Japan in the Winter Recommendations
 

Hello!

I will be in Japan for about 2 weeks (flexible) for the month of February. My planned itinerary is looking to be Tokyo - Hokkaido - Nagano - Kyoto - Osaka then fly to Seoul. Do you think with the Chinese New years there will be interruptions?

I heard best method of transportation is the JR pass, but would it be worth it for the cost to just a few areas?

Any one have recommendations as to must visit places during the winter and what things we should do? Any tips are appreciated!

Thanks!

Japan doesn't celebrate Chinese New Year, outside of emigre communities, so that will be no problem. When the Japanese adopted the Western calendar, they moved their New Year's celebrations to match it, so the major holiday period is around December 31-January 3.

The Japan Rail Pass is definitely worthwhile for an itinerary like that.

However, be prepared for cold and heavy snow in Hokkaido and Nagano. At the same time, Tokyo and Kyoto will be somewhat warmer (daytime highs between 5°-10°C), with snow unlikely. And as people frequently say in this forum, Kyoto and Osaka are very close together, so there is no need to book two hotels. In fact, Osaka is not that much different from Tokyo from the point of view of the first-time visitor, so you might want to use your JR Pass to visit another city.

The JR pass will be a good deal for you, you can check the cost of a single train fare with http://www.hyperdia.com/en/ and you will find out it will be profitable very quickly.
As to your route, it seems to be too much to see in only 2 weeks, as many of the cities you mention are worth a few days in each.

I would probably drop Hokkaido for the sake of not rushing the rest of the itinerary.

The snow festival in Sapporo is in February, and can be fun, depending on the person.

Japan stopped using Lunar calendar on year Meiji 6 (1873), since then New Year in Japan is celebrated on January 1 and not by Lunar calendar, where New Year by Lunar calendar is what is referenced as Chinese New Year.

However, Japan has become one of the top popular vacation destinations for Chinese and during Chinese New Year large number of Chinese tourists visit Japan. During Chinese New Year typical tourists destinations in Japan will be busy and may not find a lot of deals on hotels around tourist area in Japan.

Snow festival in Sapporo is pretty much largest tourist event in Hokkaido. Hotels around Sapporo will be booked well in advance.

Just a guess but I suspect hotel rooms in Sapporo for the snow festival are already very hard to find. If the OP has not yet booked, it might be a good idea to reconsider that destination.

learned something new.

I've never been to Hokkaido in winter. But I presume the only reasons to visit Hokkaido in winter would be ice festival, ski/snowboard, and drift ice / ice breaker ship. Otherwise, I too think OP should consider skipping Hokkaido as it is so far out of the way from the rest of his agenda.

Like others have said, your planning is really ambitious.

If you can find reasonably priced accommodation and transport to Hokkkaido during the second week of February, then by all means go to Sapporo for the snow festival and then maybe a few days either in Niseko or Rusutsu for ski'ing/snowboarding. With the remaining time I'd say spend them in Tokyo and Kansai, skipping Nagano entirely. (If it was me I would even skip Kansai, and just do Hokkaido + Tokyo).

If you can't find anything reasonable for the snow fest, then skip Hokkaido entirely. Do a few days in Tokyo, then a few days ski'ing/snowboarding in Nagano, then go see the snow monkeys, then finish off the trip in Kansai.