Visiting Japan in April

[Chris K]

From browsing various airlines it seems travel to Japan is half the normal price in April, both this year and next. What's the catch? Is it a bad time to travel? Hard to find accomadation? I would of thought APril would of been very popular, what with the Sakura blossoming and all???
Can anyone shed some light on this??

 

[ArmandV]

I've gone to Japan in April twice and enjoyed it each time. The only drawback is Golden Week where it is harder to get some train and hotel reservations, but not impossible.

 

[Chris K]

Thanks for that. To be honest I reckon April would be a perfect time to go, thats why I was so phased by the flight costs. I guess if I book acomodation well ahead I should be allright.

 

[ArmandV]

Thanks for that. To be honest I reckon April would be a perfect time to go, thats why I was so phased by the flight costs. I guess if I book acomodation well ahead I should be allright.

I make my room reservations way ahead of time online so I don't get stuck without a place to stay.

 

[jferrina]

I don't know why april is cheap. I would have thought it's expensive as it's when cherry blossoms bloom. But I guess with the recession and all, japanese wanna encourage people to visit japan for economic reasons (income etc). if it's half the price, i say go for it.

 

[Glenski]

You're talking about flights in from abroad being cheaper, right? That may be different from the situation within the country. Yes, cherry blossom viewing is very popular here, but the first week of May is the huge national holiday of Golden Week, when people travel, so they may just be waiting until then, and airlines may just be adjusting rates accordingly.

I also read that tourism is down 40%, so perhaps airlines that you saw were trying to get more people to visit.

Oh, and cherry blossoms bloom over a wide range of dates here. Where I live, we won't see them until May.