Late October to November is the time when the Five Mountains of Northern Shinano get dressed in red and yellow. You can overlook Lake Nojiri embedded in the colorful blanket from Mt Madarao, one of the Five Mountains.
Naena Waterfall, counted among the 100 best waterfalls in Japan, sees the queue of people holding cameras everyday.
Take-home treasures from the forest: sprouting acorns, cobalt blue berries of kusagi (literally “stink wood”), and corral-looking branch of mizuki (dogwood).
Apart from the forest, the soba (buckwheat) fields found throughout Shinanomachi turns into red carpets after being harvested, with only the red stem remaining. Lit up in the sun, the carpets appear as though they are floating out from the scenery.
Go for hiking and cycling through the autumn leaves, and don’t forget to try the freshly harvested first-of-the-year soba noodle here in Shinanomachi!
