The YouTube algorithm just gave me this surprisingly informative video on good/bad times to travel to Japan, particularly with regard to crowding. I learned some new things: such as monitoring services that give real time web information on crowds at various sites, and there are now restrictions on unreserved shinkansen seating at some crowded times.

Yes, those two things were interesting although I missed the name of the website....but, of course, if you go to some places early or late you might miss the crowds...

It may depend on how it shows up on your browser, but if you click on the YouTube label (left of the fullscreen icon) and then on the "more" link you get his list of websites.

The Kyoto congestion forecast is https://global.kyoto.travel/en/comfort/

From there, click on an area for details, and the webcam image is down the page. They all look pretty good right now: about 8am in Japan.

When I clicked on your link, it says 'Last update, August 29th'.....and upon reading one of the areas it says 'does not reflect real-time information'

This might be off the wall, but I tend to be a broken record on these things (a metaphor totally lost on anyone younger than 60) so here goes.

Member airlines in both the Star and Oneworld alliances sell round-the-world (RTW) air tickets that can be very good value in business class. These tickets are valid for a year and include up to 16 flight segments (takeoff and landing.) You must cross both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, going in the same direction, and (with a few exceptions) end in the same country where you started. There are lots of other rules, but nothing too onerous. You can generally stop over for any length of time at any of the cities included in the plan. Changing dates or even changing the overall itinerary is easy and quite inexpensive.

The Star Alliance (United, ANA, Singapore, Lufthansa, Air Canada et al) RTW products are priced according to how many miles are flown, with tiers ranging from 26,000 miles to 39,000. The main Oneworld RTW product is priced according to how many continents are touched in the course of the ticket, from 3 to 6, with no mileage limit. With the Oneworld ticket you're allowed up to four flights in each continent visited, but six in North America (which includes the Caribbean and Central America.)

In both alliances' cases, however, a key element in pricing is where the trip begins and ends, not the nationality of the traveler. The difference can be quite dramatic; for example a three-continent Oneworld RTW (North America, Europe, Asia) in business class has a base price of US$10,426 if travel begins and ends in the USA, but $4994 if travel begins and ends in Norway. (There will be fees and taxes added to those base prices depending on which airports you visit and on which specific airlines are used.) Needless to say, it can easily work out in one's favor to take a flight to someplace like Oslo in order to "capture" the lower airfare.

So imagine this. Let's say you decide on next autumn (2025) for your visit to Japan. Sometime between this autumn and next spring you figure out a way to get to Europe. On our first RTW the tickets were cheapest departing from Turkey, so we rode the Queen Mary II across the pond in April - very cheap for a one-way transatlantic crossing with flat beds. ;) Or maybe you have some frequent flyer miles available, whatever.

Stop in your (everyone's) beloved Paris then hop a cheap flight up to Norway, where you begin the RTW that you've booked and paid for before leaving home.

Fly home in business class and go about your lives. In the months before you're due in Japan, use some of the six eligible North American flights - all in business or first class - to go to... where? Mexico? Alaska? California? Costa Rica? Your choice.

Then it's time to head to Asia. Fly nonstop to Tokyo, or if you want to stop on the west coast or Hawaii, fine.

If you want to limit your Asia destinations to Japan, you can use Japan Airlines' (a Oneworld member) domestic routes to fly about - maybe Hokkaido for autumn color, whatever. Or, if you want to see more of Asia, use one or two of the four allotted "Asia" flight segments to visit... Singapore? Hong Kong? Kuala Lumpur? The Maldives?

You'd end up back in Europe (Norway) before the ticket turns into a pumpkin after one year. Paris again? Someplace sunny like Sicily? Again, you pick.

Here's an imaginary map showing one possible route, out of millions.

You'll have earned enough frequent flyer miles (as well as elite status) in the course of the trip to fly home in the pointy end, or just buy another RTW and hit the road again. Maybe Africa or Australia or South America this time?

The RTW will likely have cost less than a simple round trip from the east coast to Japan, and while you'll need to figure out how to get to Norway in the first place, consider you'd be getting, in essence, three or even four separate "vacation" experiences for the same price.

Like I say, maybe off the wall, but maybe worth some thought...

Mara: Oh dear, it seems I was rather credulous. As you say, these forecasts are not driven from current data. The webcams are live, however.

Gardyloo: I read that Japan is another cheap place to start a RTW. Can you confirm, and where do you look up the prices?

I have been trying to figure out a way to use a similar Star Alliance fare business class with flex ability for $5600 starting in Warsaw to Australia /New Zealand. I can only take so much time off and even though I have a year to complete the flights I find it to be difficult to do. It would be great when retired.

It's currently the cheapest or at least one of the cheapest places to start business class RTWs. The $4994 price ex-Norway would be $4532 ex-Japan (both with Oneworld; the Star prices are around $500 - $1000 more depending on the number of miles flown.) In general the Oneworld business class fares are cheaper across the board.

In economy, the differences are much less dramatic; they run around $2500 - $3000 from many points in Europe and Asia.

RTW fares aren't advertised because most countries and the EU require airfare advertising to include taxes and fees. This is impossible with RTW fares because the final number depends on variable national and local airport taxes, etc., and with so many possible routes, it's impractical to do so.

The base fares can be seen using a subscription service like Expert Flyer - ExpertFlyer.com - Empowering the Frequent Flyer .

Well, you could get quickly to Australia/NZ then come back to Europe and put the balance of the flights on hold, so to speak, until you have time to use them. For example, a 4-continent Oneworld business class RTW starting in Oslo has a base price of US$5524. You could fly Oslo - Doha - Sydney - Auckland - Los Angeles - London - Warsaw, then hold the ticket with two remaining Europe segments available, then maybe head to someplace like Spain or Scotland for a second (maybe short) holiday before ending back in Norway to finish the ticket. Just because you're traveling via the Atlantic and Pacific doesn't mean you have to make a year-long pilgrimage out of it.

we loved may. we flew out may 11.

tokyo 3 nights
takayama 3 nights (ryokan 2 nights here). visited hida folk village first day, second day we did an afternoon bike trip i the countryside with satoyama experience in hida furukawa, a beautiful preserved town, next day we hiked in kamikochi, final morning higashiyama trail before departing kyoto
kyoto - a week with day trips to himeji and nara
miyajima-2 nights. we visited hiroshima first day before getting ferry to miyajima. hightlight was a sunset kayak trip at high tide under the giant tory gate.
fukuoka-final night before we flew to busan, korea

it was only our first trip so we don't know any better but it was honestly almost perfect. Himeji underwhelmed us but we loved the gardens. May has azalea and iris blooming too and its so lush and green.