Joukouji (定光寺)

Another spot not far from Nagoya to watch momiji (紅葉), the colors of the fall, is Joukouji (定光寺). I went there with my hiking club a few months ago.

Joukouji station is quite easy to reach, just take the JR Chuo line from Nagoya. It takes around 35 minutes.

We realized how popular this place is when we saw that everybody was getting off at the same station. Joukouji has natural trails suited for easy walks and also a quite important temple. In fact the third kanji of Joukouji (寺: ji) means "temple"!

This time, the hike was led by Chiho-san and a new leader in the club, as you can see in the picture, who was hiking with us for a long time!! :D

The trail we followed was very beautiful and the ground was covered by fallen leaves which made it comfortable for walking. There were many different colors on the trees.

Also around the park there are many traditional Japanese houses with very well conserved gardens. I like Japanese gardens very much and they really put a lot of effort.

Finally, after crossing a nice pond through a typical Japanese bridge and climbing many steps, we arrived at Joukouji temple.

There were many families and I took some pictures of cute children playing with the leaves or enjoying the natural environment.

Near the temple, there is a viewpoint frome where we could see, in the distance, the beautiful shape of Nagoya station towers.

It was not only me who was amazed by the view! :)

We went back using the same train. We were all tired but happy for the nice excursion.