Autumn Leaves Running in Tokyo: 5 Routes for Koyo Season
By Natsune — Bilingual runner in Japan who runs every route on this site in person.
Everyone plans a trip to Japan around the cherry blossoms. Fewer people know that autumn is the better season to run here — and by a decent margin.
The temperatures are perfect (15–20°C, dry, blue skies), the humidity that makes summer running miserable is gone, and the colors last for weeks rather than the frantic ten days of spring. Japanese people call it koyo (紅葉), and it's taken every bit as seriously as sakura.
Here's where to run it.
When koyo actually peaks
This is the part people get wrong. Autumn colors arrive in Tokyo much later than most visitors expect — the peak in the city is generally mid-November through early December, not October.
The colors sweep from north to south and from high elevation to low, so mountains near Tokyo turn earlier (late October to mid-November) while central Tokyo parks are at their best in late November. The famous ginkgo avenue at Jingu Gaien often peaks right at the very end of November into the first days of December.
If you're planning a trip specifically for autumn running: the last two weeks of November is the sweet spot for the city.
1. Jingu Gaien Ginkgo Avenue — the icon
Four rows of tall, precisely trimmed ginkgo trees line a straight avenue, and for about two weeks they turn a completely unreasonable shade of gold — with a carpet of fallen leaves underneath to match. It is the single most photographed autumn scene in Tokyo.
The Jingu Gaien course runs right through it. Go early: this becomes extremely crowded from mid-morning, with food stalls and a festival atmosphere by the afternoon. At 6:30am you get the whole golden tunnel to yourself.
2. Showa Kinen Park — the best all-rounder
Out in Tachikawa, Showa Kinen Park is enormous, and in autumn it delivers everything at once: its own ginkgo avenues, Japanese maples going scarlet around the ponds, and huge open lawns with space to actually run. Because it's big and slightly out of the center, it never feels as crowded as the inner-city spots.
There's an entry fee and set opening hours, so check before you go — but it's the most complete autumn running experience near Tokyo.
3. Ueno Park & Shinobazu Pond
Ueno Park does autumn quietly and well — maples turning around the pond, the temple halls framed by color, and the lotus leaves in Shinobazu dying back to a strange, beautiful brown tangle. It's flat, central, and easy to combine with a museum afternoon.
4. Inokashira Park — the local's autumn
Out in Kichijoji, Inokashira Park wraps its pond in maples and zelkova that reflect off the water. It's a neighborhood park rather than a tourist site, so you're running alongside locals doing exactly the same thing. Kichijoji itself is one of the best places in Tokyo to eat afterward.
5. Hakone and the mountains — for the big version
If you can get out of the city, autumn in the mountains near Tokyo is a different scale entirely. Lake Ashi in Hakone sits in a bowl of forest that goes red and gold from late October, with Mt. Fuji behind it and hot springs at the end of the run. Mountain koyo peaks earlier than the city, so this works in the second half of October when Tokyo is still green.
What to wear
Autumn mornings in Tokyo run cool — often 8–13°C in November — while afternoons can reach the low 20s. A light long-sleeve layer you can push up or tie around your waist is usually enough; gloves only if you're out before sunrise late in the season. Full details in our season-by-season packing guide.
The case for autumn over spring
Cherry blossoms are extraordinary and worth the crowds once in your life. But if you're choosing a season to run in Japan, autumn wins on every practical measure: better temperatures, drier air, longer color season, fewer people, cheaper flights, and no frantic checking of bloom forecasts.
The blossoms get the postcards. Autumn gets the good runs.
Run Eat Japan — run, eat, explore. Real routes, real food, no tourist traps.