Coolcations: a new trend for Japan's heat-weary tourists?

I first came across this term here.

"Coolcations," blending "cool" and "vacations," is a recent travel trend word, referring to people choosing holiday destinations with milder or cooler climates instead of traditional hot, sunny spots. The idea has grown in popularity due to rising global temperatures, heatwaves, and a greater awareness of climate change. Travellers are now seeking relief in cooler places—such as northern Europe, mountain regions, or coastal areas with breezy weather—rather than spending their holidays in sweltering resorts. Coolcations also tie into wellness and sustainability trends: travellers often see them as healthier, more comfortable, and less exhausting, especially for families with children or older people.

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Japan is once again in the grip of stifling summer heat, and the way people think about travel during the hottest months of the year is starting to shift. Resorts that once lived only for the ski season are reinventing themselves as year-round destinations, turning "green season" into an opportunity for hiking, fresh air and mountain holidays as soon as the last traces of snow disappear. Travel companies, too, are now highlighting highland escapes as an alternative to the baking streets of the cities, hoping to lure urban dwellers into cooler air and quieter surroundings.

It is not yet clear whether this push will truly spark a boom in demand, but the practice of seeking refuge from the heat—known as hisho (避暑)—is far from new. Since the late nineteenth century, fashionable retreats such as Karuizawa, the Yatsugatake highlands and Kamikōchi have offered relief from oppressive summers, first attracting wealthy families and foreign residents before becoming popular with the broader public. What is different today is the severity of the climate itself. Rising temperatures, now breaking records almost every summer, have forced businesses to turn the promise of cool air into a main attraction rather than just a seasonal perk.

One of the clearest examples of this new marketing drive comes from JR East. Working with the private weather company Weathernews, it has launched a sweeping hisho tabi (heat-escape travel) campaign throughout the Tokyo area. Eye-catching posters in railway stations remind commuters that last summer saw Tokyo swelter at over 35°C, before pointing them toward alternatives. Alongside bold headlines are maps dotted with enticingly cool destinations, among them Washikura in Fukushima Prefecture, where the average August high was only 23.1°C, Sukayu in Aomori Prefecture at 23.4°C, and Kusatsu in Gunma Prefecture at 25.2°C.

This year, the Hoshino Resort group started peddling the idea of "coolcation" that has proven popular abroad. It encourages people to stay at hotels 800 meters above sea level or higher, where the average daytime temperatures in July and August are under 25 C, such as Okuhida in Gifu Prefecture and Lake Kawaguchi in Yamanashi Prefecture. Such campaigns come as the travel industry faces the risk of heat-weary people giving up on summer travels altogether. A June survey from Tokyo-based marketing research firm Intage of 5,000 people age 15 to 79 regarding their summer vacation plans showed that 38% — the largest group — were planning to stay home this summer. People were particularly shying away from outdoor activities, such as camping/barbecuing and visits to theme parks, the survey found. It also noted that 70% of the respondents said that the weak yen and inflation were affecting their plans.

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However, even places long thought of as cool refuges, such as Hakuba, Nasu, and even Hokkaidō, are no longer immune, with temperatures in some areas climbing into the mid to high 30s during recent heat waves.

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And here's an interesting related article on the wider issue of tourism and climate change, with one professor claiming that there won't be much tourism in 80 years' time. The cost of transitioning to a low-carbon economy and the increased prevalence of forest fires and heatwaves are going to make tourism in its current form prohibitively expensive. I think there will be a move to holidaying in cooler places, but I'm also uncomfortable with the idea that only wealthy people will be able to escape from an environment that they have largely created. However, perhaps that has been the case ever since the Industrial Revolution, when the rich had their houses built upwind of the effluent from their factories. Do heatwaves, wildfires and travel costs signal the end of the holiday abroad?

Maybe they should start working on moving Tokyo to Hokkaido over the next 80 years.

'Visit Torquay…it's the (cool) English Riviera'