The rainy season starts in June and typically ends in mid July. The humidity also starts to rise in this period getting worse until it peaks in late August. The end of July you will find public transport crowded as school is out and domestic travel activity increases considerably.

But many local festivals are held during this time and the Firework shows in July are legendary. A trip north to Hokkaido would be perfect at this time of year as that is the only part of Japan that escapes the tsuyu and humid conditions. The lavender fields of Furano and Biei would be perfect at this time of year as would the scenic beauty of Daisetsuzan.

Aloha!

Dear Hawaiiantraveler, Thank you so much for your advice. I do appreciate all the suggestions you made. They are most helpful. Would you by any chance know anything about mobile phones working in Japan. We have iPhones. Cheers

oink,
Your iPhone will work in Japan. The expense may be a problem. You need to get an Intl plan with your carrier for phone minutes and the all important intl data plan which is the real expense. I travel with my iPhone in Japan and buy the data plan for the time I will be there.

I also rent a local phone for my wife at this place. Real convenient and the phones work well all over Japan.

http://www.rentafonejapan.com/

Aloha!

Thanks so much Hawaiiantraveler. I have forwarded your suggestion to my husband who was the one to ask me to find out from you about mobile phones working in Japan.

I have finally booked our flights last night. One thing I noticed when looking for accomodation it seems difficult to find places that put three people up in a room. I don't want to have to book two rooms if possible. Do you have any suggestions?

Book Japan style rooms.

Thanks for the suggestion Lcuy. Cheers

Umbrellas are cheap in Japan.

There is a sumo tournament in Nagoya in July. Domed stadiums mean no rainouts for baseball games in some places (Tokyo, Fukuoka, at least).

Thanks Mrwunrfl. Can you give me suggestions as to how much time I should spend in each city. We have three weeks. I am thinking 6 days in Tokyo, 6 days in Kyoto and 8 days in Osaka. I don't exactly know what there is to see at the moment. Would basing ourselves in these three cities then heading out to other regions be the best thing to do or so we actually stay in the smaller towns?

With 3 weeks you can include Kanazawa, Takayama, Shirakawa-go, Hakone, Nakasendo....personally I wouldn't spend 8 days in Osaka when there is so much more than big cities you can see.

Thank you KimJapan. You have given me lots of options. I will research these places. Cheers.

This is the preliminary itinerary after taking into consideration all that everyone has said and doing a little bit of research. Can you tell me if this is ok?
Tokyo - 6 days (day trip to Takayama)
Magome - 2 nights (stay in Ryokan)
Kanazawa - 2 nights
Kyoto - 5 days (day trip to Nara/Uji??)
Osaka - 4 days

Should I be spending more time in one city and less in another? Should I include another place to stay?

All depends on your interests.

I, personally, would take out one night of Magome or Osaka for one more night in Kanazawa. But you may have a good reason for wanting more time in Magome or Osaka........

Takayama is 4.5 - 5 hours away from Tokyo by train so back and forth would be 10 hours on the train and no time for anything else. Takayama is not a day trip from Tokyo.

Are you traveling by yourself or with a family or significant other? That would make a difference in venues imho.

Traveling during your times in Japan I would be looking for cooler places and places to avoid the rain like Nikko, Nagano, Matsumoto, Takayama(ok you've got this one), anywhere on Hokkaido, etc. but like I said that's what I would do.

Aloha!

Interested in culture, little towns and food. Not so keen on city type places but 21 year old wants to go to Disneyland. My husband isn't too fuss. OK...let me go do a little bit more research and revise my itinerary. Thanks again.

sorry...I realised that I made a mistake. I meant to say day trip to Yokohama from Tokyo, not Takayama

Magome is a town. I don't know how big. Kanazawa is a city of about 460,000. The other places are big cities, of course, pop all well over 1 million.

More to do in the big cities when the weather doesn't cooperate (like the April rain that curtailed Mara's visit to the village of Shirakawago).

I've considered going to Japan in June/July but decided against it every time. Yes, consider it, but consider other times too.

You can get weather info for Japan at the following link. The tables for each city show rainfall amounts by month and sometimes the number of rainy days in a month.

http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/city.php3?c=JP&name=Japan

e.g. Kanazawa - 16 inches in June, 26 inches in July, at least gives you a clue. June better than July. Early July better than mid to late July.

Oh dear...I cannot do anything about changing dates because the flights have been booked and it's the only time my daughter has a long enough university break. We are going for three weeks in July. I guess we just have to make the most of it. This Japan trip seems the most difficult to plan. I am still plogging along slowly. Thanks for your input.

Has anyone rented a car from Takayama before? My husband thinks that it's a good option instead of taking the trains/bus to get to Magome because of our bags. I googled and there doesn't seem to be a car rental company in Takayama. Can anyone help, please? Thanks.

Orix/Toyota/Eki are three companies that have Takayama locations. I'm certain there are more. There will be a drop off charge in addition to rental fee if you don't return it to Takayama. Driving isn't so hard but may not be cost effective on that route. It is scenic and your freedom would be much more.

Also - the rain in June and July is usually not so bad I think. Winter always feels worse to me. By late July it stops raining and gets super hot - I prefer the rain. It doesn't tend to rain all day every day but sometimes there are days in a row with some rain. Occasionally a bucketing few days but not normally. This has been my experience in Kanazawa for 17 rainy seasons. Don't let it spoil your plans. Think of rain as good - saving you from the heat and making everything green.

Thanks heaps KimJapan. I will check out those three companies. Hope we will be able to find something. The other option is to send our bags down to the next big town which is probably Kanazawa. The only problem is will they keep our luggages for us without us checking in as we intend to stay in Magome for a night. Yes, I have warned my daughter and husband not to complain about the weather. Planning seems to be more difficult then I expected. Hope to really see some structure to it soon.

http://rent.toyota.co.jp/en/index.html

You can send your bags ahead no problem. It takes an overnight, and the hotel will hold for your arrival if necessary. Include arrival date on the shipping label. Hotel can assist.

Thank you so much hawaiiantraveler and KimJapan. You have all been so helpful. Appreciate it.

People keep commenting that we are doing too much in too short a time.

What do you guys think? I have made some hotel bookings but these can be altered.

Tokyo - 5 days
Nagoya - 1 day (to rest before going to ... )
Magome - 1 day
Takayama - 3 nights
Kanazawa - 2 nights
Kyoto - 4 nights
Osaka - 3 nights

It is a good itin.

Are you planning to walk the Nakasendo between Magome and Tsumago? Would you overnight in Tsumago or is it a day trip from Nagoya? One guidebook suggest that visiting Magome and Takayama in the same trip aren't worthwhile because the sights are similar, so without doing the walk/hike Magome might not be worthwhile unless you have your sights set on a particular ryokan.

It is not necessary to stop in Nagoya, but if you do then be aware that there are a couple of sites nearby that are very much worth visiting. Inuyama castle for one, could be combined on a day trip with Gifu castle. Inuyama castle and the ochaya on the way are an easy visit. Gifu-jo involves a bit of an uphill hike after going up the ropeway. Neither castle is very from rail stations.

Visiting Ise Jingu is another option.

Would you be visiting Shirakawago from Takayama as a day trip? It is only 2.5 hours from Nagoya to Takayama so you would be able to do some sightseeing in Takayama that day. And then you have two full days there.

You could definitely add to Kanazawa.

I think Osaka is totally optional.

It depends on your priorities, but I must admit that I think 3 nights in Takayama would be too much for me. You might consider shifting one night to Kanazawa.

"One guidebook suggest that visiting Magome and Takayama in the same trip aren't worthwhile because the sights are similar.." quote from above post by mrwunrfl....

What guidebook was that? I hope it's not one of the ones I usually recommend. Makes no sense to me at all - Magome is a teeny tiny town - cute, yes but takes maybe 15 minutes to see it and Takayama is a small city where there is quite a bit to see....I agree two nights there better than three....
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6076.html

I thought it was frommers but I've read so many. Basically the idea was that a stroll through Magome to see a street of historic buildings is much what you can see in the historic district of Takayama.

Mara, in addition to making the comment you quoted, I also asked a few questions about why the OP put Magome on the itinerary. Day trip? Nakasendo? Just writing "Magome - 1 day" suggests a night there, but I just don't have much of a clue about why that place was chosen and why the OP thinks a day "to rest" in Nagoya is a good idea.

As far as Takayama goes, I am also asking about the OP's plan, if there is a plan. I can't say 2 nights is enough in Takayama because I am assuming that the OP put some thought into making it a 3-night stop.

Forgot to mention the cormorant fishing in Gifu. It is at night but it is only 20 minutes from Gifu to Nagoya.

Going to Magome just for the ryokan and stopping over in Nagoya because I don't want to rush from Tokyo straight to Magome. Can I ask what's or who is OP? OK I may cut short our stay in Takayama and add a day to Kanazawa. Thanks for your help.

OP = original poster, i.e., you!

Any particular reason you picked Magome instead of Tsumago, oinkoink - not a real charming screen name...lol....I did the walk/hike from Magome to Tsumago and to me Tsumago seemed nicer and a little more to see.....
I recollect Magome having the bus station and then one really steep street that I had to walk up with my suitcase as I was having it transported to Tsumago.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6075.html

We are meeting up with some friends for a stayover at the Ryoken thus Magome. yes screem name isn't the most charming...mrwunrfl - Flying back to Sydney from Osaka so thought I'll stay a couple of days there. In your opinion should I shorten the stay and add a day to Kyoto?

I would skip the overnight in Nagoya and go straight to Magome. Sometimes stark contrasts are a good thing.

Yes, I agree that three nights in Takayama would be overkill. Good idea to add a night in Kanazawa. I like your Osaka/Kyoto split of days. I happen to like Osaka which is in the minority on this board I realize. Didn't really visit Osaka till after several trips to Japan because of that opposite view and when we did I wondered why we hadn't done it long before.

Opposite yet informed views make this site one of the webs most reliable imho.
BTW I love your screen name

Aloha!

Thank you Hawiiantraveler for being so generous and gracious with your remarks. I do appreciate it and thanks for your input

oinkoink, now I understand your stop in Magome, thanks for explaining.

Is your date in Magome fixed - in order to meet up with your friends that day? If that is the case, then I understand the stop in Nagoya.

What your itin needs is another night, at least, in Kanazawa.

You can get an extra day for Kanazawa by taking it from Osaka. You can travel from Kyoto to your Osaka airport.

If you don't have a plan for 3 nights in Takayama then you certainly can make it a two night stay. Leave Magome as late as you like and the train schedule allows, and you will have a full day plus a morning (or more) in Takayama.

Are you interested in visiting Shirakawago?

You might take one of the Takayama nights and spend in Shirakawa-go.

Yes, my date for Magome is fixed. I have changed my itinerary to:
Takayama - 2 days (making a day trip to Shirakawago) and Kanazawa - 3 days. From the three days in Osaka, we will make a day trip to Nara.

To save time and not backtrack, you can stop off at S-go when you leave Takayama (take first bus) and go to Kanazawa from there (last bus). There are lockers in the info center, or you could send your baggage to Kanazawa (takes overnight) and not even worry about it. Eat at Irori in S-go. Have the tofu steak lunch. Then later get the croquet and meat on a stick from the sake shop (you can't miss it, it's the only one).

>>Takayama - 2 days<<

Meaning Takayama - 2 nights with a day trip to Shirakawago.

That means that the first day you will spend some time with your friends and then travel about 4 hours (including bus) from Magome to Takayama and spend the night. Next day, take a day trip to S-go and return to Takayama for the night. Day after that travel from Takayama to Kanazawa (leave 2PM or 3:10 PM at the latest if taking the train).

That squeezes your time in Takayama. Which is ok. If you take KimJapan's good advice then: first day travel Magome to Takayama, second day in Takayama, third day travel to Shirakawago and on to Kanazawa.

In any case, this is much better than your original plan.

A tweak I will suggest to leave Tokyo a day earlier.

Look into staying at the Marriott Associa in Nagoya. It is on top of Nagoya station, IIRC.

Thanks KimJapan and mrwunrfl...you have both been most helpful. I will do what you have suggested