Best Time to Visit Japan

Spring and autumn: the sweet spots

If you want one rule for Japan, it's this: go in spring or autumn. April and May suit Kyoto, Tokyo and Kawasaki. October and November suit Kyoto, Hiroshima and Fukuoka, and November is the pick for Osaka, Nara, Kobe and Nagoya. Days are mild and good for walking temple paths or the Philosopher's Path in Kyoto.

Spring brings cherry blossom, usually late March to early April in Tokyo and Kyoto. It's beautiful and busy, so expect full trains and pricey rooms. Autumn leaves peak in Kyoto in late November. Want fewer people? Pick the second half of May or early November.

Summer, rainy season and winter

August is the hottest month in every city we cover, and it's sticky. Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo all reach about 31°C, with humidity on top. Before that comes the rainy season, called tsuyu, in June and July. It's wettest in July for Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima, and Fukuoka gets the most at 369 mm. Naha, on Okinawa, is wettest in June.

Summer has a bright side. Sapporo stays cooler, with its best month in June, and Hokkaido's lavender and cool evenings are a good escape. Okinawa's beaches are best enjoyed outside the typhoon months of late summer and early autumn. Winter is the opposite of Sapporo's summer: snow, and the Sapporo Snow Festival in early February. In Naha, December to March is mild and calm, which makes it a good winter break.

Holidays and crowds

Three stretches get very busy. Golden Week runs from late April into early May, when many Japanese families travel. Obon, around mid-August, sends people home to their families. Then there's New Year, when many shops and restaurants close for a few days.

High season is cherry blossom time, Golden Week and autumn leaves. Low season is January and February outside the ski areas, plus the rainy weeks of June and July. Prices drop, and queues at big sights like Fushimi Inari get shorter.