The sweet spot is the middle two weeks.of April.

And if the final week of April is spent in/around Tokyo the lead up to Golden Week crowding is hardly noticeable as so many people use this period to get away, ie. get away from Tokyo. Just keep away from Disney themed properties as well during that time.

Considering what the OP is seeking to pack into their itinerary I’m not going to join in pushing later May as an option. May truly is a great time for a relaxed holiday in Japan, I agree with that, just not for completing a long sequential list of timed excursions.

Interesting to have 2 different opinions of April.

Cost is also important too, I did notice April is slightly more expensive then October re hotels.

Our opinions aren’t that different in a general sense (glass half full vs glass half empty), it’s just I’ve seen the kind of pace you expect to keep yourself to and have way too much first hand experience of what it takes to maintain such a pace. It will be considerably harder in late May.

October is another appropriate time.

Hi

Started thinking about my trip to Japan next year.
Thinking about mid April ( 13th 27th ) so leaving before golden week
Initial thoughts are Nagasaki ( maybe a couple of days at Huis ten bosch as the flowers and illuminations look nice), hiroshima and Kyoto ( planning on Tokyo in early december)

Regards

TBS

Weather in Japan in October?? Observations welcome

It may be "before Golden week," but 27/Apr (Sat) will probably be one of the busiest travel days in 2024. Locals who start their vacations that day and use 3 days of their annual leave can take a 10-day break through 6/May (Mon). Since Children's Day falls on a Sunday (5/May) it gets rolled over to the Monday.

It's not a reason to change your plans, but you should anticipate crowded stations and airports and full outbound flights.

The evening of 2/May (Thu) and 3/May (Fri) will probably be the next peaks for people heading to their vacation destinations. And the return rush will probably be 6/May (Mon). That Monday will probably be the worst day of all - with everyone heading home.

Hi

Thanks for that.
On the 27th I would probably head just to the international terminal to fly back to the UK( would probably stay the night before in osaka or tokyo) but will bear in mind the domestic travel situation
thanks

Tbs

Where in Japan and when in October? If the golden route, I would definitely try to avoid the first week (bank holidays in mainland china and for this year, also Taiwan and other places celebrating mid-autumn festival). Otherwise, October is a decent balance between summer heat and foliage season.