---
title: Between mid-June and late September, what is the best time to visit Tokyo?
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author: Issa Rice
creation_date: 2015-05-29
last_major_revision_date: 2015-05-29
language: English
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tags: japan, travel, food
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---

My response to [this][QQ] Quora question.

[QQ]: https://www.quora.com/Between-mid-June-and-late-September-what-is-the-best-time-to-visit-Tokyo

There are several things you might want to consider, so it's probably
best to make your own decision after thinking things through.  Note that
I've mostly been to Japan during the summer (July/August) so I can't
comment too much on June and September.

First of all is the
weather.  Tokyo, at least for me, gets intolerably hot during the summer.  If
you're just visiting, then it's likely you'll be taking a lot of public
transportation, which will involve walking to and from train stations,
which, depending on your destination, might be a long walk[^dept].  And walking
outside in Japan means dealing with the sun, the humidity, lots of
sweat, etc.

[^dept]: Of course,
if you're only shopping in department stores that are connected to the
train stations, then this won't matter, but from your description it
sounds like you'll be spending a lot of time outdoors.

Also keep in mind that a lot of places get crowded during the summer
(especially late July and August) because that's when summer break
happens, which means suddenly at a lot of attractions you'll see a big
increase in the number of people---especially kids.  This is
particularly true for places like Tokyo Disney Land. (For this, there's
a [convenient calendar] predicting the expected number of visitors per
day; it's in Japanese, but you can click on "前月" to navigate to the
previous month, and "次月" to see the next month. Just look at how red
August is! There is also [this article][least8] that discusses some
visitor patterns for Disney Land and Disney Sea.)

[convenient calendar]: http://www15.plala.or.jp/gcap/disney/
[least8]: http://en.rocketnews24.com/2014/03/27/the-8-least-crowded-weekends-and-holidays-at-tokyo-disneyland-and-disneysea/

There are some more local patterns in the number of people that are
noticeable during the summer. If
you want to visit the atomic dome, you probably don't want to be doing
that on [August 6][bomb].  There are also anti-Yasukuni protests that
happen each year on [August 15][yasukuni], which are fascinating to go
to (and incredibly well-planned and safe), though that's probably not
the day to go shopping in that area.[^y_fn]

[bomb]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki
[yasukuni]: https://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201308160074

[^y_fn]: I should probably write about my experience of going to the
protest at some point. For now I'll just say that observing the
left-wing versus right-wing (with the police being sandwiched between
the two) dynamic playing out in front of you is
*really* interesting, especially since if you live in Japan, you don't
see a lot of people getting worked up about politics.

    Also, the protests are almost never covered on television news (you
can find a lot of YouTube videos though) so it's kind of a thing that
most *citizens* don't even see.

If you're looking to buy any clothes, then remember that sales usually
happen for clothes that don't match the current season; though
conversely, these are also older, so the newest items will be those that
fit the season.

There are parks/gardens in lots of places in Tokyo, so it isn't
necessary to travel too far, though you might find that e.g. the parks
in Kyoto have a different aesthetic.  Also do remember that in summer,
there are a lot of mosquitoes, especially in parks with ponds, just
waiting to get you as you sit down in the shade to enjoy the plants and
koi swimming around ...

For food, there are restaurants everywhere around Tokyo, so you probably
won't eat the same thing twice even if you visit just a small part of
Tokyo.  One thing to note: Japan isn't a very vegetarian/vegan-friendly
place, so good luck trying to find a dish that [isn't trying to kill
you][food].

[food]: https://www.quora.com/Longevity-3/What-can-I-do-to-live-as-long-as-possible/answer/Alex-K-Chen

As for onsen, I'm not sure going to a fancy place out in the countryside
with natural springs and a five star rating is really worth it. I'm
probably less sensitive to these things than most people, but I
certainly don't see much difference in going to a local public bath
that's a 10 minute walk away and costs 500 yen versus paying 10,000 yen
a night to stay in some fancy hotel.  And I suspect that for a
first-time visitor, there is an even stronger case that a fancy place
isn't worth the cost: probably the most novel thing about the experience
is the fact that the bath is *public*, which is an experience you can
get at even a cheap place. Plus, there's a chance you'll hate it, so
going to a cheap place is safer.  I will mention that I did go to the
[Ooedo Onsen] a few years back, which was nice enough, but costs [2,480
yen for a day][o cost] (i.e. just during the day and not spending the
night).  It's not just an onsen though, and it does have some extra
things like a footbath with [doctor fish](!w) as well as a
[matsuri](!w)-like atmosphere inside, which might appeal to tourists.
It's also conveniently in [Odaiba](!w), which has some other neat places
to visit (including what appeared to be an obscure condom shop that I
once spotted ...).

[Ooedo Onsen]: http://www.ooedoonsen.jp/en/top/
[o cost]: http://www.ooedoonsen.jp/daiba/price.html

Also you should keep in mind that your friend might only let you stay
with him during a narrow window, which might constrain your choice of
when to visit (i.e. if you only plan to visit for a short period, then
you might have to stay exactly during the time when your friend allows
you to; if you plan to stay for a longer period, then you have the
flexibility of staying during the time immediately before or immediately
after when he allows you to stay with him).