To end 2008...

Yes, I know I have some backlog to write about. But I'm not sure I'll be able to write anything before the new year, so I'd rather make a last post for the year and then resume activities in 2009.

It's said one shouldn't leave pendencies of one year to the next, but whatever...

Checking which character was chosen as kanji of the year, the one chosen was "change" for reasons like the election of Barack Obama in the US and the global economy crisis; also for examples like Japanese athletes in the Beijing Olympics and scientists who won the Nobel prize.

I think it was a good choice. And it fits my personal experiences during this year too.

From moving to a different apartment, making new friends, watching old ones leave, starting my Master course, going for a round-the-world trip... Guess lots of things changed in 2008 for me. I also changed throughout the year... Going back to Brazil made me realize that better. Still not all changes are of my liking, so I'll do my best to change it again.

... Thinking about it, that kanji could fit almost anyone's point of view of any year. Talk about a general thing. And even though things changed from 2007 to 2008, guess from 2006 to 2007 changes were greater. Ah, well...

But there's a last change just as the year changes (someone noticed that I'm using the word "change" too much in this post?): the new Portuguese Language Orthographic Agreement that Brazil will start to implement from 2009. I already mentioned that agreement before, and how some words in Portuguese language will change as an attempt to unify its orthography.

So, from 2009, I won't even be able to say I am fluent in Portuguese anymore... will I?

紅葉

Autumn arrives, and it's time for "momiji-hunting" again. By the way, the kanjis in the title may mean either "momiji" or "kouyou". They're both words related to autumn, but just slightly different. Kazu mentioned that point (that just had fallen into the "common knowledge" area for me, so I ignored it completely until then) as something worth explaining for a autumn post.

So, a little look at the dictionary says:

もみじ（紅葉）
秋に、木の葉が赤や黄色に色づくこと。また、その葉。

こうよう（紅葉）
秋に葉が紅色に変わること。また、その葉。

There's a little more at the dictionary, but it's either botanical stuff or something else. In essence, both words define themselves as the change of the colors of the leaves to red (although the words used are different in each definition) or yellow (only mentioned for momiji). The leaves themselves also qualify for the definition in both cases.

A look at the Japanese-English dictionary reveals some difference: momiji is translated as maple tree; and kouyou as colored leaves.

Checking some references in English and Japanese around the web, they say that while "momiji" refers exclusively to the maple tree, "kouyou" is the phenomenon of the leaves changing their colors in autumn.

Anyway, time to introduce the places where I went this autumn.

The first one was somewhere I unfortunately forgot the name, close to Takebe International Villa in Okayama Prefecture. I actually mentioned this place in another post.


Then, a famous spot in Kyoto I was missing was Toufukuji. It's a zen temple where it is traditional to view the leaves from the Tsuuten-kyou bridge. I went there with two friends, Y and N, and by chance also met Tati and Artem there, who were showing some places in Kyoto to her mother who came to visit.

Later, I decided to do something crazy for a change and went all the way to Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, more than 600km away for a one-day trip. The reason: Kairakuen （偕楽園）, considered one of the three great gardens of Japan. I have to admit it was off-season since the place is famous for its plum blossoms (about March), but it was beautiful nevertheless and there were some autumn leaves to take pictures of. Many kids around because of the 七五三 and of a three-day weekend also made the surroundings a lot cuter.

Together with Kourakuen in Okayama, that's two out of three gardens. One more to go.


Also, as I was checking for places with night illumination for kouyou, Eikando came as one of the most famous results. It's a temple famous for its autumn leaves and for its proeminence in the past as of a center of learning.

As some people may know, last year I went to Shugakuin Imperial Villa and it was VERY impressive. There's another of those villas in Kyoto: Katsura Imperial Villa. So I scheduled a visit there with friends who also like to take pictures. If Shugakuin is impressive for its (pseudo-)natural scenarios, Katsura put more emphasis in architecture (of the structures and gardens). The former is still my favorite, though.

Then I went on a trip to Ise. Since that trip wasn't focused on autumn leaves and there are some places there worth discussing a little more I'll leave that post to another day.

Searching for more places to take pictures, I remembered one I've been to many times, but never at night: Kiyomizudera. It's a Buddhist temple and one of Kyoto's main touristic spots (perhaps side by side with Kinkakuji)... and they have special night illumination in autumn.


Last but not least, another friend from Osaka also wanted to walk around Kyoto to take pictures, S. Since she wanted a good place, I thought of Shugakuin Imperial Villa, but unfortunately it didn't work out. In a last-second decision, we went to Arashiyama. It's also one of the famous spots in Kyoto, and I've been there last year during a night illumination event (although I have the feeling I didn't mention that in this blog).

So, I have checked a couple more of spots in Kyoto and beyond and have some good pictures of autumn leaves. But all the time I spent doing that left me behind schedule for my reports and presentations this semester. Gotta catch up with that from now...

For those wanting more pics, check my Picasa album for more.