Japan in spring

Spring is the most in-demand season and the most expensive. The weather is mild, the days are long and the country is at its visual best. The main reason people choose this period is the sakura, but there is more: the spring festivals, the gardens in bloom and a general atmosphere in the streets that few cities in the world can match.

The cherry blossom has no fixed date. It depends on the temperatures of the previous winter and varies each year. The usual window in Tokyo and Kyoto is late March to mid-April, but it can come up to two weeks earlier or later. If you plan your trip around the sakura, there will always be a margin of uncertainty. For the dates city by city and the best places to see them, see the guide to cherry blossoms in Japan.

During the peak, flights and hotels rise by 20 to 40% over the rest of the year. Rooms in Kyoto for the first half of April can sell out 5–6 months ahead. Start booking in October or November of the previous year. The sakura does not happen only in Tokyo and Kyoto: cities such as Hirosaki (Aomori) or Yoshino (Nara) have spectacular blossoms with far less tourism.

Every year, from 29 April to 5 May, Japan strings together a series of national holidays (Showa, Constitution, Greenery Day and Children's Day); depending on how the weekends fall, the break can stretch to a full week. It is the period of greatest domestic travel of the year: the shinkansen are booked weeks ahead, hotels go up in price and popular tourist destinations are saturated. If you are going to be in Japan during Golden Week, book everything at least 3 months ahead and avoid the major destinations on the central days.

For those who want the fullest experience of Japan and have budget flexibility. If the sakura is not your priority, May (after Golden Week) offers very pleasant weather with somewhat lower prices and fewer crowds than April.