The weather forecast for today had a band of very heavy rain and wind passing over the area, so we tried to come up with a route to try and avoid the worst of it and also visit a few indoor spots.
Jionnotaki
We started off by driving to the town of Hita, stopping at a small michi-no-eki that was next to a waterfall on the way
Attack on Titan Exhibitions
Hita is the town that the author of Attack on Titan grew up in, and there are a couple of related exhibitions that went to visit and get out of the rain.
Also nearby is Oyama Dam, where there is a statue of the main characters, looking up at the huge wall of the dam, mimicking the wall surrounding the town in the story.
Keiseki-en
By the afternoon the rain was starting to ease a bit. We left Hita and drove through the pretty countryside to an area that had a number of autumn leaf spots that were likely to be at peak colour.
First was Keiseki-en, a free traditional Japanese garden. It was full of bright red trees.
Goryo Shrine
A little further down the road was Goryo Shrine, also surrounded with autumn colours.
Yabakei
Continuing on our countryside drive, we stopped at Yabakei, where there are large rock formations next to the river
Hitome Hakkei
After a walk around Yabakei, it was time to start driving back to Yufuin. We went via Hitome Hakkei, a very popular autumn colour spot in a gorge. It was almost dark when we got there (much darker than it looks in the photos!) so it was just a quick stop to look at what we could of the view!
We then carried on the drive back. With it being dusk, we saw lots of animals whilst driving – tanuki,
Since it was late by the time we were back and there aren’t many restaurants open in the evening in Yufuin, we picked up bentos to heat up at the house for dinner.