This one’s for you, Jack.

Jade’s Guide to Japan’s Seasons

Japan prides itself on having four seasons as some countries don’t have that pleasure, apparently. But when is the best time to visit Japan? Without further ado, here are the four Japanese seasons and what there is to see and do here during each one.

Spring

Perhaps spring is the best time to visit Japan for you! Spring is the happy time when all the plants and animals start to grow. It’s also the time in which you can quickly nip over to Japan to try and catch sight of the beautiful cherry blossom (Sakura 桜). However, be careful because cherry blossom season only lasts around two weeks. Recently, with climate change and all, no one seems to know exactly when the flowers will actually bloom. In Tokyo, they start to bloom around mid-March and this year (2019), they were still here until about mid-April. So smeg knows what’s going on. The cherry blossom blooms at different times across Japan, though, so if you arrive in Tokyo to find they’re not there yet or have already gone, check out another prefecture up north.

Cherry blossom season is great because, although it can still be quite nippy, it’s a brilliant time to pop to the park and see a bunch of Japanese people getting really drunk and merry under the trees. The Japanese do this every year, and it’s called Hanami (花見). Hanami literally means “flower watching”, and it’s basically an excuse to go get drunk in the middle of the day. Marvellous!

Summer

Summer! Ah, sweet summer! I love a good old European summer; however, it might not be the best time to visit Japan. Summer is horrifically hot and humid and will leave you drenched in your own sweat the second you step outside. It’s also the season when all the cicadas come out to play (late summer). We don’t have cicadas in the UK, so I was pretty terrified when I first saw them here. They are enormous flying insects that look like a mix between cockroaches and beetles. They also make an incredibly loud buzzing sound wherever you go, but rest assured, they are completely harmless.

There are good things about summer too, though, don’t worry! For a start, the humidity is only outside and all shops and restaurants have air conditioning. Secondly, in summer, there are loads of Japanese festivals (祭り – “matsuri”) and firework displays.

Japanese fireworks are amazing because, while in the UK, fireworks typically last about 15 minutes or so, here they last about an hour at least. Japanese people gather from all over the place to their local (or famous) firework displays and sit eating, getting drunk and chatting on picnic blankets while watching the night sky. Beautiful.

Autumn

This is a wonderful season to visit because the humidity starts to die down and you can actually go outside again. It might actually be the best time to visit Japan.

However, beware of typhoons as these start to hit around September. My family got caught in one when they visited in October 2017, though, so who knows.

The Japanese always become obsessed with the changing colours of the foliage at this time too. To be honest, there are some pretty stunning parks with special lighting to highlight the beauty of the autumn leaves. The Japanese always know how to highlight natural beauty.

The food is great in autumn too because Japanese restaurants usually have seasonal menus. These are my favourite months for nomming, but Japanese food is good all year round, so don’t panic.

Winter

Winter in Japan is cold but not as bad as in the UK. While the temperatures are about the same (0-10 degrees Celsius), it’s very sunny. Winter isn’t that rainy in Japan, so hurray!

There’s a really cool winter festival in Sapporo, Hokkaido that features huge intricate sculptures made of snow and ice. It only runs once a year, and this year (2020) it will run from the 4th-11th February.

There’s also the Shibu Onsen in Nagano. This is a natural hot spring for monkeys high in the mountains. They are super cute, so I highly recommend going to visit. Read more about Japanese hot springs and their dos and don’ts here.

If you plan on coming over during Christmas time, check out this article on how the Japanese celebrate Christmas for a heads up of what to expect.

Jade’s Recommendation

Personally, as I don’t like either freezing (winter) or sweating to death (summer), my favourite seasons are spring and autumn. This is because you can go out and do stuff without having to worry about the weather.

Spring (late April/May) or autumn (late September/early October) are the easiest times to travel and have fun, in my opinion. As you can see, though, every season has its own perks, so choose what suits you!

Hope this helped!

楽しんでください！

Jade xxx