Japan in July with teenagers: Tokyo to Kyoto then Hokkaido itinerary?

[LysistrataSusanCarter]

Our four teenagers are desperate to visit Japan because of their exam schedule summer is the only option. I know it is really hot and humid, but is there a way of making it bearable? We are hoping to do the route from Tokyo down to Kyoto over 10 days. Following this, we think we might visit Hokkaido to enjoy the scenery and outdoor outdoors in mild weather.

Anyone who has spent time in Japan in July, I would really appreciate thoughts on a realistic itinerary. Especially anyone who knows about Hokkaido which looks beautiful but is a bit of the beaten track and so I suppose we’ll need a bit more planning.

A couple of Japan-planning threads that might be worth looking through:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/holidays/5312855-japan-planning-thread-part-2?page=1

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/holidays/5152514-japan-planning-thread?page=1

When I lived there I was out and about every weekend in summer and was fine with the temperature. We had a 72+ hour stopover in Tokyo last August and honestly the heat was quite intense. It was the hottest August on record I think. We did 2 days at Disney and found that relatively manageable, it also wasn't really sunny the first day and at Disney the queues are air conditioned and you can cool down after a short walk. The last day we went into the city centre and that was quite brutal for the kids, the heat radiates off the buildings and it was really intense, but they are also quite good at having long underground walkways in metro stations to get you nearer to your destination without being outside. Kyoto won't really have this option of avoiding the sun, you will be outside whenever not in a temple. Where are you thinking of stopping between Tokyo and Kyoto?

We visited Japan last August with one child and three teens. We started in Kyoto and also visited Osaka, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Lake kawaguchi, Hakone, ad finished our trip in Tokyo. It was super hot, but we just drank a lot of water and carried portable hand fans with us and we coped ok! I think it helped that we broke up the cities by visiting other areas inbetween.

Eeks. Tokyo and Kyoto in summer are really horrible. Ideally you'd want to spend most of that time in Hokkaido because of the milder weather and their flower and lavender fields would be in full bloom! You can easily spend 2 weeks in hokkaido itself.

I once brought my children to tokyo in early June and even though it wasn't the height of summer yet, it was already very hot and muggy and my kids were so grumpy. We ended up taking taxis everywhere and spent alot more time in shopping malls than we did in previous trips to Japan. It is definitely doable, but if it's possible at all I'd visit at a different time.

Hi! I am a British mum living in Japan for nearly 10 years now so familiar with the weather. It is very hot and very humid. Walking outside is very tough, even for locals. Schools and nurseries are not allowed to play outside past 35 degrees safely.
However, there are things you can do to make it more bareable.
Use cool fabrics, hydrate constantly with pocari sweat or Aquarius. Try to limit time outside. Inside has wonderful aircon so will be okay. Use cooling wipes, and portable fans. Hokkaido weather will be a lot nicer. Kyoto will be the hottest and also very overcrowded. Better time to visit would be October to December which I feel has the best weather in Japan. April and May is also good but could rain.