A wonderful thing of Japan that I did not know before coming here is how the four seasons could be. Starting early this month, I can see the leaves changing their color and find myself thinking of how beautiful they are. Back home, I hate those falling leaves. My biggest concern during Fall is how to take care of my back yard properly (^^”)
On Sunday, I went to the Gingko Festival at Jingu Gaien, the outer garden of Meiji Jingu Shrine and is recognized as one of the best gingko revenue in Japan.. Until now, I didn’t realize there are so many gingko trees in Tokyo, but now they are very easy to spot as the whole trees turning into golden color.
The highlight of the festival is the famous 300-meter street street leading to the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery is lined with 146 ginkgo trees over the age of 100!
There are several Gingko Festival around Tokyo, but we decided on this one because we heard there are many delicious food stalls selling noted products from different regions of Japan, and street performers giving live shows for the duration of the festival.
I enjoyed the festival so much, but the gorgeous trees did not catch my attention as much as the trash can. I was so surprised to not to see even a single piece of trash on the ground, given the big number of people having their meals here. There was no trash can at each food stand, but there was a “trash separating center” at a corner of the park so people can throw their trash there. It wasn’t called “”trash separating center” for no reason. You have to separate the trash by yourself and put them into the right places: left-over foods, plastic food wrappers, burnable goods (such as chopsticks), empty water bottles, etc. That’s very impressive, Japan!
