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Hey folks, I’m keen to visit Japan this coming August. I’ve been once before in Spring-time and visited Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima, and this time around I’m thinking Tokyo, Okayama and Osaka. I’ve chosen August solely for reasons of when I can get leave from work, coupled with when I’ve been lucky enough to find reward flight availability (with SQ via SIN if anyone’s interested). I get that other times of year are likely better (and one day I’ll defo make an effort to visit to see the autumn colours) but I guess my question to the HfP community is whether anyone has first-hand experience of visiting Japan in August and whether I’m crazy to do so weather-wise. I’ve read online some frankly pretty damning reviews of both the humidity and propensity for typhoons which has made me have second thoughts about the wisdom of my plans so I’m keen to solicit further thoughts on the topic! Thanks in advance.
Short answer choose Hokkaido. For detailed responses see several threads with more suggestions such as this one.
https://www.headforpoints.com/forums/topic/japan-help-please/
Yeah, I’ve done Japan in August. It is very hot and humid, there’s no getting round that, and you have to be prepared to essentially be sweaty all the time you’re outdoors. But if that doesn’t bother you too much it is totally manageable (if not totally optimal); we did a lot of sightseeing with not too much bother.
As @MediumOne says August is basically tropical: mid 30s degC and very humid. If you can, structure the day around staying in eg air conditioned museums or travelling on the shinkansen in the middle of the day, and being outside in the early morning and late afternoon / evening. We have been several times in the school summer holidays without any issues. It is all very manageable with industial sized tubs of deoderant and anti-perspirant.
We have been to Japan in August. It’s okay as long as you plan for it. You’ll see a lot of people with umbrellas to keep the sun off and everyone gives out promotional fans. There are a lot of firework displays at night.
We went to the Sendai Tanabata Festival, which was great. It wasn’t as hot in Sendai but that could have been luck.
We are returning to Japan this year late July, early August. We booked flights for four in January when someone kindly wrote on here about Avios availability.
Thanks for all the replies – much appreciated. I think I conclude that it’s not crazy, but will definitely look at options to venture more northwards. Sendai looks interesting.
I visited in July/August 2016. The heat and humidity in Tokyo and Niigata were unbearable – somehow it felt worse than I’ve experienced in tropical places such as Bangkok. The weather in Hokkaido however was really nice. It was hotter than the UK (probably 30C ish by day), but not humid.
I’ve lived in Japan for a few years and I am frequent visitor. Humidity and heat is progressively getting worse. In 2022, the temperatures were closer to 40s, and remember the forecast is usually measured in the shade, the actual temperatures in the dun are much higher
Also don’t forget there is a risk of typhoon, especially in Osaka/Kansai area and further south. It really means you can’t go out.
August and September are best avoided if you can.
I have done 2 weeks in August with the kids 10 years ago . Very humid on Honshu but manageable.
If you have a stack of star alliance points, redemptions on ANA are pretty good to Hokkaido. We did a trip to Wakkani then down to Sapporo . I think it was around 5500 United miles each .
Enjoy your trip.
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