Known as one of the most famous tourist attractions in the world, particularly in Asia, Japan receives millions of visitors every year. And although the country has different beauty in different seasons throughout the year, it is usually worth visiting the most at specific times.

In this article, we will suggest you the best occasions to explore Japan. There will be handy tips, especially for people who do not always have a chance to travel to this wonderful country.

Scroll down to learn!

From February to March

All of us here know that Japan is famous for its national flower – cherry blossoms! However, not everybody has known about another fascinating substitute – plum blossoms. These look nearly the same as cherry blossoms but produce flowers at different times.

Plum trees often give out their eye-catching flowers at the end of February or at the beginning of March. In Japan, they are the typical sign for the end of winter and the beginning of spring.

In my opinion, the plum blossoms have a more vibrant and strong color. Meanwhile, cherry flowers are light pink and somewhat more dainty.

Thanks to their late emergence at the end of winter, you can enjoy the pretty weather and peaceful atmosphere. Because at this time there are not too many visitors and plum blossoms are not as famous as cherry blossoms to foreigners, you can have a unique experience without being stuck in crowds.

To enjoy the eye-opening scenes of plum forests, you can go to Tokyo, Kyoto, or the Kairaku-en garden in Mito. It will take you a few hours to reach Mito from Tokyo by train, but once you get there, you have the chance to explore local pottery in nearby Kasama.

From April to May

For a far less crowded place to view cherry blossoms, let’s leave Kyoto and take a journey to the north of Japan. Here, in the northern provinces, the cherry blossom season arrives later than in Kyoto, normally between late April and early May.

Any town in Tohoku features beautiful cherry blossoms as they are in Kyoto. However, these areas are not flooded with buses of tourists as well as the high service prices.

In the northern cities of Akita, Sendai, and Aomori, you can also achieve the same pleasure. Other stunning views are located in Kakunodate. It is an ancient town of samurais and is also known for thousands of cherry trees along its streets.

There are up to more than twenty variants of cherry trees with different blooming times in this region of Japan. As a result, the cherry blossom season there lasts longer than anywhere in the world.

Moreover, during this occasion, all the trees will lit up with bright, enticing led lights from twilight until 10 pm.

And if you can stay here until the last Sunday of April, the cherry blossom festival is a festival you have to see no matter what. It only takes place only once a year at this time. This means if you miss it, you will have to wait another 12 months to be able to contemplate this enchanting scenery again.

From October to November

Do you love autumn leaves? Let’s head the south. In fall (mid-November), you can view bodacious autumnal colours in Hiroshima and Shikoku.

There are a lot of awesome spots to enjoy the spectacular changing of seasons in Japan. We recommend that you ought to visit Kosanaji Temple in Onomichi. It is a small fishing town near the seashore. You can try the Temple Walk, simply relax, or ride a bike to the Shimanami Kaido and Shikoku later to even enhance your experience.

Late in November

If you fancy contemplating impressive light displays, late November is a perfect choice for you with Winter Illuminations.

These light festivals held all over the country from late November to December come with a large number of events around.

Among them all, the ones that I strongly recommend are the Ashikaga Flower Fantasy in Tochigiand the ‘Midosuji Illumination’ in Osaka.

It is worth spending some extra travelling hours to enjoy massive LED screens that change to creative images consecutively, light shows with crazy-driving music; light channels, and many more!

What to wear while in Japan?

In general, the weather in Japan is quite mild and comfortable all year round. Depending on the seasons you intend to go there and the weather condition information that you can obtain from apps, you can bring with you the most suitable seasonal clothes.

Perhaps what a majority of us need to care about is what kind of fashion we should wear there. As most Japanese will not care much about your dressing style, you can wear anything as long as they are not too ridiculous or offensive.

In fact, a large number of young Japanese have quite weird accessories and clothing on their bodies. But it is a unique culture of this country to cosplay on the streets. You can meet famous characters from films, novels, and animes everywhere.

Thus, going to Studio Ghibli Merchandise and ordering some lovely anime-theme clothes, accessories, and items, and many other interesting things can also be a good idea. With these kinds of stuff, you can not only immerse yourself in the famous culture of Japanese but also look nice and fashionable!

Final Words

As we said, you can enjoy stunning scenes, scrumptious delicacies, friendly natives and exceptional culture in Japan anytime you want. However, we recommend these greatest times in the year mainly for those who do not always have time and opportunity to visit Japan all year round.

That said, if you are always up to ear and your working schedule does not facilitate any trip during the aforementioned times, you do not have to cancel your vacation plan. Japan is a fascinating country and I am sure that it always has something mesmerizing awaiting you at anytime. But if your plan can be more flexible, try to follow our recommendations as many tourists agree that those are the greatest times to visit this country!

Do you still have any questions or just merely want to share something related to this topic? If you do, feel free to leave your comment below this post.

Thanks for reading!