Kirk here with some photos of Japanese maples and some notes about the words momiji (紅葉) and kaede (楓). First, regarding the photos, the one taken from a distance is of a Japanese maple on the campus of Kumamoto Gakuen University that was looking quite nice in the afternoon sun on Friday. My smartphone photo doesn’t do it justice but I really enjoyed taking it in after class. The other photo is one I took from the following article that discusses the words momiji and kaede:
https://thegate12.com/jp/article/437
It’s a bit confusing because both momiji and kaede are used to refer to the same tree – the Japanese maple. Sometimes the tree will just be called “kaede” but the same tree can be called “iroha momiji.” “Momiji” tends to be associated with the fall colors. Indeed, the word is written with characters that mean “red leaves” (紅葉). And, when people go on autumn hikes looking for strikingly beautiful views of the fall colors, that’s called “momiji gari” (紅葉狩り) or “momiji hunting,” not “kaede hunting.”
So, if you want to talk about the beautiful colors, “momiji” is a good choice but “kaede” might be a better choice if you want to focus on the tree itself – but there doesn’t seem to be a hard and fast rule.
To native speakers of Japanese: Did I get this right? Please write a comment if you think I made a mistake or if you have a different understanding.