Autumn Leaves of Gingko – Meijijingu Gaien

Us busy bees in central Tokyo don’t get too many chances to experience the changing of the seasons, between futon and office desk, apart from the changing in temperatures, but one early morning I passed through one of Tokyo’s premier spots for autumn color watching, the Icho Namiki, a gingko tree lined avenue through Meijijingu Gaien. In 2007 all the urban gingko trees in Japan were counted and it turns out that there are 570 000 of these living fossils spread out over the country, the Icho Namiki being on of the most famous spots, mirrored in Osaka by the central Midosuji Boulevard. As most people who have been around gingko trees in the fall, when their fruit starts falling, it can be a very smelly place indeed. To avoid the problem of smell officials selected only male trees which bear no fruit for these special avenues and boulevards. Female trees are scattered all over Tokyo though, and much more popular than you’d think as the fruit can be harvested and turned into delicious snacks with the proper know-how. The gingko leaves are unique in that they are fan shaped, and have not changed in the 270 million years we have have managed to track them, at that time, the Permian, the ancestors to dinosaurs and mammals were probably munching on gingko leaves and fruit, making it one of the few food stuff that humans share with dinosaurs!

Right now in Tokyo the weather is fantastic, crisp cold air, brilliant sunshine and vivid colors. Even the last of the noisy summer insects have given up for the season and so the evenings are quiet again for the first time in many months. Many tourists visit Tokyo in the spring to enjoy the sakura. Why the wonderful yellow autumns aren’t more popular I have no idea! The Icho Namiki is easily accessible from Aoyama Ichome station, Gaienmae Station or the JR Shinanomachi station and it is yet to peak. Expect lots of people in the weekends.