Just as the parks and countryside are packed with revellers gathering for hanami (blossom-viewing) parties in spring, during autumn, the Japanese flock to their favourite spots to appreciate the fall foliage (called koyo or momiji – two readings of the same characters: 紅葉). From mid-September until the beginning of November, Japan’s deciduous trees begin to change colour, painting mountains, parks and forests in a vibrant palette of reds, oranges and golds. Depending on the type of Maple trees, they also show yellow color as well.Japan is extremely proud of its seasons (seriously, you’d think nowhere else in the world had them) - and for good reason. Groups of Rowan trees or maple trees nearby the tree lines in the mountains belt show bright red color and groups of Betula Ermani, Larches, and Beeches show beautiful yellow color. The borderline between the subalpine belt and the alpine belt is called the tree line or a high trees limit line because the trees in an alpine belt are low like Pinus Pumila and forests cannot be formed. The reason why a mountain belt becomes the most colorful is that there are many deciduous broad-leaved trees in the belt. The main trees for each vegetation belt are: groups of castanopsis and evergreen broad-leaved trees such as Machilus or Camellia for the hills belt, deciduous broad-leaved trees such as Beaches or Mongolian Oaks for the mountains belt, evergreen coniferous trees such as Abies Veitchii, Abies Mariesii or Kome-Tsuga for the subalpine belt, and Pinus Pumila for the alpine belt. As it goes to north, the borderline becomes lower and the alpine belt becomes as low as the seashore in Rebun or Rijiri island in Hokkaido.Īlso, the lines tend to be lower in the Japan Seaside than the Pacific Ocean side.
The illustration shows the average altitudes for the borderlines of each vegetation belt. There are four main categories for the island of Japan: the hills belt, the mountains belt, the sub alpine belt, and the alpine belt in order of altitude from low to high. It varies as the elevation grows higher, moreover, it changes dramatically from a certain elevation. Simply, vertical distribution is a phenomena where the kinds of living things varies depending on the altitude. Leaves change to brown when a brown pigment, flovafen accumulates and they become white when there is a lack of pigments. When a red pigment and a yellow pigment exist together, the leaves’ color becomes orange. When chlorophyll disappears and a yellow pigment, carotenoid stands out or yellow pigments are produced, the leaves’ color changes to yellow. When this happens, chlorophyll becomes a red pigment, anthocyanins, which changes the leaves’ color to red.
When the season changes to Autumn before the leaves fall, photosynthesis stops and chlorophyll disassembles.
The green pigment is chlorophyll, which plays a main role in photosynthesis. No matter what colors they change to, they are all green from spring to summer. Within red, some changes to bright red while others change to brownish red or even white. True to what the Japanese word “Koyo” describes, some autumn leaves change to red while others change to yellow. The colors of the autumn leaves vary depending on tree types and local areas.
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