The two obvious answers are late March to early May and late October to early December. Both are correct and both are busy. The more useful question is what you want the trip to be about, because Japan's seasons are unusually distinct and each one closes some doors and opens others.

Cherry blossom is a moving target

Sakura opens in Kyushu in the third week of March and reaches Hokkaido in early May, moving north at roughly 30km a day. In Tokyo and Kyoto, the usual window is the last week of March to the first week of April, and full bloom lasts about ten days if the weather is kind and three if it rains.

Forecasts are published from January and revised weekly. If blossom is the reason for the trip, book flexible accommodation and be prepared to shift cities by a few hundred kilometres — the difference between Tokyo and Kanazawa can be a week.

Autumn colour is more forgiving

Momiji moves in the opposite direction, from Hokkaido in late September to Kyushu in early December. Kyoto peaks in the third and fourth weeks of November. Unlike blossom, the colour holds for two to three weeks and the shoulder days are still beautiful, which makes planning much easier.

Maple leaves turning deep red above a temple path in Kyoto
Kyoto's colour peaks in the third and fourth weeks of November.

Month by month

  • January–February. Cold, dry and clear. Best value of the year, excellent skiing, snow monkeys, and Fuji visible from Tokyo on most winter mornings.
  • March. Cold early, blossom late. Prices climb from the middle of the month.
  • April. Blossom then fresh green. Golden Week starts on 29 April — after that, prices and crowds spike.
  • May. Arguably the best month: warm, dry, green, and the first half is quiet once Golden Week ends.
  • June. Rainy season from around the second week. Hydrangeas, few tourists, low prices.
  • July. Hot, humid, festival season. Gion Matsuri fills Kyoto for most of the month.
  • August. Hottest and most crowded domestically. Obon in the middle of the month is best avoided entirely.
  • September. Typhoon risk peaks. Cheap, hot, unpredictable.
  • October. Excellent. Dry, mild, colour beginning in the north.
  • November. Peak autumn colour and peak crowds in Kyoto. Worth it if you book early.
  • December. Early December still has colour; after that it becomes cold, clear and quiet until New Year.

The quiet months nobody books

Late January, early February and mid-June are the least crowded periods with reasonable weather. February in particular is underrated: dry, bright, cheap, and Fuji shows itself far more often than in summer haze.

If you want temples without queues, this is the trade you make — cold mornings for empty gardens.

Weather by region

Japan spans 3,000km, so "Japan in February" means different things. Hokkaido is deep snow; Okinawa is 19°C and swimmable by April. Tokyo and Kyoto have similar patterns, but Kyoto sits in a basin, which makes its summers hotter and its winters colder than the coast.

For where to go once you have picked a month, start with the complete Japan travel guide.