Japan’s Fabulous Four-Season as experienced by my family and I
Japan is a place that can never fail you at any time of the year, if you know the trick. There are many factors to decide on when & where to go such as the seasons, festivals, nature and weather.
- Time- When to Go
There are tonnes of websites/blogs that give advices on the best time to visit Japan and I usually check them out too. From my experience, it depends on what your priorities and interests are.
For a full-time salary person like me, taking long holidays is almost impossible thus I have to make several shorter trips to Japan. Fortunately, Malaysia is not far from Japan and we have low-cost airline that provide competitive prices for flights into Japan. If you are studying, then you might want to spend longer time on a single trip but students usually have lower budget.
Japan claims that they are the only country with real four seasons. I would not go as far as saying so but they definitely incorporate seasons into their life, culture and practices. Each season provides distinctive landscape to the mountainous country and varying weather that the people adopt the changes into their food, clothes, hairstyle, activities and events. I have been to Japan during all four seasons: summer 夏 in 2007, spring 春 2009, autumn 秋 2011 and winter 冬 2013/14. Every season has its highlights but I can 100% say that I love Japan’s autumn the most solely for its 紅葉 (autumn foliage) even though the weather may not be the best. But I usually advises my friends who plan to visit just once (although I bet they will return the next time) to go in March/April which is just in time for 満開 (full bloom) of 桜子 (cherry blossoms) in the main attraction areas around Tokyo and Kyoto.
Another factor is the 祭り (festivals). Japan celebrates the beauty of nature, food, culture and togetherness through the many festivals. And they take them seriously. Festivals are usually held in temples, gardens/parks or throughout the towns for bigger events such as 高山祭り(Takayama Spring Festival) in April and ギオン祭り (Kyoto’s Gion Festival) in August(?). A good site to check for events and festivals around Japan is japan-attractions.co.jp.
Weather is the other deciding factor but personally I will just factor it in by allowing more time in a place and preparing proper clothing. I have experienced 台風 (typhoon), 地震 (earthquake) and 梅雨 (rainy season) in Japan. Tsuyu (rainy season) is the time I hate most since the weather is still hot despite the rain. You will feel sweaty and sticky. Although it is very likely to rain during autumn (except for Hokkaido), the weather is cool and the cold and wet condition is very important to get a deeper, red-to-pink foliage. So you have something to look forward to after the rain! - Places- Where to Go
Japan is as big as New Zealand but its long, narrow shape makes the journey from one place to another further. I usually decide on the time to go first and then select the places according to the highlight of the season.
I have been to almost all main islands of Japan except for 四国(Shikoku) and 九州 (Kyushu). For first timers, I definitely will recommend 京都 (Kyoto) and 東京 (Tokyo) just like others will so that we will have common points to share about our only experience in Japan. However, It will be great to experience as many places as possible and try the off-beaten paths. Our personal favourite is 金沢 (Kanazawa) in 石川 (Ishikawa) prefecture. We have been to Kanazawa for three seasons and we just love 兼六園 (Kenrokuen Park) although we missed out the snow last time. It is also famous for its すし (sushi).
Another important places to go, especially for Muslims, are where your friends live! More importantly if you love 和食 (Japanese food), you should ask them to bring you to restaurants that they have 確認 (checked) for the halal status. I love そば (Soba, Japanese buckwheat noodle) that is the speciality of the northern part of Japan e.g. 関東 (Kantou) and 都北 (Tohoku). Among the highlights of my last trip to Japan is the Soba dish that I had in 山形 (Yamagata) for 700yen and it was so delishhhhhhhh-OUS!!! We also had very tasty, crunchy-on-the-outside-soft-in-the-inside takoyaki in Kyoto. It was so good that I managed to ‘tapau’ (takeaway) and brought to 群馬 (Gunma) on a 8-hour night bus but still fresh. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the exact direction to the restaurant. The taste just remains in my memory.
Season also affects the choice of places you should go. Thanks to the shape of Japan that cuts across several altitudes, the season differs greatly from North to South.
For example:- Spring
The full-bloom of cherry blossoms starts from the southern part of Japan e.g. Okinawa (as early as Feb although I managed to see the early bloom in January!) to the north e.g. Hokkaido (as late as May) - Summer
The summer in Hokkaido is cooler and more beautiful with lots of flowers in season e.g. lavender, pink moss(?). I got to see lavender in Gunma in July but the weather was quite bad with typhoon and earthquake (but it was a great experience) - Autumn
My favourite time! Opposite to the spring time, the peak foliage starts from the north e.g. Hokkaido (as early as Sep) and at higher elevations e.g. mountains to the south e.g. Kyushu (towards the end of Nov). However, they were still autumn colour remained even in Dec when I visited Okayama in Chugoku last year - Winter
My least favourite time but my Umi’s favourite. Just because of snow! I hate snow while she loves it. Just like autumn, the snow starts from Hokkaido in Nov esp. at higher elevations but the best time is early Feb when all the snow festivals kick in. I did not manage to stay for the main festivals but we did go for the famous winter light-up in Shirakawago in mid Jan.
- Spring
Insya-Allah, with Allah’s will, I will continue on ‘Planning for Japan’ for the general guide on Transportation and Accommodations.
遅咲きの光 | The Late-Blooming Noor 