When to Go

We have been to Japan 3 times, with a fourth coming up soon. The time periods we have been in are late Spring, Summer, and early Autumn. The next trip is in Winter (spoilers!)

Summer

Straight off the bat let me say this: do not go in the Summer. There may be exceptions, like if you are heading further north to Hokkaido, or you are very specifically going for beaches in Okinawa or something like that. But, I suspect that if you are going for a specific reason, then you already know what you're doing. If this is, perhaps, your first trip, and you are going to go to a lot of the places people do in that scenario, then Summer will be awful. It is outrageously hot and humid (think high 30s and 80s). You can still have fun, but my goodness it is brutal!

We were there in August, which we did knowing it would be hot but thinking the incredible flight deals overcame that. Even preparing for the heat, we were caught off guard.

Spring

Look, we went late Spring (May) and it was nice but tending towards Summer temps. All in all, it was still really nice but some days were hot. I would consider this to have been similar to a Hobart Summer.

If you can go earlier, like in late March into April then I'm sure it would be absolutely beautiful. Of course, doing that you will be in peak tourist season due to Cherry Blossoms. So, you know, I'm sure it's great but also a bit crazy in the popular cities.

Autumn

We were there in September, the second half specifically, and it was a lot closer to Summer than a true Autumn. I think October, and especially the second half, would be a lot nicer. There is the chance for more rain in these months I think, but the temperature should be nicer, and the further into Autumn you get (potentially November) you should get some nice foliage changes.

Winter

Ok, so we haven't actually done this yet, but this is what our upcoming trip is. We are going in January, though my absolute preference was December, we are somewhat governed by school holiday periods at home. So January for us.

The temperature should be similar to a Winter in Hobart, for where we are going. A bit like for Summer, I am targeting this more towards places like Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. If you go to Hokkaido, well, there will be a lot of snow! For where we are talking about, I am expecting 8-12 degrees during the day. Critically, it should be reasonably dry (based on historical weather) and we won't be sweating constantly!