Country guide
Japan
Tokyo's neon order, Kyoto's temples, onsen towns and powder skiing; cherry blossom and autumn leaves are seasons unto themselves.
Currency
JPY
Language
Japanese
English
Limited
Payment
Cards & cash mixed
Power
Type A / B
100 V, 50/60 Hz
Dialing
+81
Destinations
Beppu
The hot spring capital of Japan: eight spa quarters, thousands of vents, and steam coming up through the pavement.
✓ best Mar, NovFukuoka
The home of tonkotsu ramen, and the last Japanese city where the food stalls still roll out along the river every night.
✓ best Oct-NovHakodate
Treaty-port streets, Japan's best-known night view and southern Hokkaido's seafood, all within one tram ride.
✓ best May-JunHiroshima
The plainest account of nuclear war anywhere, in a rebuilt city that is a genuine pleasure to spend time in.
✓ best NovKagoshima
A city that lives with an erupting volcano across the bay, sweeps up the ash and gets on with the day.
✓ best Dec-JanKamakura
Japan's warrior capital, an hour from Tokyo: Zen monasteries in the hills, the Great Buddha in the open air, and a beach at the end of the tram line.
✓ best NovKanazawa
Kenroku-en, one of Japan's three great gardens, plus three intact geisha quarters in a castle town the bombers never reached.
✓ best Apr-Jun, OctKoyasan
The rare place where the bed is the reason to come: sleep in a working temple on Japan's holiest mountain, and walk its lantern-lit cemetery after dark.
✓ best Apr-May, Aug, OctKyoto
A thousand years of imperial capital that escaped the firebombing, where the gardens, the cuisine and the geisha districts are still working concerns rather than exhibits.
✓ best Apr-May, Oct-NovMount Fuji (Kawaguchiko)
Japan's defining view and its biggest walk, and they do not happen in the same season.
✓ best NovNagasaki
Japan's only window on the world for two centuries, and the second city destroyed by a nuclear weapon - both set out plainly, on one tram line.
✓ best DecNara
Japan's first capital, still standing - eighth-century temples and a thousand wild deer in one walkable park.
✓ best NovOkinawa
Coral-reef Japan with its own kingdom, its own kitchen and its own blue - and a war that still shapes the island.
✓ best Apr, Jul, Oct-NovOsaka
Japan's kitchen: a blunt, neon-lit merchant city where the eating is the itinerary, not the interval between sights.
✓ best NovSapporo
The snowiest big city on the planet, and one of Japan's best places to eat.
✓ best May-JulSendai
Date Masamune's castle town, the best beef tongue in Japan, and the whole of Tohoku inside an hour of the platform.
✓ best Apr, NovTokyo
The world's biggest city, and somehow its most orderly: neon, temples and obsessive craft, all a train ride apart.
✓ best Apr-May, Nov-FebThe sweet-spot windows
Good weather, thinner crowds, better prices: the windows worth aiming for.
| Where | When | Why it works | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kyoto | Late Mar, late Nov | Catch cherry blossom or fall foliage at shoulder edges | Apr peak = extremely crowded. Book months ahead |
| Okinawa | Apr, Oct-Nov | Apr: warm beach weather pre-rainy season. Oct-Nov: post-typhoon | Jul-Aug peak $$. Sep = typhoon peak |
| Tokyo/Central | May, Nov | May: post-cherry blossom, warm, green. Nov: stunning fall foliage | Golden Week (early May) = domestic crowds |
Climate zones, month by month
Japan has 17 distinct climate zones. The right month depends on where in the country you're going.
Beppu Kyushu →
✓ Best Mar, Nov · ✗ Avoid Jun-Jul, Sep
Watch for Jun-Jul, Sep monsoon flooding risk · Jul-Oct typhoons risk
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
Fukuoka Kyushu →
✓ Best Oct-Nov · ✗ Avoid Jul
Watch for Jul-Oct typhoons risk · Jul monsoon flooding risk
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
Hakodate Hokkaido →
✓ Best May-Jun · ✗ Avoid Dec-Mar
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
Hiroshima Setouchi →
✓ Best Nov · ✗ Avoid Jul
Watch for Jul-Oct typhoons risk · Jul monsoon flooding risk
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
Kagoshima Kyushu →
✓ Best Dec-Jan · ✗ Avoid Jun-Jul
Watch for Jun-Jul monsoon flooding risk · Jul-Oct typhoons risk
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
Kamakura →
✓ Best Nov
Watch for Jul-Oct typhoons risk
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
Kanazawa Hokuriku →
✓ Best Apr-Jun, Oct · ✗ Avoid Nov-Jan
Watch for Nov-Jan monsoon flooding risk · Jul-Oct typhoons risk
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
Koyasan Kansai →
✓ Best Apr-May, Aug, Oct · ✗ Avoid Jun-Jul, Dec-Feb
Watch for Jun-Jul monsoon flooding risk
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
Kyoto Kansai →
✓ Best Apr-May, Oct-Nov · ✗ Avoid Jun-Sep
Conditions Jan Cold & clear · Feb Cold & dry · Mar Spring starts · Apr Cherry blossom! · May Warm & lush · Jun Rainy season · Jul Hot & muggy · Aug Peak heat · Sep Typhoon risk · Oct Autumn begins · Nov Fall foliage · Dec Cold & clear
Cards tinted by verified verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
Mount Fuji (Kawaguchiko) Fuji Five Lakes →
✓ Best Nov · ✗ Avoid Aug, Jan
Watch for Aug monsoon flooding risk
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
Nagasaki Kyushu →
✓ Best Dec · ✗ Avoid Jun-Jul
Watch for Jun-Jul monsoon flooding risk · Jul-Oct typhoons risk
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
Nara Kansai →
✓ Best Nov
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
Okinawa →
✓ Best Apr, Jul, Oct-Nov · ✗ Avoid May-Jun, Sep
Conditions Jan Mild winter · Feb Mild & damp · Mar Warming up · Apr Warm & pleasant · May Rainy season · Jun Rain then clears · Jul Beach season! · Aug Hot + typhoons · Sep Typhoon peak · Oct Post-typhoon · Nov Pleasant & warm · Dec Mild & dry
Watch for Jun, Sep monsoon flooding risk · Jul-Oct typhoons risk
Cards tinted by verified verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
Osaka Kansai →
✓ Best Nov
Watch for Jul-Oct typhoons risk
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
Sapporo Hokkaido →
✓ Best May-Jul · ✗ Avoid Dec-Mar
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
Sendai Tohoku →
✓ Best Apr, Nov · ✗ Avoid Jan-Feb
Watch for Jul-Oct typhoons risk
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
Tokyo →
✓ Best Apr-May, Nov-Feb · ✗ Avoid Jun, Aug-Sep
Conditions Jan Cold & dry · Feb Cold & sunny · Mar Spring starts · Apr Cherry blossom! · May Warm & green · Jun Rainy season · Jul Hot & humid · Aug Peak heat · Sep Typhoon risk · Oct Autumn begins · Nov Fall foliage · Dec Cold & clear
Watch for Jul-Oct typhoons risk
Cards tinted by verified verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions