Temple gate (法明寺の門)
I have two Japanese maple trees in my backyard in the USA, but I don’t remember them being extra beautiful, extra green in spring. In Japan the maples seem to have an extra spark this time of year. Maybe it’s just because they haven’t been green for so many months so they merely appear extra special now. Or maybe the green gets a little tired later in the summer. In any event, they looked great around the gate of the Homeiji Temple in Ikebukuro a week ago.
From the inside of the gate the azaleas (ツツジ) looked good too.