Packing for Japan in Late March-Early April
 

Hello,

Me and my family are going to Japan on the 29th of March til 11th of April. We have everything booked and we know where we're going, but i'm unsure what to pack. I've been told thermal underwear is good and i don't want to have to carry around a massive jumper, but i don't want to be freezing cold!

Please help!!

Rebecca

Where are you going in Japan? Altitude and latitude can make a big difference. While top of a mountain and parts of Hokkaido have some snow, it's sub-tropical in Okinawa!

If you do need to pack something for cold weather, consider silk (long johns, camisole and/or turtleneck, gloves).

We're going to Tokyo, Miyajimi Island, hakuba, Kyoto, Hiroshima. THey're the main ones.

Thanks you!!

What's your age, your tolerance level to the cold ? I return to japan every year, one month earlier than when you go, mid-Feb to mid-Mar and stay most of the time in Tokyo area + a bit of travelling to, Kyoto, etc. When you go, it's spring time there. I wouldn't need a heavy jacket and I would feel quite uncomfortable wearing warm underwear in that periode, maybe except Hakuba/Nagano (where I have never been to). Consider thinner layers of clothes so you can adjust easily in case it gets chilly.

I found traveling around early April quite humid and starting to get uncomfortable. While the Japanese people were wearing sweaters, I was sweating just wearing a cotton shirt. It can also rain a lot for a long time. I always carry an umbrella and shoes suitable for walking in rainy weathers.

I'm 16 and living in the tropics of australia i'm exposed to very windy and rainy whether, but not much coldness. I think i'll have to get an umbrella, i've been told it will be very rainy..

Yeah, i wasn't sure about the thermals, i'm sure a protective coat and layers will be great.

Thank you everyone. =D

Lucky you! We went to Japan for the first 2 weeks of April 2008 and travelled from Tokyo all the way down to the tip of Kyushu (Kagoshima) and all the way back up through Hiroshima/ Miyajima, then the sea of japan area (Amino), Kyoto, and back to Tokyo. The weather was pleasant (50-65F) but there was a LOT of rain that year - we got drenched in Kumamoto and there was some sort of rain (mist, sprinkles, downpour) every where we went. So I would bring rainweather gear definitely.

Interestinglty, we hit Japan during the tsuyu (rainy season) in 2009 and got very little rain.

If you're like us and are active sightseers when on vacation, then you won't have any trouble keeping warm unless you are in the mountains or way north. We dressed in lightweight layers so we could take stuff off as the day warmed up--and we did have some Tokyo days that were very warm with all our walking around the first and third weeks of April. We did take windbreaker type light, waterproof jackets, and that's all we needed with the layers. Shirakawa-go and Takayama were much cooler of course, but even there we did not need gloves, scarves, wool caps, thermals.