Originally Posted by
jib71
Chances are that it won't snow, but snow is not out of the question. More typically, you will have dry, crisp, days with temperatures hovering above freezing. Kyoto, situated in a basin surrounded by hills, can feel bitterly cold in January.
Agree with all of this.
Those cities in Jpn are supposed to have similar avg temp around New Years (0-10C) as Seattle, but it sure feels colder in Jpn. I don't know why. Maybe it has to do with the drier air or the fact that life in Seattle revolves around cars. Kyoto tends to get pretty chilly, seemingly even a couple notches colder than Tokyo, although I just looked it up and the avg temps aren't all that different between Tokyo and Kyoto. The tricky thing is they keep it pretty toasty in certain places, such as inside some trains. The super-light parka from uniqlo comes in handy, because it keeps you warm when you have it on but doesn't take up much space when you want to store it away.