Metasequoia (dawn redwoods) Namiki (tree-lined) is a fabulous place to see a beautiful fall sight in Shiga Prefecture. This was on the top of my list of things to see on my recent trip to the Lake Biwa area.

There are approximately 500 metasequoia trees lining about 2.5 km of Metasequoia Abenyu (Avenue) in Takashima, Shiga. Takashima is a city of about 50,000 people on the banks of Lake Biwa.

Any time you go somewhere new, you don’t really know what to expect until you get there and actually experience it. I was just hoping that I was not too late for the fall color. This turned out to be a really fun experience. People were driving through, strolling through, and trying to grab photos between cars passing. Everyone was laughing and having fun.

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Now that I know what it is like, I would recommend going early to get some photos (hopefully) without cars. With that said, I still loved the experience as it was – even though it was raining lightly, 48 degrees, I didn’t have an umbrella, my hands were freezing, and it was a little crowded. I was able to keep a comfortable distance while still feeling a little bit of camaraderie with these strangers as we braved the not-so-perfect weather together to enjoy the unique sight of this tree-lined road while dodging cars and trying to capture the perfect image.

If you are in the Lake Biwa area in the fall (late November), I would recommend adding this to your itinerary. After this, I was on to Kurokabe Square in Nagahama.

Happy travels,

~ Kari

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