Popular winter vegetables are the giant Japanese radish and lotus root, which can be prepared in a variety of ways. This is a great meal to have with friends around a big table. Hot pots (known as nabe) are a popular dish, and there are many nabe restaurants where the food cooks in front of you – use your chopsticks to take what you want when it’s ready. In Japan the focus is more on New Years Day which is typically a family time.įood in winter is typically warming and hearty, as one might expect from the weather. New Years Eve is a more reserved celebration than in other countries. While the weather is freezing, the houses look absolutely magical, and are worth a visit if you have the time. The heavy snow gathered on the roofs of the houses in winter makes them look even more amazing.Ī few days each year (usually on select days in January and February) they have a special “lite-up” event, where the houses are illuminated. These “Gassho-zukuri” (literally, build like hands in prayer) look like they came straight out of a fairy tale. Other festivals include New Year celebrations across the country (January), the Naked Festival at Okayama (February), the Nara Lantern Festival (February 3rd) and the Yokote Kamakura Snow Festival (February 15th and 16th).Īnother photo-worthy event is a the farmhouses at Shirakawago and Gokayama, both of which are UNESCO world heritage sites. Illuminations bring the whole place to life at night. The exquisite statues often depict a celebrity, or something popular from the previous year. Roughly two million people attend the festival each year, where you can see ice sculptures and snow statues, many of which have been built by local residents.Įach year around 400 statues are built – a far cry from the first ever Sapporo Snow Festival in 1950 where six high school students built six snow statues in the city park. The most well-known festival of the season is the Sapporo Snow Festival which runs for a week every February (usually early February). Sapporo (Hokkaido): The spring is much colder than Tokyo, with lows in March of -3☌ (27☏), and ending the spring with highs of 17☌ (63☏).Kyoto: The season starts with lows of 4☌ (39☏) and ends with high temperatures of 24☌ (75☏).Tokyo : The beginning of spring sees lows of 6☌ (43☏), while the end of the season sees highs of 23☌ (73☏).Looking at three major cities, average temperatures in spring get steadily warmer throughout the season. The spring seasons usually starts off dry, but often ends on a rainy note after the cherry blossom season. You’ll need a warm sweater and jacket to visit Hokkaido at this time of year, but in the south, you could easily go out in a light sweater or even a t-shirt and shorts during the daytime.ĭepending on where you are, spring can be a difficult season to dress for – in early spring, even if the day starts out warm it can soon turn cold once the sun goes down. The weather is quite mild at both ends, with warm days and evenings that verge on chilly. One of the major points to consider when choosing when to visit Japan is the season.
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