Summary of what is the best months to go for activities

Hi all, wrote this for a friend so I thought that I can also share here.

This is just a rough guide as Japan can have heavy snow in Hokkaido and Tohoku while Okinawa,Naha is still summer,  the exact time frame still depend on each year’s weather and where will you be going. 

 If you want snow is mid Dec 

If you want to ski is late Dec 

If you want to see snow fest is mid Jan 

If you want snow sleigh and advance ski is early Jan and Feb

If you want Sakura is late march

If you want to see snow wall is mid April 

If you want to see flower blooming is from late April  onwards 

If you want to ski when weather is warm is early May

If you love food and want to picnic is June 

If you love trekking is July 

If you want to see lavender and melon field is July 

If you want to see best fireworks is in august

If you want to see maple leaves is from Sept 

if you want fruit picking is from Oct.

If you want to experience green to light snow is mid Nov. 

First timer’s dilemma

 First time and not sure where to go?

Must you will have to decide which region as there are really a lot to share across the 9 regions, 47 prefectures. 

if you are near Nagoya, go to Gifu ,  hida furakawa, shiragawa-go.  

Edo themed is usually commercialise,  you can visit toei movie village in Kyoto. 

In Kyoto, there are a lot of known and unknown areas to explore especially outskirt ones nearer to the mountains. 

Mt koya,  Shoshazan good places to explore the untouched temples in the mountains.  Mt Rokko is the other one. 

But if you in Nagoya, go to Meiji mura then.

It’s preserved buildings and culture, even items , uniform etc are Meiji era . 

Karuizawa is another one to explore walking around the whole central and more to explore into the outskirts. 

Nikko known for its beauty within nature , temples and onsen. 

Toyama another than the alpine route, it has one of the beautiful waterfalls. 

Hiroshima has sandankyo gorge is beautiful but check the bus ride in as it’s 1 way in once only in the morning and 1 way out in the afternoon.  Taxi fare is high as very far. 

Iwakuni best known for the bridge Kintaikyo but it has a beautiful mountain and historic royal site and museums , nature to explore. 

My advise is keep to 1 region and explore wholesomely as there are many unknown to tourists but they are really beautiful places.

Gunkanjima in Nagasaki

Other than the popular atomic bomb sites in Nagasaki ,  this is getting known - battleship island or called gunkanjima, originally is called Hashima island.  The island looked like a battle ship from far. 

Need to take guided tour as is a ruin of a mining industry from late 1890 up to WWII.

The interesting thing is it was able to draw sea water and filter to be drinking water then in 1895, more than 220 years ago.  There are more technologies and equipments used that are so advanced. 

There were public facilities like post office, elementary and junior high schools, a movie theatre, a billiard hall, a ping-pong hall, a board game place, a mahjong hall, and other entertainment facilities. There was also a bar.

Credit: Picture from google 

But as Nagasaki gov didn’t plan to maintain or renovate the island, it’s slowly becoming dangerously potential collapsing buildings with the strong sea current .  

They have started to seal off some areas for falling debris from the buildings.  

Might totally banned entry in years to come.

Somewhere interesting in Tokyo and Kansai

 Just a list for anyone who wants not so touristy places:

Kansai :

Spain village in mie,  near Kyoto

Toei movie theme park, Kyoto 

Meiji village,  Gifu

Haiyukan aquarium , osaka

Kobe , Hyogo,  near osaka

Mt Rokko

Astro boy museum ,  Hyogo

Himeji castle

Himeji turtle rescue centre

In Tokyo metropolis and surrounding :

Ikebukuro Sun Plaza 

Gyoza museum

Yokohama cup noodle museum

Ramen museum

Yokohama port 

Odaiba 

Museums

Diver city Gundam 

Factory outlet 

Hakkeijima

Aquarium 

Theme park 

Ghibli museum

Mitaka

Inokashira park and zoo

Kichijoji

Where to go in Hiroshima

 Kure Yamato museum 

Miyajima - torii, aquarium , walk deeper into the island, there are many heritage temples , rope cable up mountain.  Food , buskers , deers 

Iwakuni - heritage Royal graveyard , white snake museum,  rope cable up to mountain, old street,  summer festival and food store along the river 

Rabbit island - Ōkunoshima

Kintaigyo 

Sandankyo

Onomichi

A dome, peace park, peace memorial museum

Tomonoura

Okonomiyaki Mura

Hiroshima castle

Knowing Tokyo in summary

 Within Tokyo 

Traditional Asakusa , asakusabashi, Ueno, kawagoe 

Mixed modern 

Harajuku , Meiji shrine, Omotesando , ameyoko

Neighbourhood 

Mitaka, kichijoji , Ikebukuro , Kawasaki 

High end shopping

Ginza , Roppongi 

Reclaimed land ( full of activities) 

Odaiba

Hakkeijima 

Night active area/ shopping area 

Shibuya 

Shinjuku , kabukichio

Outskirt of Tokyo 

Traditional 

Kamakura 

Nikko

Narita

Hitachi

Modern

Yokohama 

Omiya

Waterfalls, nature and into the past recommendations

 Non tourism area across the 9 regions, 47 prefectures. 

if you are near Nagoya, go to Gifu ,  hida furakawa, shiragawa-go.  

Edo themed is usually commercialise,  you can visit toei movie village in Kyoto. 

In Kyoto, there are a lot of known and unknown areas to explore especially outskirt ones nearer to the mountains. 

Mt koya,  Shoshazan good places to explore the untouched temples in the mountains.  Mt Rokko is the other one. 

But if you in Nagoya, go to Meiji mura then.

It’s preserved buildings and culture, even items , uniform etc are Meiji era . 

Karuizawa is another one to explore walking around the whole central and more to explore into the outskirts. 

Nikko known for its beauty within nature , temples and onsen. 

Toyama another than the alpine route, it has one of the beautiful waterfalls. 

Hiroshima has sandankyo gorge is beautiful but check the bus ride in as it’s 1 way in once only in the morning and 1 way out in the afternoon.  Taxi fare is high as very far. 

Iwakuni best known for the bridge Kintaikyo but it has a beautiful mountain and historic royal site and museums , nature to explore. 

My advise is keep to 1 region and explore wholesomely as there are many unknown to tourists but they are really beautiful places.

What to do around Hiroshima region

 Hiroshima is a very huge and beautiful place to visit.  Many people just go to A bomb and peace park.  Museums are gem !  Hiroshima castle too.

Islands linked to WWII,  the rabbit island and the island where chemical warfare researches were done which are safe to visit. 

Yamato museum in Kure being the best marine design and technology then.  

Not only that , there’s isle islands which are breathtaking. 

City of Hiroshima,  Kure, outskirt to Iwakuni, Onomichi 

There are really heritage and yet not even tourism related,  100 years historic town - Tomonoura. ( need to bring drink and snacks as it’s totally a town left in the past )

Not to mention Miyajima that is not only the heritage coastal, low tide torii, it has aquarium,  cable to visit the mountains and then many other heritage temples that are out of tourism territory!

Iwakuni other than Kintaigyo, has a huge area of many interesting places like royal burial site, the white snake museum , the cable up the beautiful mountain etc etc.

Food: okonomiyaki,  oysters during year end,  yakisoba,  maple cake .

If you have time, explore  Yamaguchi, Okayama,  shimane, totorii too. They are the forgotten places yet they have really beautiful garden,  places of interests too.  

In Okayama,  kurashiki (water village). Walking distant from Okayama jr station, you walk pass the old shopping street before reaching Kurashiki . Very interesting history and different food and shops too.

Exploring Tohoku

 If anyone wants to explore Tohoku, 

omiya , utsunomiya, Nikko,  Sendai,  gunma, Yamagata, Aomori, Akita, nagano are good places for snow and even for spring trekking. Cooling in summer. 

Nikko is a heritage and place where there’s red bridge for good marriage, other than the temples.

Very quiet place and with good onsen establishments along the way to the temples. 

 Utsukoshi and omiya has interesting food . Both have great Sakura viewing unknown to most. 

Anime related places

Kyoto toei movie park has a building for anime exhibitions.

Traditionally, Kurayoshi City, 665 km from Tokyo, has been known for its “retro” white-walled storehouses. 1000 figurines .

Shinobi Village- attraction of Nijigen no Mori, an outdoor anime theme park on Awaji Island.

 Ishinomaki Mangattan Museum

Yokote Masuda Manga Museum

Ikebukuro in Toshima-ku is popular as "Manga Town" because in the past, great Japanese cartoonists such as Tezuka Osamu, Ishinomori Shotaro and Akatsuka Fujio lived here. In the area connecting Shiinamachi Station, Higashinagasaki Station and Ochiaiminaminagasaki Station, there was an apartment house "Tokiwa-so" where young great future cartoonists lived, so there is a street called "Tokiwa-so Street", which has become a tourist spot.

This seemed to be an event annually:

Kyoto International Manga Anime Fair 2023

Knowing Tokyo and Osaka better

 I know many are new to Japan and want to enjoy the best experience during their trips.

There are many places to visit and explore other than the normal tourist spots. Sometimes, it might not be as stressful as trying to get all the best reservations yet the blood pressure shot up as it was so hard . 

The best places, best hotels, best attractions and best food might not just be in the list that 60% shared here .

Therefore wanting to introduce Japan more thoroughly, I will list the below for more to enjoy Japan.

If you are in Tokyo,  please explore chiba, Narita ( it’s not only the airport), Kamakura, mitaka, hitachi, odaiba, omiya, Ikebukuro, Hachioji, Kichijoji, Kawasaki, Kawagoe, Asakusabashi,Yokohama. 

If you enjoy walking around, ueno to Ameyoko walk to Asakusa ,Asakusabashi, there’s the oldest theme park very near to Sensoji in Asakusa. There are very small stores 2-3 streets away from Sensoji that sell unique hand craft items.

Walking from Meiji Shrine, Harajuku,  Takeshita, Ometesando to Roppongi.  There are museums and good restaurants without the need to make reservations. 

You can even walk to Akihabara.

At Kawasaki

There’s Toshiba Science museum ,

Akachan Honpo (kid one stop mega store) , 

Kawasaki Aquarium 

Yodobashi

Plenty of good food  especially the underground link .

There’s an old huge shopping street area to explore too. 

There’s Kiyose Sunflower Festival near Ikebukuro 

Where to buy souvenirs:

Asakusabashi

Okashi no Machioka

Niko no Kashi

Tirol Chocolate

Gyumo

Flea markets 

Food wise

Omoide Yokocho

Market of the Sun (kachidoki station - second Sat & Sun of the month) 

Flea markets 

Not forgetting there are really plenty of good food range from Japanese food, Japanese western to desert etc that do not need reservations. 

If you are in Osaka,  other than Kyoto, Nara, there’s Hyogo where nature parks are beautiful, wakayama, Mie, Himeji, Kobe, tomonoura.  Mt Rokko, namba , umeda,  Takarazuka, Arima Onsen,  Shirahama.

A little further, there’s Hiroshima,  Okayama, iwakuni, onomichi, miyajima, Shimanami.

Byodin 

Uji

Hieizan

Enryakuji temple

Mt Koya

Toei movie park

Spain village ( theme park in mie)

Shoshazan 

Enryoji temple

American mura, linking to namba , donbori , shonsainashi. There’s a super long walking underground city to explore. 

Can actually walk from namba to Osaka castle with the museum and plenty of restaurants and cafe along the way. 

Some of the interesting islands: 

Island of rabbits :

Okinoshima

Island of cats: 

Aoshima 

Island of fox:

Zao fox village

Island of dogs:

Inujima

Island of battleship:

Hashima or also known as Gunkanjima

There are so much more to see and do other than what I have wrote and what are commonly known and shared.

Good winter clothing tips

 

The following to consider: 

Not just keep warm but dry. Sweating will cause cold / flu and fall sick.

Winter jacket/ wool jacket ,  insulated jacket ( Uniqlo winter thin yet warm heat tech type)

Heat tech turtle neck inner layer ( protect neck, keeping warm and reduce coughing ) 

Sweater 

Jean with winter layer/ inner fleece

Or thick water proof pant plus a heat tech tights( unisex)

A good pair of  waterproof & anti slip boots 

Cotton sock / synthetic socks ( wool will be too much and sweaty, no good to be sweating) if you’re wearing winter boots with thick layered.  Sneakers and sport shoes will need thicker socks.

Ski glove with good grip

Scarf 

Hand and body lotion as very dry.  Use after bathing or washing hands. Not forgetting lip gloss/ lip palm and facial cream.

Gala yuzawa on Dec - Feb and other recommendations

Temperature then in Tokyo is 0-10

Gala yuzawa is -10 to O .

Can consider Nagano , Tohoku : Aomori 

Mt Gassan 

Shizukushi

Hachimantai

Appi Kogen 

I used Jr regional Pass when travelling over. 

Instead of just go to gala yuzawa, can go to echigo-yuzawa. It’s the spa town where you can eat and then go wait at the bus stop with free foot spa beside . Bus Timing I remembered is every 30 mins . 

Then return directly from gala yuzawa. 

Choose a hotel that is clean yet cheap, might need walking distance from train station to keep it affordable. Can be in Tokyo  or in Tohoku. If you can afford onsen, can consider staying in yuzawa itself . 

Food in Tokyo is easy as there’re plenty of small restaurants ( yoshinoya / sukiya) , chain or self own store around. 

Can grab bento and eat in bullet train on the way up. 

Buy from supermarket / bento store . Can be as cheap as 300-500 yen with wide variety. 

Exploring Japan other than the tourist areas

 I know many are new to Japan and want to enjoy the best experience during their trips.

There are many places to visit and explore other than the normal tourist spots. Sometimes, it might not be as stressful as trying to get all the best reservations yet the blood pressure shot up as it was so hard . 

The best places, best hotels, best attractions and best food might not just be in the list that 60% shared online. 

Therefore wanting to introduce Japan more thoroughly, I will list the below for more to enjoy Japan.

If you are in Tokyo,  please explore chiba, Narita ( it’s not only the airport), Kamakura, mitaka, hitachi, odaiba, omiya, Ikebukuro, Hachioji, Kichijoji, Kawasaki, Kawagoe, Asakusabashi,Yokohama. 

If you enjoy walking around, ueno to Ameyoko walk to Asakusa ,Asakusabashi, there’s the oldest theme park very near to Sensoji in Asakusa. There are very small stores 2-3 streets away from Sensoji that sell unique hand craft items.

Walking from Meiji Shrine, Harajuku,  Takeshita, Ometesando to Roppongi.  There are museums and good restaurants without the need to make reservations. 

You can even walk to Akihabara.

At Kawasaki

There’s Toshiba Science museum ,

Akachan Honpo (kid one stop mega store) , 

Kawasaki Aquarium 

Yodobashi

Plenty of good food  especially the underground link .

There’s an old huge shopping street area to explore too. 

Where to buy souvenirs:

Asakusabashi

Okashi no Machioka

Niko no Kashi

Tirol Chocolate

Gyumo

Flea markets 

Food wise

Omoide Yokocho

Market of the Sun (kachidoki station - second Sat & Sun of the month) 

Flea markets 

Not forgetting there are really plenty of good food range from Japanese food, Japanese western to desert etc that do not need reservations. 

If you are in Osaka,  other than Kyoto, Nara, there’s Hyogo where nature parks are beautiful, wakayama, Mie, Himeji, Kobe, tomonoura.  Mt Rokko, namba , umeda,  Takarazuka, Arima Onsen,  Shirahama.

A little further, there’s Hiroshima,  Okayama, iwakuni, onomichi.

Byodin 

Uji

Hieizan

Enryakuji temple

Mt Koya

Toei movie park

Spain village ( theme park in mie)

Shoshazan 

Enryoji temple

Porto Europe ( theme park in wakayama)

Wakayama Marina City ( theme park in wakayama)

American mura, linking to namba , donbori , shonsainashi. 

Can actually from namba to Osaka castle with the museum and plenty of restaurants and cafe along the way. 

If anyone wants to explore Tohoku, omiya , utsunomiya,

Nikko,  Sendai,  gunma, Yamagata, Aomori, Akita, nagano are good places for snow and even for spring trekking. Cooling in summer. 

Nikko is a heritage place where there’s red bridge for good marriage, other than the temples.

Very quiet place and with good onsen establishments along the way to the temples. 

 Utsukoshi and omiya have interesting food . Both have great Sakura viewing unknown to most.

There are so much more to see and do other than what I have wrote and what are commonly known and shared. 

Where to go if you want to visit Osaka or Kansai

Places to go :

Kaiyukan aquarium &
Tempozan

2 huge factory outlets

Mt rokko

Kobe  -> shopping , good food , walking trail

Umeda

Himeji castle and heritage trail

Himeji turtle rescue aquarium

Central Park and safari

Nara is famous shrines

Shima Spain village

Wakayama whale museum

‘70 expo park

Kyoto toei movie park plus TOP 20 Temples and shrines ( there are actually 5,000 to visit ) , bamboo forest .

Takarazuka

Can go Nagoya for Doraemon park and Legoland which are newly opened .

Kyushu itinerary v3 8 days

First day travel directly to Kagoshima

Second day to sakurajima

Third day  Sengan en And Kagoshima City Aquarium

Fourth day travel from
kagoshima to Nagasaki to Omura Park

Fifth day Huis Ten Bosch

Sixth day Chinatown , Peace park and museum then travel from Nagasaki to
back to Fukuoka

Seventh day kashiikaen Sylvanian Garden, Daizaifu Tenmangu, Canal City Mall

Eighth day departure

Kyushu itinerary v2 8 days

First day Hakata Arrival

Second day  Maizuru Park and Tochoji temple , Canal City Hakata

Third day Dazaifu Tenmangu

Fourth & Fifth day either Yufuin or Beppu for onsen ryokan

Sixth day mountain Aso

Seventh day Huis Ten Bosch , Nagasaki

Eighth day Departure

Kyushu itinerary v1 for 8 days

First day arrival , check in and explore the surrounding

Second day  Space world in Kitakyushu

Third & Fourth day Beppu Onsen ryokan stay ( Takegawara / kankaiji/ hoyoland/ hamada )

 Fifth day : Huis Ten Bosch in Nagasaki

Sixth day yakushima ,Kagoshima

Seventh sakurajima in Kagoshima

Eighth day departure

Another 10 days itinerary for Sapporo and nearby towns

1st day arrival
2nd day visit flower tower , odori, central seafood wholesale or nijo for snow crab , seafood.
If going Central at jr Station:  soen . Just outside the station is a sushi restaurant . The lunch set is good n cheap.

When walking to the whole sale, there’s a cheap veg n fruit store, can buy the fruits .

Then go Naebo, go to beer museum and Aeon Mall .

3rd day go Noboribetsu. NiXe ( aquarium for Penguin March at 11 am and 2:30. There are many shows , just follow the schedule given ) . If got extra time , can go Noboribetsu bear park which is on top of the a mountain so need to take cable car up.

4th day dec otaru got otaru canal walk and visit different factories .

5th & 6th day ski resort ... either to rusutsu , Niseko ( super crowded ), teine or can go onsen ryokan

7th day
Morning :
Hitsujigaoka hill observatory . Can see the whole landscape of Sapporo. Free foot spa , there are exhibitions .

Afternoon : white lover’s chocolate factory . Buy Bentoss bento for dinner ( exit 5 of the train station , just up the escalator )

8th day. Hokkaido museum learning history , workshop at basement . There’s a eco friendly theme room for kids to explore .
( ticket promo if buying with Hokkaido historic village is moved the original Meiji building to the next mountain which is just a bus stop away. Very far distant as from 1 mountain to another . If snow heavily and thick, might hv snow sleigh )

9th day
odori , susukino, red government headquarter , etc and

Shopping day at outlet in kita- Hiroshima , shin-Sapporo or even tanukikoji ( a very long stretch covered old traditional lane. Daiso is next to tanokukoji 2. The biggest in Japan)

evening for winter illumination and winter fair

10th day departure .

10 days itinerary to Naha , Okinawa

for young kids and elderly

First day arrival in Naha , makishi market

2nd day. Shureimon , shurijo castle, Futenma shrine and kokusaidori

3rd day  either go to Ishigaki island or

Beach in Naha can choose several as they are beautiful. Naminoie beaxh or  Toyosaki beach

4th day  : Okinawa world

5th day: urasoesho museum and urasoe castle

6th day : Nago Island . Fruit land , marine park

7th day :Okinawa chiraumi aquarium

8th day :  Gyoku sendo cave

9th day  cape Hedo

10th day : departure