How to enjoy your trip to Japan in summer

It’s July already! And we have had the first heat wave pass through here in Europe, air conditioner-free, and now we are experiencing some epic rain, followed by… calm temperatures, not quite summer, but okay for now. Last year, I visited Japan in summer, so I had temperatures a good ten to fifteen degrees higher – a good time to write a post on dealing with the heat in Japan in summer.

A year ago this time, I was in the Kansai region, and experienced some very high temperatures. A phenomenon that you will have in Japan in summer, every year, with temperatures rising.

And, usually, it will get even hotter in August, before September brings some rain and wind. So, you may ask, is summer actually a good time to visit Japan?

Like many people with jobs, I have to plan my leave well in advance, and often I cannot choose when to take time off. So I had a week in July last year, and some very good flight offers (on Etihad Airways), so, despite the warnings how brutally hot Japan can be, I booked the flight and… set off on a little walking holiday, because, why not, it’s hot already, sure it’s a great time to hike?

There were a couple of personal reasons for my trip to Japan in summer. Firstly – the first half of 2024 turned all my travel plans into dreams very quickly as someone in my family was in hospital several times and had surgery that left them immobilised for some weeks. I managed a week off, once they were settled, which I spent in Japan. I fell even more in love with Japan, especially with Kyoto, so it was my wish to return for the Gion Matsuri in Kyoto, which takes place in July, wth some important events centred around the 17th and the 24th of July. And then I read somewhere on the internet that the Nachi no Ogi Matsuri was taking place at Kumano Nachi Taisha as well – so… two major festivals, a hike, and some relaxation in a week – and in the heat! And then, I was to have major surgery myself later in the year, and although that was to improve my declining mobility, one never knows, right? I was pretty optimistic and trusting with regards to my surgery, but with a healthy dose of fear – better to have a grand time and some superb memories before that surgery.

So, reader, I managed it all, and returned home refreshed and even more in love with Kansai, and Kyoto. I have written about visiting the Nachi no Ogi Matsuri and the Gion Matsuri before. This post is about visiting Japan in summer and in high temperatures, and how to deal with them and still have a great time!

Choose your time of travel to Japan in summer

I get it, the months of June, July, August and September may not be ideal months for a trip to Japan. Too high are the temperatures, too frequent the rain at the beginning and the end of the hot season. But you may be tied to school holidays and have no other choice but to travel to Japan in summer.

And then, as long as you are aware that it will be very very hot, you will see some disadvantages. Flights were less expensive despite this being school holiday season in Europe. I found some really nice hotels well below 100 Euro per room per night, even during the Gion Matsuri. And Downtown Kyoto may have been very busy, but the temples were not.

Choosing your destination

Yes, in the mountains of Honshu or on Hokkaido you will get less extreme temperatures. Other places like Okinawa are out.and out beach destinations and get a sea breeze, so you may not feel the heat as much. But Kyoto? Probably one of the worst places, weather-wise, to visit in high summer. Kyoto is surrounded by hills, which keep the heat in, giving Kyoto particularly brutal summers with high humidity and tropical nights.

Structure your day around the weather

I arrived in the late afternoon and first went to see Nitama, the cat station master, in Wakayama, dragging my little suitcase behind, because I did not want to arrive after her duty hours. Since I spent most of the time in air-conditioned trains, it only hit me the next morning when I left my hotel early and made a stop at Yuasa on the Kii peninsula. Barely 8am, and the sun was already out and after an hour of walking the streets of this quiet seaside town, I was drenched in sweat and felt burned to a crisp.

After moving on by train, I had lunch and a nap at my hotel and then only went out again when the sun was quite low, around 16.00, in order to sample the kakigori and to visit Kumano Hayatama Taisha. It was still hot, but at least without the sear factor from the sun.

The nest day, I left super early by bus, and what a good idea it was, because there were considerable crowds even at 07.30 to take the bus from Kii Katsuura Station up to Kumano Nachi Taisha for the Nach no Ogi Matsuri. However, not wanting to make the previous day’s mistake, I consciously styed in the shade, and went to the path to the waterfall early to rest in the shade before the fire ceremony started n the early afternoon. there was a bit of queuing for a bus in the sun, but I got off at Nachi Station, visited the onsen (it was great, even in the heat) and let everyone depart before leisurely making my way back to Shingu by bus.

The day after, I hiked a short section of the Kumano Kodo and you could say I was lucky – there was rain forecast, and this section was mostly in the shade of some big trees, with some sections on tarmac which were shade-free and not so kind on my feet, but the scenery on my short hike from Hosshinmon-Oji to Kumano Hongu Taisha was never boring.

Leaving early was the key here again, and even though I was super slow walking, I was back at Kumano Hongu Taisha and off to the onsen by 14.00 – with plenty of buffer for the last bus back to Shingu.

Use public transport

All buses and trains and subway cars I took during that week in Kansai were air-conditioned. And, when I avoided busy hours, also nice and empty.

I usually took trains in the very early mornings, even before the 8-9 morning rush hour, and early on weekends, and booked seats in all long distance trains.

In Kyoto, I took buses well before the morning rush hour and returned for a siesta at my hotel around lunchtime, then cycled in the late afternoons and evenings.

Most of the times I travelled, the buses and trains were quite empty and nice and cool, nicely breaking longer sightseeing days and giving me a period of respite before setting out into the heat again. I did cycle, as I love to cycle in Kyoto, but this time, I cycled only relatively short distances at the beginning and a the end of the day.

Do your sightseeing early

My Kyoto schedule looked like getting up at 6am, coffee, and then I pitched up at the opening hour at whatever sight I was interested in. Some places like Kiyomizudera open 6am, and some shrines like Yasaka-jinja or Fushimi Inari can be accessed around the clock, so you can use it to your advantage and visit just after sunrise – which is early in Kyoto, around 5am. Many of the temples I was interested in visiting opened between 8 and 8.30, so I would be there well before that, and then visit another one, and be at a cafe eating kakigori come 11.30.

Also, due to the heat and my somewhat busy schedule of fitting the Kumano Kodo into my first half of the trip and Kyoto and the Gion Matsuri into the second, I may not have done quite as much sightseeing but rather spend more time in one place. On the Kumano Kodo, I managed to visit its three major shrine – and two nearby onsen, spent a few hours in Yuasa, and finally made a side trip to see the Cat Stationmaster of Wakayama at Kishi Station.

In Kyoto, I moved a lot slower than usual. I visited to see Nanzen-ji including its superb some sub temple Konchi-in and the Murin-an garden. Both were pretty empty on a weekday morning. I spent the rest of the day closer to my hotel – there were a few shops and cafes I wanted to visit, and I took a stroll around Pontocho in the evening – all very easy to reach from my hotel.

For my third full day in Kyoto, I had timed tickets for Saiho-ji. Again, I left quite early so I did not have to wait in the sun for ages, and was there over an hour before my time, which left enough time for a stroll in the surrounding area and another small but beautiful temple called Take-no-Tera, just short uphill stroll.

Saiho-ji was mostly in the shade and a very leisurely visit, and it was quite a long bus ride. I thought for a hit second whether to get off at Arashiyama and visit Tenryu-ji to add the second UNESCO site for the day, but the crowds somewhat put me off.

Instead, I strolled around the shotengai near my hotel, browsed in Kyukyodo, had a few cold drinks in my hotel room and then, in the afternoon, I cycled to few shops in search of a tanuki, visited the Go-o and Sugawara-in Tenmangu Shrines, the Raku Museum and then popped into a favourite kimono shop before having my dinner, a huge kakigori at Kyogori Yukimi-an. By the time I finished there, it was already less hot, nice enough for a leisurely bike ride and supermarket trip for supplies to bring back home, and then a nice long book shop visit in the evening.

And then, on my last day, I flew back from Kansai in the late afternoon, so I had a very early start, had a leisurely cycle ride through Pontocho and along Takase River, visited Nishi Hongan-ji, then returned my bicycle. Less of a packed itinerary, but one that suited me in the heat. I came close to sunstroke once, when I cycled the hot streets of Downtown Kyoto when there was no shade whatsoever in the early afternoon, requiring a couple shrine breaks for shade and a cool drink.

Festival time!

You can say what you want about the heat, but it is in July and August when some very famous festivals take place all over Japan. When I went to Japan last July, my short one-week trip coincided with tree major festivities: The Nachi no Ogi Matsuri on 14 July, the Yoiyama on 16 July, and finally, the Yamaboko Junko and Mikoshi Togyo Parades of Gion Matsuri on 17th July.

Had I gone a week earlier, I could have enjoyed the Tanabata festivities on 7 July all over Japan, and a few weeks later, the Nebuta Matsuri in Aomori from 2nd to 7th August.

I really loved the Gion Matsuri atmosphere The whole centre of Kyoto is decorated, and you hear the distinctive flute and drum music everywhere, and some shop have special promotions on. It gets its fair share of visitors, of course, being a major festival, but the major events take place over a wide distance – the Yamaboko Junko course is several metres long, and the Mikoshi Tokyo runs over a kilometre along Shijo-dori, so there is usually enough room for everybody who wants to watch – and with mostly Japanese visitors, the atmosphere was very friendly.

August has the Obon Festival, usually celebrated between 13 and 15 August, which is a period when many Japanese travel to big family reunions but often the sights in big cities remain unaffected. In Kyoto, you can witness the unique tradition of lighting large fires in the hills surrounding Kyoto to “direct” the souls of the departed back to the spirit world, called Gozan no Okuribi.

If you are travelling to Japan during the summer definitely check out the festival calendar.

Hydrate

You will probably sweat buckets, even at the high humidity levels, and need to replenish all that fluid. Japan makes it fairly easy, with drinks vending machines absolutely everywhere – even in the middle of nowhere on Kumano Kodo. And in urban areas, you are never far from a convenience store.

I also carry a water bottle, usually 0.6 l which nicely fits in my bag, and refill whenever I get a chance. There weren’t too many water refill stations around, but the tap water is also safe to drink in Japan, even though it does not taste amazing since it’s chlorinated. I also reused the aluminium soft drinks bottles a few times.

Some say you also absolutely must replenish salts and advocate isotonic drinks like the famous Pocari Sweat. Well, yes, they do supply some salt but also contain a lot of sugar, so they are not for me. I love a nice soda but soda in great heat might feel nice for a moment but can be counterproductive.

So I made sure to eat regularly, and helped myself to the free green tea usually available. And, did I mention that I have a massive thing for kakigori? These large portions of shaved ice often became my main meal, sometimes twice a day, and I often had salad and light meals purchased in the supermarket in between.

Sun Protection

Absolutely paramount. I remember one early afternoon in Kyoto when I cycled just a little bit, and the shadows from buildings were getting shorter and shorter, and I could feel myself crisping up by the minute. I sought refuge at a shrine and sat there for a while in the shade, drank some water and plotted my return depending on the direction of the sun, making sure I was cycling in the shade.

I already wear long clothing in summer, and I wore a hat but the sun was still a problem. When walking, I also used an umbrella, and I am going to buy a UV umbrella next time.

Some useful helpers

So… this brings us to the little helpers the internet is raving about.

Lots and lots has been written about the aids and little helpers you can bring or buy in Japan. For me, the most useful would be a folding umbrella that fits even in your smallest bag and that you carry at all times. You can buy some really nice ones in shops like Hands or Loft, and a UV umbrella is definitely on y shopping list for my next trip . So, I am going to look at the Pentagon 67 umbrella, a folding umbrella that weighs only 67 grams – but I am unsure if it comes with UV coating. So, I will also look at some Waterfront umbrellas – their Zentenkou 55cm is a all-weather umbrella in plain colours, and the Pokeflat is a lighter, patterned umbrella that’s mainly a parasol but can withstand light showers, too.

My second most important helper is a hat, and I have used a Tilley hat for years. Not fashionable, but after years of use and abuse, still looks like new, has a wide enough brim and is extremely comfortable.

And then, you can buy all sorts of things like electric fans, cooling neck rings, cooling sheets, air-condition vests… you may have seen the videos online. I didn’t use any of that, to be honest. I don’t like too much product on my skin. Just long linen or cotton clothes, a decent deodorant I brought from home, access to laundry, and my umbrella – and my water bottle. And a cool shower twice a day.

Where to stay

Also, I would like to say, choose your accommodation wisely. Prioritize easy access to what you wish to see, minimize walking time to bus and train stops. Have a nice cool room and access to a good shower, and laundry. Make sure you can darken the room as the sun rises before 5am.

You definitely want an air conditioner in your room – and most accommodations will have them. Just make sure you can regular the temperature individually. When I was in the Kumano Kodo region, I opted to be base din Shingu – much cheaper, with availability even four weeks in advance.

I stayed in two places in Shingu: One night at the was the Temple Hotel, a Buddhist Temple lodging. This was a relatively late booking once I figured out I can be around for the Nachi no Ogi Matsuri.

The temple Hotel is in perhaps the nicest area of Shingu, full of small temples. It is a short pleasant walk to Kumano Hayatama Taisha and the bus stop for the Kumano Kodo sites -and the train station- is less than 100m from the hotel. I paid 51 Euro for one night. My room was huge, had a kitchenette and fridge with huge amounts of free drinks including alcohol included. There was a liquor store at the entrance, which, I think, was run by the monks. Definitely an interesting one, this temple lodge, and really great value. My room could accommodate up to four people.

My second accommodation low key but superb Shingu Guest House Sou, a traditional Japanese House with just three rooms a short walk from Shingu Station. I would say that proved the best value for money on the entire trip. I paid 62 Euro for two nights for a huge private Japanese room with access to full-size kitchen, a huge lounge, free bicycle hire and a laundry room. The room was really nice, traditional, simple small town style, I loved it. The only drawback was climbing down the steep stairs and crossing the entire house every time I wanted to visit the bathroom.

Moving on to Kyoto, and again, a relatively late booking due to attending the Yoiyama, I spent one night t at the Downtown Tabist Kiki Hotel Sanjo Takakura. This was my splurge stay, 83 Euro for one night in a reduced room as there was a window but very little daylight.

Other than lack of daylight, the room was great – large, with a full size bath, two immensely comfortable twin beds and a tatami-covered sitting area with nice accents form Kyoto design house Sou-Sou. This was one of the major nights of the Gion Festival when all accommodation in central Kyoto was either sold out or super expensive. I could walk to the Yoiyama easily and quickly – one of the main reasons I picked this hotel, as buses often get re-routed during the Gion Matsuri.

 After my night of luxury, I moved down the road to the Prince Smart Inn Kyoto Sanjo for a further three nights. Not only did this hotel have bicycle parking, but I liked the location even better – a stone’s throw from the northern section of Teramachi Shopping street with some of my favourite Kyoto shops, Kyukyodo, Misuyabari Sewing Needles, Musubi… and cult cafe Smart Coffee.

The surrounding area was a great mix of small restaurants, upmarket apparel shops and art supplies and paper stores. The hotel was bright and modern, rooms rather spartan but large enough, with ultra comfortable beds and the only thing I really missed was a kettle for my morning coffee and my green tea. It is very new, and a couple notches up from your standard Toyoko Inn or Dormy Inn. I paid 163 Euros for three nights including a minimal breakfast.

Eat kakigori

Kakigori is another major reason to come to Japan in the summer. Huge mounds of finely shaved ice topped with fruit syrup, fresh fruit, cream, anko bean paste – you name it. It starts selling around mid-May in pretty much every cafe in Japan, but is a staple at summer festivals. It was the seasonal menu at Komeda’s Coffee that got me hooked on them. Matcha, strawberry and seasonal fruit are some popular flavourings.

There are cafes throughout Japan that have turned kakigori into a culinary experience and serve nothing else, and tend to serve it year round. these tend to be the kakigori I prefer, but I have had some pretty good ones, served out of a makeshift cafe, made with homemade syrup and a lot of love.

Kyoto has several specialised kakigori cafes. My favourite is called Kyogori Yukimi-an, and it takes a bit of dedication to get there. It’s an easy ride to Nijo on JR or Tozai Line, then a short walk through a very pleasant residential area. They#re small but superb, but check that they are open before you make the trip.

Another place I like, close to Kiyomizudera, is called Mikazuki Hyouka Shaved Ice. It’s in a small street off Gojo near the approach to Kiyomizudera, so a much more touristy area, and sees more tourists.

And then, some superb cafes I always go to when in Kyoto, will serve kakigori in summer as well. The first one is Shimizu Ippo-en, a matcha cafe, so flavours are limited to, well, matcha, and the second is Tsukigase, an absolute gem of a dessert cafe in Downtown Kyoto with hardly any tourists and some fine quiet modern shop with good dessert combos and a calm atmosphere.

The Small Print

I visited Kyoto and the Kii Peninsula in July 2024 and did my fair bit of sweating in Nagasaki in May and June 2024. As always, all these trips were organised and paid for by myself. So, all recommended here are places I have been to and stayed in myself.

This post contains some affiliate links to Booking.com, which means I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you book through these links, something I appreciate as it helps with the cost of running this blog, but do not expect. I work a full-time day job and this blog is my hobby.

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