The cold does the work at Muroji. The temple stands deep in the mountains of eastern Uda, where mornings and evenings bite early in the season, and that chill is why the maples here run deeper in colour than the same trees on the Nara plain. The peak comes mid-November into the first ten days of December.

The approach begins at an arched bridge and climbs by stone steps toward the halls, with maples lining both sides, so the whole ascent happens under colour rather than toward it. By the top your neck is tired from looking up. It is the right kind of tired.

Muroji is also one of the few temples in the prefecture to open after dark in the season. When the lanterns come on, the trees change less than the steps do — the shadows on stone reverse, and the climb you made in daylight becomes a different climb entirely. In spring and autumn a temporary bus runs directly between Hasedera and Muroji, the flower temple and the maple temple, arranged so both fit into one day.

Admission is six hundred yen for adults. From the station, take the bus and walk the last five minutes. Come on a weekday if you can, dress for mountain air, and take the steps slowly. The cold is not a drawback here. It is the ingredient.