Japan in July - am I mad?!

[GreensFuckOff]

Next year my DC are doing A levels and GCSEs so will finish school at the end of June, and I'm planning on taking 3 weeks off work to go away with them.

I've always wanted to go to Japan, and my youngest has found loads of things that he wants to do when there. However my eldest has ASD and dislikes hot weather (he is slightly obsessed with the Met Office app and is already worried about the heatwave next week).

Am I mad to consider Japan??

Yes, it is ludicrously hot and humid in Tokyo in July.

On the plus side, you can hike up Mt Fuji (it won’t be hot up there). Only possible in July and August. And it is hot like southern Europe, not like Dubai or Arizona. Sticky but not dangerously hot. There is plenty of air conditioning.

Yes. Take a look at YouTube for Japan in July. We squashed the idea ourselves as it's next level hot. It's pouring, can flood, and is so humid even us, who live in a hot, humid country said no.

We went cherry blossom season instead and it was packed, but weather was lovely. Autumn is also good weather.

Join some Japan Facebook groups. They're a wealth of information.

You're insane 😁 Totally worth it though, but be prepared for 50% of your plans to be changed due to actual horrible physical discomfort. If it's your only chance though, I would still go.. but definitely coach everyone on what to expect, "feels like" temperatures of 45° in Kyoto last year, plus the absurdly high almost 100% humidity...it's a grueller.

Research all the cooling techniques (parasols, cooling towels, neck fans etc etc). You can get very ill from the heat of you're not prepared.

We went Aug 2012 (whenever the Olympics were on) and it was HOT. I want to say nearly 40 Celsius. Personally, I wouldn’t go unless you’re happy to basically walk around malls in a/c

@GreensFuckOff Not crazy. Most people commenting on here go with what they think Japan is like in the summer, rather than reality.

We did this very trip last year after A-levels. It was warm, but by no means unbearable. And it was definitely easier to be there, than here in the UK during the heatwave. Or anywhere in the southern Europe at the same time.

There is air conditioning everywhere, including inside all kinds of transposition.
And yes - it is not great to walk around Tokyo in heat. However, most of what you'd want to do in Japan will not be walking around Tokyo.

3 weeks is perfect for seeing a lot of Japan - going to smaller places, Nikko park, Mount Fuji, stopping in an onsen, crossing over to Kyoto/Osaka, going to Hiroshima.
It was one of our best trips, tbh. Japan is a wonderful country and really easy to travel around. People are friendly, everything is clean, well organised and safe. Food is delicious and, unexpectedly, inexpensive.

As your son doesn’t like hot weather, I think moving the trip outside of summer would make sense. You want him to enjoy it too, right? If he only relaxes and enjoys it half the time, is that still good value for you?

Of course it’s entirely possible to enjoy Japan in July, I have done so, but I have a reasonably high heat tolerance.

Sibling lives there and he comes here to escape the humidity in July and August.

Went last year with DD to Tokyo in Juiy. I was blown away by how humid it was. DD seemed to cope much better than me.

If you go, take an electric mini fan that you can walk around with at all times, and never be without a bottle of water (great thing about Japan is there are always venting machines about). All shops and the trains thankfully are air conditioned.

I wouldn't go back in July/Aug. I was so uncomfortable but after two weeks, did start to acclimatise.

The issue for women is the Japanese are very conservative. I had lots of strange looks simply wearing a strappy dress with my shoulders out. I do have big boob's that I had to cover too.

No I wouldn't want to go in July, but we did go in Oct half term. Our asd child struggled enough in Oct, so didn't think July or August was viable for us.

Yes
I lived there
most of Japan is a sweltering humid mess in summer. Hokkaido might be ok

otoh
winter is a wonderful time to visit Japan, lots of blue skies and it doesn’t get particularly cold

Yes - in a word. We went at Easter when DC1 was in Year 12 and DC2 was in Year 9. Perfect time to go! I have our holidays pencilled in years in advance to take advantage of travelling in non-exam years. I'd rather go to Japan in winter, than in summer. At least when it's cold you can put more layers on, but in 40 degrees with high humidity it's going to utterly miserable whatever you do.

to be clear it’s not the heat itself but the humidity that is a killer
it’s like walking around in a thick soup
one year I was there we didn’t see the sun between May and September. It was oppressively grey and cloudy in between

I’m normally one to say go for it if it’s the only time that you can go, but with an ASD teenager who has quite specific hot-weather related anxiety I think it could be quite miserable. The weather itself is survivable, but only you know how much your child might be affected by the anxiety around the weather. Is there a possibility that they might just refuse to get on the plane if the forecast was 35+ degrees and high humidity? Are they likely to be anxious about typhoon forecasts etc? Japan is an amazing place, but if your eldest won’t be able to relax and enjoy it then it might not be much fun.

Summer can be awfully hot in Japan. It depends on the year though. Spring, autumn or even winter are so much more comfortable.

If your eldest is concerned about the heat in a British summer, I fear he may struggle in Japan. I guess it depends on what you want to do on Japan. Visiting temples and shrines in Kyoto would be hard as there is often nowhere to escape the heat. However, if you are in Tokyo, there’s almost always a department store, underground mall or somewhere else you can find some nice ac.

For a once in a lifetime trip, don’t go in July! You won’t appreciate it as much and won’t be able to make the most of your time there due to mid-day heat avoidance. Plus, you’d be missing the quintessential Japanese cherry blossom or autumn foliage.

My husband and I went to Tokyo in October years ago and it was too hot for us (we live in Scotland). To be polite you need to be covered up and wandering around the city was pretty sticky.

Thank you all, these replies have been really helpful. I think PP who said that my DS1 would find it difficult to enjoy if he was feeling anxious are right, and there's very little point in spending a LOT of money if he's going to be miserable. We all need to enjoy it.

It does feel very tough on DS2, because he is SO keen to go, and this feels like another idea that's had to be parked due to his brother. So I need to figure out how to deal with that (and the guilt I feel about it). I've never seen DS2 so excited :(

@GreensFuckOff Could you go at a different time of year? I’d think about whether there’s another 2+ week period outside of June-September that you could make work. Then you can go and all enjoy it. Some attractions close in the first few days of January but Christmas and new year could be lovely. Winter is pretty mild in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima etc. and you get winter illuminations.

I mean its doable, I lived there for a while including over summer and I was outside in summer all the time at weekend , and we went again August last year for a short stopover with the kids. We spent most of our time last year at Disney but we did also go into the city. In the city the heat seems to radiate off the buildings a lot more and it felt hotter, however the subway stations are designed with many exits and long air conditioned walk ways so you can get from A to B minimising your time outside. I honestly don't remember it being that bad when I lived there, but I would have been more acclimatised than last year. The weather is still much more pleasant right now, and I know all the school exams are done, so if you can make it over for mid/late June that might be better.

The current heatwave is a good test, if this is bearable then it is doable. But it will be worse than this heatwave, it is very humid as well as being hot. UK heatwave is not too bad as they are dry hot.

Just putting this here

https://www.instagram.com/p/DaAMicgD9ch

Yes, and remember the days don't get nearly so short in winter as they do here. You get a decent number of hours of daylight.

@Clearinguptheclutter What about February? We are thinking about then? Not the ski areas, but I think everywhere is getting hotter! 10-15 degrees and no rain would suit me!

I know someone who went at the end of June and ended up collapsing and having to go to hospital