colours. 

It can become a kind of addiction: red leaves are never enough. Despite the crowd, there is always a new path, a different view or a new tree worth seeing.

Tsutenkyo Bridge at the Tofuku-ji Temple, Kyoto, is one of these beautiful sceneries, and it has been for a long time. The Japanese master of landscape woodblock prints, Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858), included it in one of his famous landscape series dated around 1834. The trees in the print are today a thick, enchanting maple wood that extends below the bridge, a unique, unforgettable view just for a few days. 

Tsutenkyo no momiji,
Utagawa Hiroshige, c. 1834.

 
















Photos:
TravelinaGarden, Tokufu-ji Temple, Kyoto November 2015.

Landscape Print:
Tsutenkyo no momiji, Red Maple Trees at the Tsuten Bridge, from the series "Famous Places in Kyoto (Kyoto meisho no uchi)", c. 1834 - Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858).
Tokyo National Museum.