Our Road Trip in Japan: Searching for Autumn Colors in the Mountains of Honshu

After a blistering-hot and very urban Asian summer, we were desperate for cooler temperatures and nature's wonder. Did we find it?

Less than a month after we spent nine days touring Southern China, Brent and I just did a nine-day road trip through the mountains of central Japan.

But this time, we went with two fellow nomads, Howard and Whitney Darby, a couple we connected with in Serbia three years ago.

Better still, Howard organized most of the trip, renting the van, plotting the route, choosing our hotels, and selecting most of the sights along the way. He even did all the driving.

Who would ever pass up a deal like that?

Michael, Whitney, Howard, and Brent

The total cost, including car rental and insurance, gas, hotels, food, and admission to various attractions?

About $1,913 USD per couple — or $212 per couple per day.

Our trip started and ended in Tokyo. The route we chose kept us in the central part of Honshu, Japan’s main island, in hopes that Japan’s famous fall foliage would be on full display.

Brent and I had just spent the summer in urban areas in South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, so while we were looking forward to the fall colors, we were also simply craving nature.

And COOL TEMPERATURES. This year, the Asian summer heat has been unbearable.

The trip involved a fair bit of driving — nearly 1,600 km/1,000 miles — but most days we kept it to no more than four hours on the road.

Most of our accommodations were fair-to-good but unremarkable, with the notable exception of our first night, which was in one of Japan’s famous “love hotels.”

We also splurged on three nights together in a nice Airbnb to give us a break from all the driving.

We knew ahead of time that Japan’s blistering-hot summer had delayed the timing of the trees’ color change. This left us uncertain exactly how much color we would see.

To paraphrase that old song from Pocahontas, did we end up painting with all the colors of the wind?

“Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?”

Read on to find out!

(Each day will be given a “Colors of the Wind” rating from 🍂🌿🌿🌿🌿 to 🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂 — one autumn leaf to five — to rank how spectacular the leaves were.)

DAY ONE: Nikkō Tōshogū and the “Love Hotel.”

On our first day, we saw Nikkō Tōshogū, one of Japan’s most famous and important shrines — even if I didn’t realize how famous it was until later, when I was writing this article.

This is a Shinto shrine built in 1617, and unlike most Japanese shrines, which tend toward a minimalist design, this temple is filled with gold leaf, bright colors, and elaborate carvings. It’s widely considered to be one of the architectural peaks of the Edo Period, Japan’s feudal era.

Alas, you can’t take pictures inside the buildings.

Nikkō Tōshogū was built to honor Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate. (A shogunate is a governmental system in ancient Japan run by and for the samurai; eventually, the shogun, or head of the shogunate, became more powerful than the emperor.)

As spectacular as the temple was, the real highlight of the day may have been our lodging: Belfus Hotel in Koriyama — a “love hotel,” which is where many Japanese go for famously “discreet” sexual liaisons.

But unlike in America, these often short-term hotels are not sleazy.

We booked the Belfus through Booking.com, and Howard had a sneaking suspicion it was a love hotel — in part, because the price was so good.

Then we arrived and saw the hourly rates and the highly discreet check-in process, and we knew for sure. There was also a wide variety of products available to “enhance” your visit — including, yes, a roll of plastic wrap in our room.

Ironically, the room was possibly the cleanest we’ve ever stayed in. The thoroughness of their cleaning was a point they emphasized — for, er, obvious reasons.

Naturally, we’ll be writing more on this in a future article.

We did see a bit of color in the trees around the shrine, but the Colors of the Wind Rating for the day was still only:

🍂🍂🌿🌿🌿 [Two Autumn Leaves]

DAY TWO: The bluest ponds you’ve ever seen, the valley in the sky, and bears, bears, bears!

After a night of rest at the love hotel — no, seriously! — we set off for our next destination: Goshikinuma Ponds, located inside the Bandai-Asahi National Park.

The ponds are popular with hikers who come to see their various shades of blue, ranging from cobalt to turquoise to lapis lazuli.

The ponds, formed by the 1888 eruption of nearby Mount Bandai, get their color from minerals released by that eruption.

While the ponds were very blue and helped scratch our itch for nature, the trees were mostly still all green, which was disappointing.

Our next destination — the Nishi Azuma Sky Valley — seemed more promising. This 18-kilometer scenic drive through the Tohoku region of Japan is famous for its fall colors.

But had we arrived too early?