Originally Posted by
dbuckho
My first trip to Japan was Christmas-New Year's week and it was amazing. As others have said - never a bad time to go.
If this is a shorter trip and Tokyo-focused, Yokohama perhaps combined with a visit to Kamakura and the Great Buddha there is worthwhile and an easy day trip. I did that one day as part of that first visit winter visit.
If you are looking at ICs - did not see The Strings mentioned. That is my normal hotel for business trips and I would think it would be about the same points as the others. Though as the last post mentioned rates are really low right now -- was looking recently for a possible business trip in January and they are about 1/3rd of what I would pay pre-pandemic.
Agree - the Strings is nice and if you are a train buff many of the rooms offer great views of Shinagawa station. Plus it is near
Sengakuji -- my wife rolls her eyes whenever I ask to visit but I personally love the place -- and the history behind it -- to me it epitomizes the Japanese culture of honor, loyalty, discipline and focus. If you are in Tokyo on December 14th I can recommend the ceremony...
Typically my wife and I spent Christmas / New Years in the EU -- but the last few years that has not been possible and we've come to love Tokyo at that time -- nice weather and way warmer than NYC, it's also much less crowded, and easier to see friends as we are all off -- and really relaxing.