oinkoink

Thinking of going to Japan in June/July. Thought I will check the weather even before I start planning. Unfortunately it is the rainy season. Has anyone been to Japan during this period? Should we even consider going during time of year? Cheers

hawaiiantraveler

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!

oinkoink

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

hawaiiantraveler

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!

oinkoink

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?

lcuy

Book Japan style rooms.

oinkoink

Thanks for the suggestion Lcuy. Cheers

mrwunrfl

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).

oinkoink

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?

KimJapan

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.

oinkoink

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

oinkoink

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?

hawaiiantraveler

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!

oinkoink

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.

oinkoink

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

mrwunrfl

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/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.

oinkoink

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.

oinkoink

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.

KimJapan

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.

KimJapan

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.