Mt. Asahi-Dake is the highest mountain in Hokkaido, which is 2,291 meters. This is where 紅葉こうよう（kouyou: leaves turning red and yellow）starts first in Japan. Since it is already getting colder in September this year, kouyou starts earlier than usual.

Around the ropeway station located at the height of 1,600m, there are many leaves turning red and yellow beautifully. Due to the concerns over the novel coronavirus, only 50 people can ride the ropeway which is the half of what’s supposed to be. A man who comes here every year said “It’s wonderful that there are vivid colors of red, yellow, and oranges. I think this is the most beautiful one among the recent years”.

The kouyou at Mt. Asahi-Dake will last until the beginning of October.

Citation: NHK News

Japanese people love appreciating autumn’s kouyou so much that there is even a word for it which is “紅葉狩もみじがり(Kouyou-gari)”(, the literally translation is hunting kouyou). Likewise, in spring Japanese people go out to enjoy cherry blossoms which is called ”お花見はなみ（Ohana-mi）”. It seems like Japanese people love enjoying seasonal changes of the nature.