Nice Autumn Tanagura Town, and Photos and Photography

This autumn is now about to end, and the winter is coming. Yeah, you must enjoy autumn colors in autumn. I have been taking photos of autumn colors in various places while seeking colorful breathtaking views.

Tanagura Town of Fukushima Prefecture, whose supporters' ambassador I am engaged in, is one of such places. Tanagura Town is a typical rural town in a good sense, and in a bad sense. Unspoiled nature is hard to find there. Almost all the streets other than farm roads are covered with concrete. You can find a big electronics shop, a bookstore, and many convenience stores.

Yet, you can find breathtaking natural landscapes at several corners of the streets. Compared with Tokyo, the frequency to encounter such landscapes is much higher. For tourists, the Site of Tanagura Castle and Yamamoto Fudouson Temple are the two top sightseeing spots, both of which show their beauty in their daily scenes.

I believe that Tanagura Town is an extremely ordinary rural town among Japan's villages and towns because I find it not the sticks but have enough nature to enjoy. I dear to say that I will surely find quite a few villages and towns like Tanagura Town all over Japan if I do see them myself. I also dear to say that revitalizing Japan might be equal to a pile of actions of revitalizing each of such villages and towns.

And, what I can do for Tanagura Town is all related to photography, and I will feel very happy if any of you who see my photography actually take any concrete actions. The photos below are a mixture of my photos this year and my photos of last year. The first is that the autumn of Tanagura Town starting with paddy fields.

The paddy fields spread towards the horizon, and the ears of rice shone in gold. When they appear with the sunny sky, it's simply perfect.

The autumn colors of Yamamoto Fudouson Temple leave a big impact on its visitors. I was glad to be able to take the photos this year.

The autumn colors were like this.

The red bridge of Yamamoto Fudouson Temple is unchangeably beautiful in every season.

There you find a building called "Oku-no-in", which literally means "the inner main temple", soon after you cross over the red bridge and walk over steep stairs. This building is lit at night and offers a fairytale-like view under the stars. Few people must have seen this view because people rarely come to this temple of this mountainous area at night.

And by the way, Tanagura Town is a town of morning mist. Even in the mountainous area like Yamamoto Fudouson Temple, I found the autumn colors in the morning mist.

I found a sea of clouds from Yamamoto Fudouson. Well, it is much more rare to see a big sea of clouds over the whole town, which is only available from Akadate Park. I myself have never had a chance to see the latter...

You must come across this big Keyaki tree when you go into Yamamoto Fuduoson. I think that it is quite rare to see a Keyaki tree growing in such a wide width because ordinary Keyaki trees grow vertically, not horizontally. Plus, I managed to see the reflection. Great. It's all thanks to the weather.

Although the autumn colors of Yamamoto Fudouson is nice, you can't miss the autumn colors of the Site of Tanagura Castle. There's no castle itself, but the Sakura trees and Japanese Maple trees around the moats are just amazing.

I always would like to shoot water reflection when encountering waterscape. I intend to be thorough in describing how smooth the border where the real images melt into the water looks to me.

The autumn colors around the moats are like this. There are lots of colors.

Right before the sunset time, the orange sunlight shed to the autumn colors and make a warm, lovely atmosphere.

Inside the moats is all for people who take a walk around the autumn colors.

There I found quite a few colors where the live out-of-season flowers of Hydrangea competed with the autumn colors.

I approached to the autumn colors inside the moat and took a close-up photo. Wow, it simply amazed me. It really went well with the blue sky.

Although Tanagura Town itself is famous for its 100+ year-old Sakura Trees, Japanese Maple trees are also standing out so great.

By the way, I arrived at Akadate Park of the northern area of the town and...

I found the view of not only the autumn colors in front of me but also the somewhat reddish figure of Tanagura Town. This view must be an essential part of my collection of landscapes from Akadate Park.

And well, as I introduced lots of photos of the famous sightseeing spots, I would like to introduce a wonderful landscape I shooted on the way from Yamamoto Fudouson Temple and Chikatsu, as my last present to you in this post.

The morning mist was arrested in the distance over the cider trees, while the extremely strong sunlight shed from the back. The sunlight went through between the cider trees and created shafts of light, which fell down onto the red, big, and wide Japanese Maple tree. The light filled my eyesight. I didn't feel any sound as if the time had been stopped by the strong sunlight.

It's been a while since I named Tanagura Town a town of morning mist. I visited this town quite a few times, and yet, I believe that it is quite rare to find a town which changes its natural landscapes so dramatically according to climate conditions. I now understand the meaning to continue to take photos of one town, thanks to one year and eight months of challenges.

When photographers want to take the best photo of a certain place, they must imagine the best season, the best weather, and the best time. If they try to challenge this not by accident but by their actions, it requires a skill to conclude the best timing by imagining clearly how the landscapes in front of them would change.

And of course, they need a luck and patience.

For those who live outside Tanagura Town, it is the most difficult to take the best photos of winter. There are only a few days in which they have snow. The frequency must be almost the same as Tokyo. Even if it snows, it melts soon. Thus, I need to check weather forecasts every day, and when I find a possible chance, I need to take vacations to take a trip all of a sudden.

I couldn't take any satisfying photos last winter so I will check weather forecasts every day, ... and if there is a chance, I will try to visit Tanagura Town.