Hi Guys,
Considering spending Christmas and New Years in Japan.
Does it snow much in japan over those times?
Mainly keen to go to kyoto…
Thanks
Dates to Go to Japan
letthiswork1 on 31/08/2015 - 09:31
Comments
Literally all the information you'd ever want, and more.
I leave in 20 days.
I am so jealous.. I was there in November…
Sorry i mean in kyoto.
I know it snows up in the mountains but i am not looking to Skii..
I have been in the Osaka/Kyoto region previously over the New Year holiday period. It was cold with quite short days, but there wasn't any snow in the area. Some more good info here. http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2276.html. Hope this helps.
There is a pretty awesome thread over on whirlpool about Japan and a fairly large FAQ (http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/japantravelfaq)
If you are planning to do it this year I would get on it soon as it is their peak season.
Do it.
Go to Tokyo Disney for the christmas lights(if you spend any time in Tokyo).
If you want to queue for hours and be only able to ride 2 Main Attractions in one day, yes, go to Tokyo Disneyland.
Isn't that every theme park ever?
I meant to go to catch the christmas lights/decorations.
My point is that time is peak season as school holidays in Japan so you will be queuing for hours. Hell, a photo with Mickey was a 2-hour queue.
@downero: go to disney land on a weekday. Do not ever ever go to tokyo disney land on a weekend, public holiday or school holiday. I lived in Tokyo for 18 months. Japanese school holidays in winter are usually less than 2 weeks I.e. last week of December and first week of Jan.
I went to tokyo disneyland last year. Hated it personally way too many people and just not worth lining for a quick ride imo..
I didn't mind so much, I enjoyed the atmosphere more than anything.
Although, I was also stupid enough to line up for 8 hours to get into that Game of Thrones exhibition that took about 20 mins to see :-/
@letthiswork1: Yup, and I watched a musical in Tokyo Disney but understood nothing because everything was in Japanese. Same as USJ, the Spider-man ride was less fun because I don't understand what the voice-over or Spidey was talking about. Seriously, Japan? Don't use the universal language for a theme park that is popular to foreigners? It won't hurt you know?
New Years in terrible in Japan for tourists unless you have your own thing going on.
Christmas is better.
New Years for Japanese is traditionally a time to be with the family. Christmas is more of a celebration.
Its opposite to us, Christmas with the family, New Years for partying. For them Christmas = party / New Year = Quiet family timeIt's the mistake a lot of first time go'ers make.
Thats right,
Also should point at that Christmas is not recognized in Japan as a religious holiday, so they just take all the gift giving and marketing stuff, christmas lights, shoppping etc..
It's not a day off for most, just another working day (holidays usually start from 27th or 28th) and generally speaking it celebrated mostly by couples, bit like a 2nd Valentines day. Usually a lot of big Fireworks display on around many places. You won't see fireworks on NYE, there might be exceptions in Tokyo or Osaka, but generally they will all be launched Christmas night or eve..Most people don't celebrate it as a religious holiday here anyway. But it certainly does just feel like any other day in Japan.
We went over new years and had a great time, our hotel put on a lot of traditional activities such as mochi making and there was a bon fire then the next day we woke up at dawn and went to the temple then home to a hot osechi breakfast, new years food. It was a lot of fun and very memorable.
There will always be pockets of things to do, but most people wouldn't have the same experience as you did, especially since the major shops are either closed or open with reduced hours.
For me the most enjoyable thing to do on new years, was to wander the dead streets and take pictures of Tokyo city and the clean up crew.
Also nice resurrection of a dead thread.
You don't need dates to go to Japan. If really necessary you could possibly pick one up there.
If you can't get a date for free, you can get a compensated one.
Lived in Japan for 4 years, Nagoya. Over the course of the winter there is always a few days of snow in the city, sometimes constant for a few days, sometimes the overnight specle..When its not snowing however you can often have perfectly sunny days and blue skies (bitterly cold though).
Have been back several times over the New Year period for a few weeks and not seen any snow at all, doesn't mean there was any (actually snowed the day after we left). Its a pit of pot luck if your there only for a few weeks.Ahh okay that was my fear.. :( The Mrs wants a white christmas and i just want japan so iw as hoping to get a win win!
I got a white christmas 1 out of the 4 I had there. It wasn't snow covering everything white christmas, it was that it actually started snowing.
We did get snow covering everything a few times, but that usually came later in January.
I'm sure if you are looking for a white christmas, you could try a couple of hours from Kyoto there should be some ski fields. Japan had a warm winter just past (there was no heavy snow in Tokyo area), so not sure what it will be like this winter
It snowed when I was in Kyoto(Gion) a couple years ago, the news suggested it was quite rare even in the middle of winter (February)
Hi guys, going japan with family of 5 in January . I am thinking if we travel via bullet train from tokyo to hakuba, either back to tokyo, or straight to to Kyoto and then to Nagoya , is it cheaper to get a rail pass? Does it cost a lot to get around tokyo itself?
Thanksit depends how long you go for.
If you get the shinkansen (Bullet train) a fair bit then the rail pass pays off. But if you are just travelling around tokyo the train is pretty cheap. But it defiantly makes things a lot easier since you don't buy tickets you just flash your rail pass and they let you through. Saves trying to navigate the ticket ordering process.. (Unless the train has reserved seats)
Thanks!
You can use google maps to plan your train trips, it will usually show you the correct train ticket cost as well. Maybe you can roughly see what all the trips would cost buying tickets as you go and compare it to the Rail Pass.
For example I put Shinjuku Station to Hakuba Station which shows ¥8,100, then Hakuba Station to Kyoto Station ¥10840, and Kyoto Station to Nagoya ¥5,600. So around ¥24540 before adding the costs of where/how you go from there, plus other small train trips you'll take day to day. Yokohama Station to Shinjuku Station will cost around ¥4-500 and the Yamanote city loop would be between ¥140-300 depending on how many stations you go.
Thanks so much, both of you!!! I. Never knew I can use google map and it shows the prices, that's so amazing!
Hi Guys
any chance with unlimited 14 days data sim card for japan? otherwise econnectjapan recommended by letthisowork1 will be an alternative. Any cheaper alternative to econnectjapan?
Regards
it gets cheaper the longer you have it for.. The wifi pocket device lasts all day and they give you a backup battery in case.. Me and the MRS were connected to it all the time and it was amazing.. I would get this over a SIM if there is more than 1 person =-].. plus its 1GB data a day
Yes…starts in December through to March.