Wabisabi - Blog -

Japanese highway tolls are the worlds most expensive. However, during these economic tough times, the Japanese government put together a program where all tolls would be 1,000 yen (about $11) during the weekends (compared to $35-$50). This program definitely boosted highway usage but also created a lot more traffic. It is almost to the point where I think twice about driving anywhere.

However, with autumn in full swing I really wanted to take my family to see the autumn colors. We decided to take our chances and headed up north to Mt. Chausu in Tochigi prefecture. This area is famous for the fall colors and often is on T.V.

It was raining on the way to the mountain but I guess luck was on our side. As we got closer to our destination it started to clear up. There is a gondola you can take to the summit (about 2,000 meters) but was not running due to strong winds. Regardless, we drove up the mountain as far as we could go and then…all the colors came into view. All different colors mixed together like a fine Persian rug-amazing! Very inspiring scenery (see photo). The only thing we forgot to bring-warm clothes-and it was cold. We walked around the area in the cold until we couldn’t take it anymore……With the fall colors in full swing winter is just around the corner.

B

（2009．10.24）

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 10th, 2009 at 3:25 PM and is filed under Travel into local japan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.