When to go


The best times to visit Japan are spring and autumn, when temperatures are milder. Early summer (May and June) brings heavy monsoon rains – tsuyu. The following months are pleasant on the mountain but very humid in the flat areas. Autumn has the added advantage of providing a fabulous reddish-yellow natural landscape that precedes leaf fall. From mid-December to March, it is most likely to find a snowy landscape with temperatures that can drop well below zero degrees, especially on the island of Hokkaido and in the higher altitude villages of the Japanese mountains.