Don’t get me wrong, people looked at me like I was crazy when I first bought a plane ticket in December to fly to Japan. Who would travels during short days and cold temperatures instead of visiting in fall to see the colors change or in spring to enjoy the cherry blossoms? Well, I did… and I returned.
And then I returned. Now, it’ll be my fifth visit from December through January this winter, and I’m already plotting number six. Winter in Japan is just different.
It is quieter, sharper, and somehow more honest. As much as I love all other seasons, I’ve discovered that there is an entirely new side of the country reveal once the temperature starts dropping, and I can’t seem to stop chasing that sensation each year.
Why I Love Visiting Japan in Winter
The Snow Changes Everything
In winter, snow makes familiar locations look entireley unfamiliar. I’d seen pictures of snowy mountain hikes and traditional village. But walking through them with a sheet of white covering everything was like seeing something new.
The sound was muted, the shapes were blurred, and all texture and line was stripped bare. I kept stopping to observe footprints sinking into fresh powder or icicles dripping from centuries-old wooden eaves.
The bus rides themselves was an experience. The forests would fall silent after a fresh fall, and I’d watch out the window as pine tree bowed under weight of snow. It wasn’t anything dramatic; these small changes just made me notice things different.
The Onsen Actually Make Sense
Hot springs are nice, I mean, I had been to them before in the summer and thought “they’re all right.” It was special soaking in steaming mineral water as it snowed outside. THAT’S when it clicked for me. It’s ridiculous how opposite it feels, your face icy-cold, your shoulders feeling like a campfire is inside them, with steam rising so thick you can barely see across the pool.
It was confirmed when I watched the monkeys doing exact same thing in Jigokudani. Their eyes were half closed; they had snow on their heads. They looked like me.
And we was all sitting there together trying to keep warm. There’s something really grounding about sharing this simple goal with a bunch of wild macaques.
Winter Sports Without the Expectations
(And speaking of skiing), I’m also not a serious skier, never have been. I’ve hit a couple of Japanese ski slopes in early January/December though, and frankly, there’s no pressure. I mean maybe it’s because they feel more local (less international) than the resorts I grew up around.
Or perhaps it is because I am already here on holiday for different reasons. In any case, if the snow is good, I’ll make a few runs, get lunch, then bail out early without feeling like I blew my trip. Other days the snow might be patchy, other days it may be perfect.
It doesn’t matter; it’s just a nice part of the trip.
The Quiet Moments Add Up
There are fewer tour groups. Lines is shorter. There is more room to simply stand there.
In December and January, I’ve been able to walk the gardens and castle grounds with no more than a few others, everyone taking their time and walking gingerly as if we were all aware we largely had it all to ourselves. The famed rope structures called yukitsuri are used to protect trees against snow; until then, I’d only ever seen them in photos. But standing underneath those perfectly tied supports in nearly total silence… That was something else.
It wasn’t magical. It was just very real and very present.
The Cities Dress Up
The first time I saw winter illuminations, they blew me away. I’m typically not a huge fan of holiday light displays, but between late November and mid-February, the Japanese cities go all-in. Whole boulevards is lit up, there are giant installations, and major landmarks glow in the cold night sky.
On paper it sounds tacky, but after dark, as you walk through them; crowds bundled up and moving slowly, fog blowing off your breath, it worked. It was less about Christmas in particular then pushing back against the early darkness with something that gave everyone a reason to be out a bit longer. And, to be honest, some of the reasons I continue to return in winter are just logistical ones: cheaper flights, empty hotel rooms, and less crowded popular places.
I can make last-minute bookings, rearrange my schedule with no hassle, and get a reservation at those restaurants everyone raves about. In exchange?
It’s Just Easier
You get early sunsets and freezing fingers.
That’s worth elbowing through elbow-deep crowds in high season any day of the week. Winter taught me that sometimes the “off” season is off for a good reason. It demands more of you, but it also gives more back.
Yeah so four times down, and I’m already looking at flights for next year in December. And I don’t bother explaining anymore. People who have never been just won’t understand.
They either get it, or they don’t. Even though my friends thought I was crazy to skip the cherry blossoms and autumn leaves, winter has become for me the Japan I know best now, the quiet one, the cold one, the one that’s more itself somehow. What about you?
Are you a fan of traveling in the winter time? Or do you stay home because of the cold? How do you choose when you want to travel?
