flatfeet

Hi all,

Planning to go to japan next year for about 10-14 days, thinking about Tokyo, Kyoto and Sapporo. We can go in March, April, May, or August. When would you suggest is best considering weather, festival calendars/things to do, and hotel prices? We're most interested in exploring local culture. Should be able to get airmile seats if booking ahead of time so airfare will matter less.

Thanks!

KimJapan

Forget about August. It's hot and humid...very. We have gone to Bangkok and Florida in August and found great relief from Kanazawa summer. Kyoto is hotter than Kanazawa.

March can be cold and rainy. April bring cherry blossoms, around the second week in Kanazawa, around the first week in Kyoto. Plum blossoms bloom a bit earlier. May is usually the nicest weather in my opinion. There are mostly clear days, neitiher too hot or too cold. Avoid the end of April/beginning of May as it's Golden Week...sightseeing is crowded and a week long holiday period means trains are crowdes, highways are jammed and hotel prices are up.

Hotel prices don't vary much by month, but do tend to be higher on Saturday nights and nights before holidays.

If you are interested in "local culture" you will want to get out of the 3 big cities you list.

cshellen

My order of preference would be:

April (cherry blossoms!)
Late March (sometimes cherry blossoms)
May (lots of festivals)
Early March
August (it's supposed to be horribly hot & humid there)

ozchinois

Early to mid April (sometimes late March for Tokyo) to catch the blossoms in Tokyo and Kyoto.

Barkinpark

With global warming, it's hard to tell when the sakura will blossom. For example, this year, blossoms appear more than a week earlier than normal. Historically, cherry trees blossom in the first week of April in Tokyo. However, blossoms showed up before the last week of March this year.

hawaiiantraveler

Don't know about global warming but I do know about La Nina and El Nino which does affect the weather in the Pacific and around the world.

We have been in an El Nino period the past couple of years and that is what caused the warmer temps this spring in Japan and the Pacific.

We are now in a La Nina period and have been for the past couple of months here in the Pacific.

You might want to check how the weather in Japan is during these La Nina episodes to check on the sakura blooming times.

Also check these links for blooming info

If you can come up with the right sakura time please let me know

http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/indexe.html

http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/indepth/seasonal/sakura2007/


<b>Festivals and events<b>

http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/festivals/index.html


Aloha!

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mrwunrfl

May is the best time, imo. The weather is nice everywhere. Go in mid to late May. There is a big festival in Tokyo at the time, one of the two biggest of the year, but I can't remember the name right now. You can catch the sumo tournament too, and it is baseball season. And it is not too hot so the hot springs are more enjoyable.

flatfeet

Thanks everyone! Ok will plan on April or May next year and will come back here for more trip advice.

flatfeet

Oh one more question – is the Sumo tournament month long or only during a few days each month? I read from some digging here that they happen during odd months, but does it matter if we're there at the beginning, middle or end of the month? Does anyone have link to a 2007 calendar and locations?

Thank you thank you!

KimJapan

Sumo schedule is here. http://www.sumo.or.jp/eng/ticket/nittei_hyo/index.html

mrwunrfl

Kokugikan is in Tokyo at Ryogoku subway stop. Aichi is the prefecture where Nagoya is.

flatfeet

Thanks!