Hop on board for some scenic train trips to catch the autumn leaves as they change.

The itinerary - Narukokyo and Mogamikyo which is famous for its autumn leaves and Mt. Hiei in Kyoto. Alternatively, catch a panoramic train to enjoy the autumn scenery to Fukushima Aizu.

Travel on the local line from Tokyo for two hours to Furukawa Station in Miyagi, to view Michinoku's autumn scenery. Take the JR East Rikuu Line and get off at Nakayamadaira Onsen Station for a 10 minute walk for 10 minute to the botanical garden where there is a shop famous for serving beef tongue. There is a beef tongue set lunch with rice mixed with barley for 1700 yen (S$ 22.90)and for 800 yen (S$ 10.80) there is good beef tongue curry that is cooked for three days, making it very tender and tasty. Walk another 10 minutes from the botanical gardens and there is a lookout over the whole of Narukokyo. The best season to visit and view the place is in autumn where the place is bathed in red and yellow leaves.  Walk along a trail from the lookout for another autumn view in the Tohoku area. Board the Rikuu Line again as the train is leaving Miyagi for Yamagata.  Get off at the station for Semi Onsen famous because of Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune with the historical remains of Yoshitsune and Benkei. Stay overnight at the Kanshokan hotel. Try to reserve the Japanese

Black Beef Shabu-shabu Select Plan with complimentary privileges such as your own yukata (house-coat) for lounging around your Japanese style room with large tatamis which will offer views of autumn leaves amid a river flowing.   Add another 5000 yen (S$67.70) to the plan which costs15750 yen (S$213.10) and you get a luxurious bedroom with an open-air bath. Dinner served in the room consists of 11 dishes made from local ingredients, including Roasted Jumbo Mushrooms a specialty of the hotel and Mogami district, a main dish is Japanese Black Beef Shabu-shabu.

Next, a  trip to Miyagi and Yamagata on board the East Rikuu Line caught at Semi Onsen Station. The destination is Shinjo the terminal station of the West Rikuu Line just 20 minutes away. While the train transits, grab a Mushroom Shabu-shabu lunch at the town. Reservations are necessary at the restaurant which has more than 10 kinds of mushrooms on the menu. At Shinjo Station take the West Rikuu Line,also known as the Oku-no-Hosomichi Line. There’s a train with seats that rotate to face the window as it travels along the upper stream of the Mogami River and best of all, there's no need for tickets.

Another trip is on a panoramic train to Kyoto and Mt. Hiei, starting from JR Kyoto Station. Catch the C6 at Kyoto Station bus terminal as it heads for the top of Mt. Hiei via the city. Go past Lake Biwa the largest lake in Japan as the bus climbs and stop one hour and 15 minutes later at the Enryakuji Bus Centre for a visit to Enryakuji Temple, a World Heritage Site. After receiving blessings and seeing the autumn leaves, board a bus going to the peak of Mt. Hiei to head to a little known spot for viewing autumn leaves. It's just a10 minute trip to the Garden Museum with1500 types of flowers planted every season. In autumn, the dahlias and roses are at their best. There are also replicas of French Impressionist paintings everywhere and a restaurant reminiscent of the streets of Paris which offers delicious meals such as beef stew, Renoir's turnip soup, wine and European style curry.  Next take an aerial lift or bus to the Ropeway Hiei Station which descends to the foot of the mountain in three minutes, and catch a tram to Enzan Railway at Yase Hieizanguchi Station.

In order to take the scenic train, first go to Takaragaike Station and catch a local line for the panoramic train Kirarain to enjoy a scenic train trip, as the train travels to the best spot for autumn leaves on this line. Being an observation train, it will slow down for visitors to take in views as it heads to Kurama which carries the legend of Tengu and  Kuramadera Temple, a place to see autumn leaves.

Next, take a trip on the Japanese style Torokko and Tatami Line from Asakusa. The Limited Express, Spacia from Kinugawa offers luxury private rooms. Change in Kinukawa to the Aizu Mount Express and transfer at Aizutajima Station to the scenic train with a one-way ticket to Aizu Wakamatsu. Buy a  lunchbox for the trip on the Torokko, an old-fashioned Japanese style train car where travellers are offered slippers so they can move about the train in comfort.  Inside the train, the ceiling of the train car is painted with stars so there's a planetarium on the train which appears when the train enters a tunnel.

Aizu-roman-go runs in autumn for one and a half hour trips ending at the terminal of Aizu Wakamatsu, a castle town  famous because of Byakkotai.