For the first time traveller who hasn’t a clue about travelling in Japan, but would like a good taste of the sights and experiences, I’ve tried to put together a few pointers to get you started. If you have already been to these places and fancy somewhere new, skip to the end for some information I’ve gathered after two holidays spent entirely down south on the island of Kyushu.

WHEN TO GO

Tourists arrive year round in Japan, but most would agree it’s best to avoid Golden Week (last days of April, first week of May) when a number of public holidays fall close together and transport/accommodation is booked solid, usually with surcharges. Also the Obon festival (mid July or mid August depending on the area) sees lots of Japanese returning to their home towns.
If you are into skiing, winter is a great time to visit, if not, perhaps avoid it as some mountain bus services and tourist areas close for months, and the very cold weather makes it difficult to travel light. Similarly, Japan’s wet season /summer around June -July is not for those who dislike heat and humidity.
My favourite times in Japan are Spring and Autumn. If you are lucky you will catch sakura , cherry blossom season, late March, early April, depending on the weather and locality. There are websites which predict the start of sakura each year in the various parts of Japan – the warmer areas bloom first, and the cooler areas last. Similarly, in Autumn the leaves on trees turn colour and some people think it more beautiful than cherry blossom time.

WHAT TO SEE

Most people when they think of Japan think of things like Mt Fuji, Bullet trains, sumo wrestlers, samurai warriors, tatami mats and sushi. Even if you can’t experience all of these in a typical 10 -14 day visit to Japan, you will still come home feeling you’ve had a good taste of Japanese life and culture provided you are prepared to get out and about on your own. Such everyday experiences as wandering the basement food halls of big department stores, riding the local trains and subways, freeloading with everyone else in the book stores, walking past noisy pachinko parlours and dodging the hundreds of bikes and riders on the footpaths – it’s all a window onto the way ordinary Japanese go about their lives.
If you do have your heart set on the iconic :

Mt Fuji – first, all those pictures you see are taken on the very rare days when the air is clear and the clouds are not around. Generally, you can get very close and have no idea where the thing is, even though it’s huge. I’ve stood on Mt Fuji and haven’t been able to see it, the fog was so bad. On a clear day you can actually see it from tall buildings in Tokyo, or out of the window of the Bullet train passing by on the way to Kyoto. If you want to get closer there are bus tours from Tokyo which actually take you up the mountain and you can walk around at the fifth station, which is quite high. Or you can buy the Odakyu Railway (not JR) Hakone “Free Pass”, which is valid for either 2 or 3 days http://www.odakyu.jp/english/ , and either depart from Shinjuku in Tokyo, or pick up the train in Odawara, south of Tokyo, which you can reach by Shinkansen (Bullet train) using the JR pass. The “Free Pass” entitles you to use the zigzag train, cable car, ropeway, pirate ship across Lake Ashi, and bus back to Odawara, as you do a circuit around the Mt Fuji National Park. If Mt Fuji is not hiding, the view from the cable car and lake is amazing