As the Tour takes place in September, the colors in the photos I took on the Tours are quite different from the others (most of which were taken on my most recent trip in late June). To add to that, the photos on this page were taken late in the day, when the yellows and browns are most vivid... and when the riders are spread out enough so only one or two managed to be in the viewfinder.

Here is the archetypical autumn scene: you can almost smell the burning rice husks. This could be anywhere in Japan; for me, this type of paddy scenery is most reminiscent of Okayama.