Originally Posted by
AlwaysAisle
Quick and short response. Others will follow with detailed responses.
June is the rainy season in Japan, can be muggy and soggy overcast weather. But this is mother nature, the extent of rain during the rainy season varies every year, and cannot predict what this year will be. But because of that June is considered off-season and places will be less busy.
December/New Year will be a busy season. Hotel prices will be higher and busier than in June. New Year is the biggest holiday in Japan, and driving in/out of big cities around New Year is usually met with traffic jams. Near Tokyo highway going out of the city usually experiences traffic jams up to 40 km (25 miles) long. This past New Year, Dec. 29, 30, Jan. 2, and 3 were the dates with miserable traffic in/out of the large cities. FYI, if you decide to drive in Japan during New Year.
Thanks for the quick inputs. We were leaning towards December in any case, just for the simple reason that we would be able to extend an extra 4 days. But June sounds like a month we need to avoid in any case so this makes our case for December even stronger.
I understand driving can be a pain around the new year but it still makes sense for us since we like the ability to be able to move around on our own schedule.