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When to visit Japan?

Haxedus

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1 Jul 2017
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Hello!

One of my life goals are visiting Japan, let's say for one month or so and I'm learning Japanese atm by myself because of that. When is the best time to visit Japan when I'd love to go to nature and just travel through like whole Japan? I love summer and high temperatures btw. Thanks for helping!
 
Yea, sure, obviously, but I've seen a lot of videos from Japan and it always seems just.. rainy, bad weather in general, no matter what season it is. So I was wondering if there is any speciffic part of the year (month) when everything is just awesome. Nice weather, blooming flowers, some cool events etc.
 
Some people bash Japan for summer, but it is not worse than many other countries and cities around the world (I recently saw some ridiculous claims about temperatures in Japan reaching "42C" (false btw) trying to put off someone from Kuala Lumpur - the weather stats showed KL was hotter and more humid than Tokyo). Plus, even in summer Japan is getting more than 2 million tourists per month so arriving in August or September after rainy season would be fine.

However, personally I would recommend May or October/November.
 
People often ask me when the best time to travel to Japan is.
But this cannot be answered easily. It really depends on what you want to do an see.

If you plan to climb Mt. Fuji and want to enjoy Japanese summer festivals and fireworks, then summer is surely a great choice. But summer is also extremely hot and humid.

Spring comes with mild temperatures and various nice flowers (not only cherry blossoms).
In autumn you can enjoy breathtaking colors and the climate is also nice.
In winter some sightseeing spots are closed or cannot be reached, so your choices are limited, but you can enjoy beautiful illuminations, shogatsu, hatsumode, winter sports and the various winter festivals e.g. the Sapporo Yuki Matsuri.

Yes, there's rainy season and typhoon season, but rain and typhoons can hit you even outside of season.
 
I'd recommend spring or autumn, around about April/May, or September/October, if you want to avoid the real hot and humid months but have generally pleasant, comfortable weather. If you don't mind or love high temperatures and humidity, then June-August is OK obviously, though you have to watch out for rainy season in June-July, and typhoons peak during that summer period (though who knows, some people might find typhoons novel and exciting and part of the Japan experience).

Also be aware that the temperature varies depending on which part of Japan you're going to. The north is obviously going to be cooler and the south hotter, but cooler the closer you are to the ocean.
 
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Let me be the bad guy here and say....
Save yourself the headache and trying to learn Japanese. Its pointless in trying to learn any language if your not going to use it all the time. Learn the basic in Japan and download some offline Japanese language app to use during your travel. In the big cities you will be okay, once you leave it than, yes Japanese is needed

You want to know the best time to travel to Japan...
Well that up to you, depending on what to you want to do. If your going to be out there for a month or more, travel to Japan during off-peak/ off-season. During those time you can take in a lot more than taking in the "travelers" experience that Japan is showing.
 
Thanks Seiko, but that's why I want to learn Japanese in first place. I don't want to stay in big cities only but also visit other random smaller places, nature and such.
 
If you want nature, keep in mind that 75% of the country is forests and mountains. Hokkaido has the least humid summer, so August or September there. Google a section of the country where you think you want to travel and add "events" or "summer events" or "festivals" to the search words.
 
In the Kansai region I recommend either spring, early April if you want to see the sakura, or the fall. The temperatures are nice and mild and the natural scenery is very nice. I have yet to be there in the fall yet but its on my list of TO-DOs.
 
Yuki Matsuri from zoomingjapan is right, the start of Fall and Spring is the best time to travel Japan because the weather is cool and not too hot, for events and for many other reasons.

Yes, the Anime traveler...
If you are an Anime fan its a bit tricky, traveling in the late fall is good because you get to see the students, around in public in uniform, the school and colleges are very active, students going to cram school/ active in after school program and they are switching over into their winter uniform and making it a little fashionable urban style and YES if your lucky you see the school girls wearing the big white sock thing around their legs, kawall!.

If you really wanna see a country for what it is, than travel during off-peak/ off-season. you get all of Japan to yourself.
 
lmfao why does everyone think that I'm just another weeaboo that wants to visit Japan.
 
lmfao why does everyone think that I'm just another weeaboo that wants to visit Japan.

Why do you think everybody thinks you're "just another weeaboo"? Nobody has said one single word to you indicating they think you're a weeaboo...or anything else, for they that matter. Every reply has been exactly what you have asked about.
 
I personally went in April this year and loved it. It wasn't too chilly except up in the mountains. I visited only Honshu and Kyuushu though but saw reports that there was still snow during that period in Hokaidou. I personally loved seeing the cherry blossoms, but it was very crowded especially around all the tourist areas. It was pretty warm in the Kyuushu region, I was in Nagasaki near the end of the month.
 
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