Autum at Oboke and Koboke, Tokushima, Japan

Oboke and Koboke are great valleys that are located upstream of the Yoshino-gawa River in the western area of Tokushima. Ōboke (大歩危) and Koboke (小歩危) mean, big dangerous to walk along and small dangerous to walk along, respectively. The Yoshino River has cut through the Shikoku Mountains over the ages, eroding crystalline schist into winding gorges with myriad shapes and forms, which almost look like marble statues. This place has fantastic reflections of cherry blossoms in spring and full autumn colour in season.

By using car we enjoyed our trip to Oboke and Koboke in the autumn season (November). The trip was started from Tokushima City and reached the Oboke and Kobe Valley around 2 hours. Along the way we saw the beautiful scenery with the colourful leaves of trees. For the first sightseeing spot, we were stop at the Akakawa Bridge (a suspension bridge), from the bridge, we can see the beautiful canyon with the colourful trees.

The next destination is the Oobekyo mannaka, the place for sightseeing by using a boat. The tickets with the prices 1050 yen for adults, and 525 yen for children can be bought at the Oobokekyo mannaka restaurant in the 1st Floor. Opening Hours for buying a ticket is 9:00 ~ 17:00 / Open all year. The round trip by using boat took about 30 minutes (4 km).

After took a lunch we were continuing our trip to the Kazurabashi Oboke. Kazurabashi is a bridge made from vine. Every visitor must pay 500 yen to try to cross the bridge. In the area of kazurabashi there is a beautiful Biwa-no-Taki waterfall.

Autumn at Tokushima Bunri University, Japan

Tokushima Bunri University along with a kindergarten, an elementary school, a junior and senior high school and a junior college made up the components of the Murasaki Gakuen Educational Foundation. The University comprises of two campuses:the Kagawa campus in Sanuki city, east of Takamatsu city in Kagawa prefecture and the Tokushima campus in Tokushima city,Tokushima prefecture.The Junior College (two year program) consists of the Departments of Management and Information, Commerce. Life Science, Nursery School Teacher Training, Language and Communication and Music.The university (4 year undergraduate program) consists of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science, Engineering, Human Life Sciences, Literature, Music and Policy Studies. There are also two one-year postgraduate courses in Music and Human Life Sciences, and four graduate schools (Pharmacy, Literature. Engineering and Human Life Sciences) offering Masters and Doctorate Programs

(http://www.bunri-u.ac.jp/en/)

Shosenkyo Gorge, Kofu, Japan

Shosenkyo Gorge is located in Kofu City, the capital city of Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. This gorge is considered as the Japan's most beautiful gorge. It takes about 30 minutes by bus from Kofu Station to Shosenkyo Gorge

Takeda Shingen Statue and Kofu Castle Ruin (Maizuru Castle Park), Kofu City (Japan)

Two places for sighseeing in Kofu City, Takeda Shingen Statue and Kofu Castle Ruin (Maizuru Castle Park) are correlated each other. The statue is the hero of the Kofu's people and the castle is  belongs to the Takeda Family. This places are near to the Kofu Station. From Kofu Station get out from south gate, turn right and you can find the Takeda Shingen Statue. To reach the Kofu Castle Ruin (Maizuru Castle Park), from the South Gate of Kofu Station, turn left and walking about  3 minutes, you will find the castle.

Takeda Shingen Statue

Kofu City

Kofu is the capital city of  Yamanashi Perfecture, Japan. The city is the hometown of Takeda Shingen Ko, the renowned general of the civil war period in the 16th century. Kofu City was flourished as a castle town, posting station and commercial center.

Kofu is famous as one of the leading jewelers' towns in the world, with tradition of craftsmanship and polishing technique of precious stones.

Autumn at Kiyomizu-dera (Kyoto, Japan)

Kiyomizudera (pure water temple) is located in the Kyoto city. This is a Budhist temple that has been listed as one of World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in December 1994. This temple is surounded by numerous cherry and maple trees, hence it will be a nice place for sighseeing in the spring and autumn season. This time we visited the kiyomizudera in the autumn season. The scenery of Kiyomizudera in the autum season is shown in the pictures below.

Trip from Tokushima City (Capital city of Tokushima Prefecture in Shikoku Island) to Kofu (Capital city of Yamanashi Prefecture in Honshu Island), Japan.

Recently we have a trip from Tokushima City (Shikoku Island) to Kofu City (Honshu Island). To cross Shikoku Island to Honshu Island,we decided to go to Kobe City, which is the nearest big city that has Shinkansen Stations. There are two nearest Shinkanshen Station from Tokushima; they are Shinkobe and Nishiakashi stations. Shinkobe is better than Nishiakashi in number of sinkansen per hour. Shinkobe Station can be reached from Tokushima directly by JR bus that takes about 2 hours, and the ticket price is 3200 yen per person. From Tokushima to Nishiakashi station is needed to get down at Maiko bus stop, and then continued by train to Nishiakashi. Tokushima-Nishiakashi takes around two hours by Eddy Bus or JR Bus (2900 yen), get down at Maiko Highway Bus Stop, then continue by train (170 yen). So, we think that it will be more convenience to go to Shinkobe Station.