It's autumn in Japan.

秋(あき)

fall; autumn

The weather is mostly really nice. It's a time to do stuff while drinking pumpkin-flavored things.

And doing stuff (with or without the pumpkin) is what we will cover in today's lesson.

There are a number of useful phrases using the 「○○の秋(あき)」 form. This essentially means, "Autumn, the time for..."

Let's look at five such useful expressions using this form.

Fall brings fresh vegetables and fruits such as sweet potatoes, pears, chestnuts, persimmons, and fresh fish too.

食欲(しょくよく)の秋(あき)でちょっと太(ふと)ってしまった。

We can only have the above phrase (食欲(しょくよく)の秋(あき)) because of this phrase. The fall harvest is ready. Time to enjoy ripe fruit such as figs, grapes, pears, apples, and persimmons.

実(みの)りの秋(あき)には美味(おい)しい食(た)べ物(もの)がいろいろあります。

And once you are well fed and with the comfortable weather and shorter days, there's more time for snuggling up with a good book (or eBook reader!). BTW, it appears this phrase was inspired by a line by 夏目漱石(なつめそうせき)'s 1908 novel, 「三四郎(さんしろう)」 where he mentions the fall is a good time to read. See our recent lessons using his 吾輩は猫である I am a Cat novel.

読書(どくしょ)の秋(あき)におすすめの小説(しょうせつ)はありますか？

Good weather means more time outside. More time outside means more activity and sports. Every year in October, Japan has a national sports day: 「スポーツの日(ひ)」 (Prior to 2019, this was called 「体育(たいいく)の日(ひ)」)

スポーツの秋(あき)ですね。ちょっとバスケットしてみない？

It's a good time to travel to see art in museums. Fall is also when many art exhibits take place.

芸術(げいじゅつ)の秋(あき)を楽(たの)しみましょう。

Want more ○○の秋(あき)?

Good news! Our friend, めぐみ先生(せんせい) did a ポッドキャスト (podcast) on this subject and so did Yumi.

Click here for めぐみ先生(せんせい)のポッドキャスト

Click here for Yumi’s Nihongo no Tane episode on ○○の秋(あき).