Most "when to visit Japan" advice is WRONG
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 พ.ค. 2024
- "When's the best time to travel to Japan?" always produces answers filled with common myths that deserve to die a slow, painful death. Join me to learn why "Golden Week" isn't as bad as everyone claims, why rainy season and summer aren't to be feared, and why New Year trips are great.
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2019.1.1 成田山新勝寺で初詣 - hisa2960 tubeno16
• 2019.1.1 成田山新勝寺で初詣
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I have resisted going in Summer because my body is made for colder weather however, I have come to realise the only con of Summer is the weather. The amount of events, festivals, galleries and pop ups I am missing due to the weather during Summer has eroded my resistance to near zero. Summer almost seems like the season of fun
I visited last year from Nov 29- Dec 13th. Weather was just right, had a few warmer days. Fall leaves, Winter illuminations everywhere.
Yeah, I love that you can still catch autumn colours in December!
Andrew!
You are too good to us, always bringing the useful data!
You're very welcome!
That's really good info.
I like to add something that people might like about "bad times to visit Japan" from my experiences.
Summer - It is very hot in the major cities such as Tokyo and Osaka, maybe too hot to be able to enjoy walking around. BUT, there are a lot of Firework festivals (Hanabi) in the evening. These events might be very crowded, but most of people love Hanabi!
Raining Season - A Nature escape. Raining makes fresh air and trees more green. Book a luxury onsen on any nature places or onsen cities will be much cheaper in a raining season.
...
February is actually good to visit any parts of Japan because Flight tickets and Hotels are cheaper this month (as well as November). Tourism places are mostly less crowded than other months.
Thankyou!
A lot of truth in this video! That said, while I have travelled Japan twice in summer (mostly Hokkaido and Tohoku), do keep in mind it is still pretty darn hot, just slightly less unbearable than in Tokyo. But all of the matsuri made it worth coping with that. Same with Golden Week, perfectly doable if you plan a bit and be flexible, and again so many events and matsuri. Winter might actually be my favorite time of year to visit Japan. Okinawa is indead pleasant, mainland Japan isn't too bad (and it's the driest time of year!), and Hokkaido and Tohoku in winter is just an amazing experience (and yes, so many matsuri!). Nevertheless most of my travels have been either in spring or autumn. But that's kinda for two reasons: 1) lots of matsuri (did you notice I really like those?), and 2) with generally two trips to Japan each year and trying to avoid summer, April/May and October/November are just the most practical way of splitting the year...
Nebuta Matsuri in Aomori is my summer pick. Otherwise I'd happily spend all the summer in Hokkaido.
Nooo! Don’t give away the secrets!
Too Late!
Haha! With the sheer number of videos saying the exact opposite, I don't think you need to worry!
@@japanunravelled I just came back from Japan in winter. The next trip will be Japan in summer 😉
Even though I live here, I'm still jealous!
Hi Andrew,I am visiting Japan with my son for the first this October.
I contacted another you tuber who lives there and was criticised for booking a hotel in Kyoto and was told it's cheaper to stay in Osaka. Well we want to stay inn Kyoto and despite booking early I found cheap accommodation in Kyoto. It's not like we're going to sit in the hotel all day! We booked a hotel close to the centre for £405 for 5 nights including breakfast. I think this is pretty reasonable.
I agree with what you say about too many people saying don't go here and there but a couple of other good you tubers like yourself have really helped us with really good advice which has helped us plan our itinerary.
As we're on a budget we have 5 nights in Tokyo for about £500 and two nights in a capsule hotel in Hiroshima for £60.
Thanks for the great videos and advice. The planning ahead makes things so easy and removes a lot of hassle.😊
I'm glad to hear I was helpful! Not sure about these prices. As I haven't been traveling this year I'm not sure what's happening but I expect demand is pushing prices up. But the yen is dirt cheap for you! Anyway yes, I'd stay in Kyoto over Osaka any day of the week. Hope you have a great trip.
I will be there during rainy season, I love to buy those beautiful umbrellas and love the fresh air and ajisai
Exactly - plus any greenery looks great in the rain.
This video really helped!
I'm traveling to japan this june and was worried about the weather. But very happy that there will be dry days there too!
Good to hear! Yeah, it's surprising isn't it? Have a great trip!
Thanks for this eye-opening video. Despite the chance of potentially having winter weather, my wife and I would love to go back to Japan, and experience the New Year’s Day traditions, like the Fukubukuro shopping frenzy, and other things like that.
It's definitely an underrated time of year, so have fun!
great video! yes, it's amazing how limiting most of the messaging around this issue is 🌿 thanks for expanding the possibilities! i did exactly those hokkaido and okinawa options at different times when it was too hot or too cold for me in honshu 😊👌🏼
Glad you enjoyed it!
I do my long trips during the summer between May-July. Thanks for the weatherspark tip, the compare feature explained to me why even though “it’s so humid and hot” I still typically need a sweater coming from Phoenix Arizona 😂 it’s still up to 20°f cooler for the “perceived temp” compared to home.
And I absolutely love the rainy season. Japan has the weirdest and thinnest rain that I’ve ever seen (I’m used to “big fat rain”) it’s its own experience basically. Like a mister that’s gone haywire. And inside out umbrellas are cool to me too because I watched way too much Mary Poppins as a kid. 😅 I don’t recommend bringing or buying an expensive umbrella for visiting during rainy/typhoon season.
Your videos are refreshing because of those videos that are all the same and showing the same stuff. I’m not big into the mainstream tourist “you have to do XYZ in Japan” BS
I just like walking around and exploring.
I'm glad you liked this one. Like you, I got a little tired of hearing the same repetitive nonsense. Rainy season is a lovely time I think because gardens and nature looks fantastic in the rain.
Thanks for your comment!
I like the title of your video. Thanks. From my perspective I would say visit Japan whenever you can. And be prepared at least. I cannot travel during the Cherry Blossom season or Golden week or the matsuri festivals. In the end, I tend to avoid traveling during the summer seasons to avoid the heat and mosquitoes 😅. I cannot travel during the winter time while I would love to soak in an outdoor hot bath while seeing the snow falling. So I only have a limited time slot to visit in late spring and in fall.
Thanks! Yes, I've never come across advice that just straight up says 'come when you can, it will be great whatever.'' But it's true. Do you foresee a day when you can visit in winter?
We went to Japan for sakura viewing this year and missed it in many places because we got there too early and there was a delay in blossoming this year... not to mention it rained about five days out of the two week trip. 🤷♂ Still a fun trip when avoiding the tourist traps. Thanks for some of your suggestions on off the beaten path places to see. 👏
There are hundreds of varieties of Sakura and they don’t all bloom during the same period. I was there during the predicted peak bloom this year as well, and when I saw that the main variety wasn’t going to bloom yet, I went elsewhere in Japan to catch full blooms.
I'm glad you had fun despite the rain!
Thanks Andrew. I definitely made the most of the exchange rate and bought my Yen early.
Even got my mobile suica sorted out and topped up. 😊
Fantastic!
Hello Japan Unravelled. I am planning to go to Japan in February for two months. I would like to choose my travel destinations relatively spontainiously. Is it possible to find accomedation with around 3-4 days booking in advance. Or is it more difficult outside of the big citys?
Andrew here. Feb is very low season. I don't foresee any trouble for you.
Finally some sense, thank you Andrew! Going in mid June and absolutely can't wait 😊👌
Hope you have a great trip!
@@japanunravelled , thank you Andrew, this is my wife's first longhaul flight, so quite and experience for us.
Hi Andrew! This video is great! I was thinking of visiting during early to mid october this year. Trying to miss the summer crowds but before the leaf changing crowds. Its my 5th? time going and so even if I end up in Kyoto again I dont plan on any tourist hotspots.
Is it really a lull in tourism or has the bounce back after covid kinda thrown all that conventional wisdom out the window? as it just seems to be trending up and up and up.
Thanks! October is definitely an overlooked period for travel, as obviously most of the autumn visitors target November for autumn leaves. Across the board visitors are up, but it's most noticeable during the peak seasons. It's a post-covid, cheap yen thing. Just imagine a graph for a normal year, and push every month up.
What I'm hearing in many comments though is that if you avoid the hotspots, you don't notice much difference. It's certainly been my experience too.
It’s a NO for me to Cherry blossoms. They have that all over US.
Right!