Response to Japan in April or May

Greetings from Kyoto. The exact temperatures in Japan can vary a lot depending on where you are, e.g., in Hokkaido in the north versus Kyushu in the south, mountainous areas versus seaside areas, etc. That said, it is generally not cold and the temperatures for the main tourist places on the main island of Honshu (e.g., Kyoto, Nara, Tokyo) in April and May are relatively pleasant. However, temperatures have become unpredictable here as elsewhere. To give you a general idea of necessary clothing, at the end of March / beginning of April (cherry blossom season) I usually need to wear a coat / jacket but in April it starts to get warmer and by the end of April I usually just wear long sleeves and a light jacket　or sweater. Sometimes at the end of April / beginning of May it is warm enough to discard the light jacket or sweater and even wear short sleeves during the day. I think a more important consideration than the temperature regarding when to visit here is the Japanese holiday schedule. From April 29th until May 5th (or 6th if the 5th falls on a Sunday) there is a string of national holidays called Golden Week. That time, including surrounding weekends as well depending on the days the holidays fall, is one of the major travel periods for the Japanese. Every place is extremely crowded, accommodation is hard to find and prices rise. I highly recommend to everyone to avoid travelling in Japan at that time if possible, and instead recommend that people visit during the last 3 weeks in May or October when the weather is generally good and there are a number of major festivals. I hope the above information is useful. Cheers, Karyn