My husband and I are traveling to Japan in late September/early October. I've been trying to track down places for us to stay, but many the booking systems are saying that rooms are unavailable for the times I'm searching. Are they truly booked up already, or do I need to wait a few months for the hotels to have their fall calendars available? I'm particularly anxious to book places (whether they be hotels or ryokan) in Kanazawa and Takayama), but I'm not having much luck in Kyoto either.

We're also tentatively staying in Shirakawa, Matsumoto, Hakone and obviously Tokyo. We would prefer not to stay at large chain hotels, but based on our searches, that may be our only options.

Could you clue me in? If you've stayed any places that you absolutely loved, please share.

Thanks in advance.

Hi internetwiz,

Here is the experience I had booking for this April, which is peak season. When I started planning last June I found that large hotel chains in Tokyo and Kyoto had availability, but very few small hotels or ryokan in smaller cities and towns. So I booked everything I could, even if it was not m y first choice, just to have something booked. About 6 months prior to my travel dates, I found that more hotels opened up everywhere but in Tokyo and Kyoto. Finally, about 3 months prior to my travel dates even more small hotels and inns opened up in the smaller cities in towns. In the end, I kept my Tokyo and Kyoto reservations but changed all my others as my preferred places opened up.

My take away from this is it pays to book early in Tokyo and Kyoto, but a lot of places don't even start taking reservations until 3 to 6 months out, so just keep checking. Hope that helps!

Thanks, russ_in_LA, that was kind of what I thought. I did hear back from a ryokan that I contacted directly. Once I firm up my dates a little better, I will nail down Toyko and Kyoto accommodations.

What russ_in_LA said.

Yeah, I did similar, I booked as much as I could find (via booking.com and a couple by Agoda though I prefer booking.com as no upfront payment. I only chose places with free cancellation up till a few days before check in date, which means if I did find availability in places I preferred, I could cancel the first booking easily.

My final choice Kyoto and Tokyo hotels I didn't book until late July, 3 months before our late October 2013 stay.

That said, I found that even in June, there was no accommodation available in Karatsu on the holiday weekend of 3 November. I even turned to Japanese Guest Houses who checked not only their usual list but enquired on any other options, and we came up with zero in the city itself. All booked up much farther in advance. But that was for a big holiday weekend in a city that hosts a popular festival.

My onsen ryokan booking for early November was also made in late July, via Japanese Guest Houses.