Travel Best Time of Year to Visit

[StevenFirst]

Hello -- I plan to visit Japan for the first time next year, probably in April. I wish to see the Cherry Blossoms, and I hope that they're at their peak in the first 10 or so days of the month. Is early Spring a good time of the year to explore Japan? I will visit Tokyo and points south, including the Nagoya area, Kyoto , Osaka and Hiroshima. I welcome your thoughts. Domo arigato!

 

[noyhauser]

Spring is one of the most beautiful times to visit, but it can be one of the busiest travel season due to spring break. Late May/June can be the cheapest due to the "rainy season," but its rainy. Going into August it can get oppressively hot, particularly in the Kyoto/Osaka area. Are there any other things you want to see or are interested in?

 

[thomas]

I concur with [MENTION=824]noyhauser[/MENTION]: spring/sakura season as well as autumn (kouyou, autumn leaves). The rainy season (June/beginning of July) hasn't seen much rain in the past few years. Definitely not summer though.

 

[zoomingjapan]

Early April is usually a good time to visit if you want to see cherry blossoms in Hiroshima, Kyoto or Tokyo - although in some years they are too late / too early.
There are other great seasons as well, but spring is without a doubt a great time to visit.

 

[hanamizu]

I think cherry blossom season is over now. june would be rain season (which has more than 20 days of raining)
july will be a time of fireworks in Tokyo (literally every weekends, plus some weekdays and you can hear the fireworks sound on some train lines)
july/august: hokkaido is the best place to visit.
september~november: everywhere, kansai is recommended
december~february: hokkaido/sapporo again

 

[StevenFirst]

Hello Noyhauser -- thanks for the reply! I am going on a chartered tour. Luckily, the tour covers the regions and sites I most want to see, such as Toyota City, Hiroshima, and the cities of Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. I'd really like to see the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, as well as the Diet Building. I wonder if the Diet will be in session during my planned visit next April. Do you live in Japan? If not, have you visited often? Thank you.

 

[noyhauser]

Hi steven

Those are pretty cool places to go. I have lived in the past and visit about every year to two years for family reasons. I think a cooler place than the imperial palace is the old imperial palace (Nijojo) in kyoto... among other places. You can certainly get lost finding new things in all of the cities, I hope you have a great time.

 

[maikuru]

Hey StevenFirst,

I'm glad to hear you want to visit Japan, everyone i know who have been here loved it!

In regards to best times, if you want to see cherry blossoms and are not planning to go to the northern part of Japan then mid to late March will be a good time. Tokyo's Ueno Park is a famous and great place to see them.
I live up in northern Japan in Akita so our cherry blossom was late April to early May.
Also to note, Golden week (many national holidays in the same week where most Japanese people take off to travel) is around the start of May so i'd avoid coming during that time unless you like waiting in long lines
Summer, especially late July and all of August gets really humid everywhere, more so in Kyoto and Osaka then Tokyo i say.
As everyone has mentioned June is the rainy season.
All the places you mentioned are great for first time visits to Japan. I'd also add Nara (day trip) or Himeji (on the way from Nagoya to Osaka)

Happy planning

Maiku

 

[tenshimoore]

During the cherry blossoms season it's still not that warm. The time after that.. (like right now) the temperature is very optimal. So it's better to have some time to enjoy the time after cherry blossoms as well in my opinion