Mention Autumn leaf viewing spots in Kansai region, people often think of the ancient temples in Kyoto or the large parks in Nara first. In Osaka, although the number of places to see red leaves in autumn is less than Kyoto and Nara, the scenery is just as beautiful as the two cities above. Today I will introduce to you The best places to see red leaves in Osaka in my opinion – Katsuoji temple.
Address: https://maps.app.goo.gl/vvmE3g8TriPff1Bh6
How to go: First you need to take the train there Senrichuo station, then walk about 100 meters to the nearby bus stop, get on bus number 29, go about 30 minutes and the last stop will be Katsuoji temple. Bus approx 1 hour There is only 1 trip, so please pay attention to search Google Map to check the bus time before leaving to avoid long waits.
However, during the red leaf season, because the demand for tourism here increases, there will be many additional buses running directly from Senrichuo station arrive Katsuoji temple, there will be one such trip every 15-20 minutes. To avoid crowding, you should depart around 8 o'clock!
Entrance ticket: 500 JPY / 1 adult.
Right at the entrance to the temple is a very magical scene. Surrounded by red leaves, there is also a fountain and mist sprayer at the large Koi fish pond - a unique feature of the temple.
By the time I arrived, it was about 9:00 a.m., but there were already quite a few tourists coming here to visit.
Katsuoji is a Buddhist temple famous for good luck, and the lucky symbol here is the Daruma doll.
You can see thousands of Daruma dolls here, placed anywhere in the temple.
Daruma dolls originally had no eyes. People who come here will paint the left eye of the doll while praying, then take it home. And if the wish then comes true, they will draw the right eye of the doll and bring it to the temple and place it here. Looking at the number of dolls here, we can easily see how sacred the temple is!
Before going to the main hall of the temple, we will pass through the stairs filled with Daruma dolls of all sizes. This is also a favorite place to take photos of all tourists who come here to visit.
From the main hall of the temple, we can see the entire splendid scene of autumn below.
Today I was also very lucky to take this wonderful photo. With a full range of red, yellow, and blue colors, along with a view of the entire city sinking under the clouds in the distance.
Going up to the higher side of the temple, there are still many momiji red maple trees that are gradually turning their most beautiful colors.
Going to the top of this slope, we have an even more panoramic view of the city.
The colors of autumn in Japan.
After that, I started going down to the remaining side of the temple.
On the way down to the pagoda, there are also many beautiful photography corners with red leaves.
Large fish pond at the entrance, where people can see and feed the Koi fish. In the distance is also a souvenir shop. The famous souvenir here is Momiji tempura - crispy fried red leaves :D, remember to buy and try it when you come here.
A lot of food is also sold at the entrance, mainly cakes and snacks.
After taking photos and exploring Katsuoji, I moved to the next equally famous place in this area - Minoh waterfall (箕面大滝) at Minoh park.
Address: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Wm6Jtc57tEQVpNVQA
On weekends during the autumn leaves season, the road to Minoh waterfall from Katsuoji temple will be blocked, and only pedestrians can pass through. So walking is almost the only way to get here on the weekend. The distance is about 3.7km and takes about 45-50 minutes to walk.
But don't worry, because the scenery along the way is also extremely wonderful. I stopped and took photos a lot along this road, so I almost didn't notice its length, and didn't feel tired at all.
In addition, from November 11 to December 3, on weekends, at Minoh waterfall there is also the Minoh expo event, a lighting event to illuminate red leaf trees, temples and waterfalls. here. This is also the main reason why I really want to go to Minoh waterfall today.
Illumination time here starts from 5 pm. Because I still had a lot of time left, I walked around this area and visited the restaurants here.
There are many eateries here serving tourists, the food is also very diverse, from grilled sausages, grilled mochi, to salt grilled fish, and the most special dish here is Oden.
There are many Oden shops here, along with long lines of people lining up to buy food in front of the shop.
I also lined up here and tried Oden.
The oden here is really delicious, and extremely suitable for the cold air in Minoh (The afternoon temperature in Minoh is only about 4-5 degrees Celsius).
After eating, I moved to the waterfall area to take photos and waited for the lighting time. And here is the result after 2 hours of waiting:
Very beautiful, isn't it?
Stepping back, we will capture the entire bridge along with the waterfall and rows of beautiful red-leafed trees.
Really worth the wait!
After taking photos here, I started moving to the nearest train station, Minoh station. The distance is about 2.7km and takes about 40 minutes to walk. The walkway from the waterfall to Minoh station is also beautifully lit, and there are a lot of people walking back and forth, so don't worry about it being dark.
Minoh station address: https://maps.app.goo.gl/dVQXGm3W5GCsNCL8A
This is the end of my one-day journey to explore Katsuoji temple and Minoh waterfall. Hopefully this article will help you better understand how to get here, as well as know a very beautiful place to see red leaves in Osaka. Thank you for reading to the end of the article!
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Really excellent photos