by Sharna Steer

Japan is obsessed with Autumn leaves. From the themed foods to all of the festivals, there is something autumn-related happening constantly. This year’s changing of the leaves was quite prolonged like all of the other seasons this year. So, the true rich colours of the autumn leaves have only been seen around recently. 

I went to Minoh Falls with two friends on a nice sunny day. Minoh Falls is a little north of central Osaka, so it is really easy to get to from where I live in Nishinomiya. Since it was the weekend, Minoh was very busy with lots of Japanese and foreign tourists. Leaving the train station, you walk towards the hill where the waterfall is. Along the way, you can see beautiful sights of trees covered with red and golden leaves which crowd over the stream. Finally, the waterfall itself was so beautiful. Although it was super busy with people, it was still very serene and relaxing to walk around.

All along the walk, even in the more forestry area there are street vendors and shops everywhere selling food and unique Minoh merchandise. One of the unique street foods that Minoh Falls has is deep-fried tempura maple leaves. These are slightly sweet and incredibly crunchy. They didn’t really taste like much but were very satisfying to eat because of how crunchy they were. On our walk, we also had candied fruit, taiyaki (fish-shaped sweet treat with custard inside), and the biggest dango I have ever had. The dango was so good as it is grilled mochi balls covered with a sweet soy sauce which might sound weird but is the perfect not-too-sweet treat.