Chugoku in Autumn

Mount Daisen (大山) in western Tottori Prefecture is the tallest mountain in the Chugoku region at 1,729 metres and is nicknamed "Hōki Fuji" for its Fuji like profile when seen from the south, sitting at the centre of Daisen-Oki National Park. The mountain has been a centre of Shugendo mountain worship for over 1,300 years, with Daisenji Temple at the base founded in the Yoro era of the early 8th century by the priest Kinren and once holding up to 160 subtemples and 3,000 monks at its Heian period peak. From the temple a stone paved approach of about 700 metres, laid on Kansei era foundations of the 1790s and signposted as the longest path of its kind in Japan, climbs between cedars to the inner shrine of Ogamiyama Jinja, and around 33 Jizo statues stand along it and on the old roads below, among them one raised in 1839 for the victims of a famine, one given by a warrior in thanks for a recovery, and one for those lost on the mountain, so that the walk up doubles as a Jizo pilgrimage with the leaves coming down over it. The slopes hold one of the largest beech forests in western Japan, and the colour arrives by elevation rather than all at once. It starts on the upper slopes in early October and works downward, with late October to early November the usual peak around Daisenji, the inner shrine and Masumizu Highland, and there is a second turn in mid to late November when the first snow caps the summit above the colour still holding at the foot. In 2025 the lower slopes kept their best colour into the second week of November. The Daisen Parkway loop road circles the mountain through the beech forest with viewpoints at Kagikake Pass and Kimendai looking up at the South Face of the peak, where the contrast between rocky cliff and gold forest is the defining autumn image. The hiking summit is Misen at 1,709 metres (the true summit Kengamine has been closed due to rockslides), reached by the 5.5 hour Natsuyama Trail round trip from Daisenji. Daisenji Temple is around 50 minutes by Nihon Kōtsū bus from JR Yonago Station.

A walk from the Sandankyo Front Gate to the Kurobuchi pool along the Shibaki River in northwestern Hiroshima Prefecture takes around 50 minutes one way along the 2.7 kilometre paved gorge path, with the option of a small wooden ferry across the emerald green pool to the Kurobuchi-so tea house for freshly grilled salmon and rice balls. The gorge (三段峡) is the only one in western Japan with the National Special Place of Scenic Beauty designation and runs 16 kilometres in total, with five named scenic spots along its length, Kurobuchi, Sarutobi (a 2 metre wide passage between 20 metre cliffs), Nidantaki (a hidden two tiered waterfall accessible only by boat), the namesake 130 metre Sandantaki three tiered falls and Mitsutaki. Maples and other deciduous trees on the gorge walls turn red, orange and gold from late October to late November. The Kurobuchi ferry runs from around mid April to late November, 10:00 to 16:00, Friday to Tuesday with Wednesdays and Thursdays off, at ¥500 return or ¥300 one way, and it stops for bad water. The 14 seat Sarutobi ferry that reaches Nidantaki is suspended, with a small rental boat running in its place on weekends and holidays and daily through the foliage season, so check the Akiota tourism association site for current trail and boat conditions before setting out. Express buses run from Hiroshima Bus Center to Sandankyo Front Gate in around 75 to 80 minutes for ¥1,440 one way.

Taishakukyo Gorge (帝釈峡) is an 18 kilometre limestone gorge in northeastern Hiroshima Prefecture, designated a National Place of Scenic Beauty and listed among Japan's 100 Scenic Views, formed by the Taishaku River cutting through a karst plateau over millions of years. The gorge has two main sections, the Upper Taishaku area to the north with the natural arch landmarks, and the Shinryu Lake area to the south, formed by the Taishakugawa Dam in 1924. The maples and other deciduous trees across the gorge turn red and gold from late October into early November. The Upper Taishaku walking path starts at the 8th century Eimyo-ji Temple and runs 2.5 kilometres past the 200 metre Hakuundo limestone cave, the 8 metre Oni-no-Karamon natural rock gateway, and the famous Onbashi (90 metres long, 18 metres wide, 40 metres above the riverbed), one of the three largest natural bridges in the world and a National Natural Monument. Shinryu Lake to the south offers 40 minute sightseeing boat cruises (¥1,500 adults) and kayak rentals from mid March to mid December. From JR Tojo Station on the JR Geibi Line, the Onbashi area is around 20 minutes by taxi.

Oysters open the Chugoku autumn rather than crown it. Hiroshima grows roughly sixty percent of Japan's oysters in the Seto Inland Sea, and the season starts as water temperatures drop through October, which is when the rafts come in and the shucking sheds along the coast reopen. Autumn oysters are not the same animal as the ones you get in February. They are smaller, firmer and cleaner tasting, before the winter months pack them with glycogen and turn them creamy, so autumn is when to eat them raw with nothing but citrus and winter is when to eat them cooked. This is also when カキオコ (Kakioko) comes back onto the griddles, the Hiroshima okonomiyaki with oysters folded into the batter, associated with the Onomichi and Mihara areas. The oyster festivals along the coast start in November and run to February.

出雲そば (Izumo Soba) is one of the distinctive regional soba styles and comes from Shimane prefecture on the San'in coast. Unlike soba from Nagano or Tokyo, it is milled with the whole buckwheat grain including the husk, which gives the noodles a darker colour and a heavier, earthier flavour. It is served two ways, and both are local. 割子そば (Warigo Soba) arrives as three stacked round lacquer dishes of cold noodles, with the dashi poured straight onto the noodles rather than into a separate cup, and you work down the stack tipping the leftover sauce from one tier into the next. 釜揚げそば (Kamaage Soba) is served hot in the starchy water the noodles were boiled in, which is an autumn and winter dish. The new season harvest reaches the shops around Izumo and Matsue in late autumn, which is when to go.

Matsutake fruit through the pine forests of the Chugoku interior in September and October, and the name to look for is 美作 (Mimasaka) in northern Okayama, where the uplands around Kagamino and Nagi have produced them long enough to build a trade around it. The local pattern is different from Nagano's restaurant season or Kyoto's kaiseki course. Here it is sold close to the ground it came out of, through morning markets and auctions in the picking towns, and cooked simply at home. 松茸ご飯 (Matsutake Gohan) is the simple version, rice cooked with the mushroom through it. 松茸のすき焼き, matsutake sliced into sukiyaki, is the local indulgence. Tottori's forests on the other side of the range produce them too, and the San'in side sells them alongside the autumn crab boats.