To see the fall colors in Tokyo this year, I wanted to do something a little different. Despite its suggestive name, Shinjuku Gyoen’s “Naked Autumn Night Garden” involved no nudity, but rather, light displays from the digital art collective Naked Inc. I caught the event on November 30 before it ended last night. Since it didn’t start until 6 p.m., it gave me time to head down the Oedo Line to Aoyama-Itchome Station first and see the trees along Meiji Jingu Gaien’s famous Ginkgo Avenue illuminated. The light-up there, which also ended last night, started at 4:30, right around sundown. It was free, whereas the Shinjuku Gyoen event cost ¥2,200.
For this outing, I was partially inspired by our trip to Kyoto last fall when we saw a beautiful illumination at Toji Temple one night. It made me realize that, although I had been to many of Tokyo’s most famous spots for fall color viewing already, I’d mostly seen them during the day. The autumn leaves are usually at their peak here around late November to early December.
At Shinjuku Gyoen, you could see the maple trees and London plane trees lit up, but you had to walk back to the Okido Gate, which is a bit of a hike coming from Shinjuku Station. As you can see in these 25 pictures, however, it was a nice break from Shinjuku’s neon and a nice seasonal highlight, even though we’re already into December now and the overlapping season for holiday light-ups.
