In April, beautiful cherry blossoms bloom in various places in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and other cities. These places are crowded with people who go out to see them. After that, a fresh green will fill these cities with the new season. Soon, you will find much more moss as well as blooming nemophila. In April you will enjoy a very pleasant trip. On this page, I will introduce to you what kind of trip you can expect in April.
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April: Weather and Clothing Information for All of Japan
If you are planning to go anywhere in Japan in April, the following articles provide information on weather and clothing for major tourist destinations. Click on the name of a destination to see articles about the weather and clothing for that destination in April.
| Tokyo | Osaka | Kyoto |
| Hokkaido | Sendai | Nagano |
| Nagoya | Hiroshima | Fukuoka |
| Okinawa |
You can enjoy spring skiing at some ski areas.
In general, the Japanese archipelago enters spring in April every year, but some ski resorts continue to operate in Hokkaido and Honshu’s mountainous areas. Here, you can enjoy spring skiing.
If you are traveling with children, you can try sledding or simply playing in the snow at the ski slopes. Spring skiing is somewhat different from winter skiing. In the winter you will likely ski in very cold weather. In contrast, the temperature is a bit warmer in the spring. Outside of the ski resort the snow melts quicker and there is sometimes only a little snow on the roads and areas around your hotel. You may ski while being able to enjoy greenery nearby.
Even ski resorts often have rain in April. You cannot easily enjoy very snowy landscapes found in the winter season. If you require skiwear, you should use a rental service. However, you may not need much thick clothing at this time.
Representative ski resorts that continue to operate every April are as follows. There are many ski resorts, but I personally recommend Niseko in Hokkaido and Hakuba Village (HAKUBA 47, Happo-One) in Nagano Prefecture. If you are an advanced skier and want to enjoy skiing after the typical ski season, I recommend the Gassan Ski Resort in Yamagata Prefecture.
Hokkaido
Niseko Annupuri International Ski Resort
Sapporo International Ski Resort
Asahi-dake Ropeway Ski Resort
Kiroro Snow World
Tohoku region
Zao Onsen Ski Resort
Appi-Kogen Ski Resort
Hoshino Resort Nekoma Ski Resort
Gassan Ski Resort (opens in early April and will be open until July. Please refer to the following video)
Kanto region, Chubu region
Marunuka Kogen Ski Resort
Tanbara Ski Park
Naeba Ski Resort
Gala Yuzawa Ski Resort
Nozawa Onsen Ski Resort
HAKUBA 47 Winter Sports Park
Hakuba Happo-One Ski Resort
Tsugaike Kogen Ski Resort
Akakura Ski Resort
Shiga Kogen Ski Resort (Takaamagara, Ichinosu)
It is also recommended to see the snowy walls in Tateyama
From April 15th, as I mentioned on another page, you can also go to Tateyama in central Honshu to see huge snow walls. These snow walls can be seen until June. If you want to enjoy snowy scenery outside of ski resorts, I recommend this snowy wall.
You can see cherry blossoms, moss grasses, and nemophila
Japan crowds enjoy the spring cherry blossoms in Kyoto by partaking in seasonal night Hanami festivals in Maruyama Park at Kyoto, Japan. = shutterstock
Cherry blossoms start to bloom in northern Honshu and Hokkaido from mid-April
In April, you can find various flowers in Japan. Cherry blossoms, the representative flower of Japan, will start their blooming cycle in Kyushu every year in late March. Sakura bloom in the main cities of Honshu such as Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka from the end of March to the beginning of April.
You cannot see the cherry blossoms in Tokyo etc., unless you can time your trip to match this particular blooming week or so. That’s okay because cherry blossoms will also begin to bloom in northern Honshu and Hokkaido afterwards. If you want to see cherry blossoms, I recommend you add northern Honshu and Hokkaido to your itinerary. Cherry blossoms bloom in northern Honshu and Hokkaido every year according to the table below.
Flowering date in average year
Hokkaido
Sapporo around May 3rd
Hakodate around April 30
Tohoku region
Aomori around April 24
Morioka around April 21
Akita around April 18
Yamagata around April 15
Sendai around April 11
Fukushima around April 9
Personally, I can particularly recommend the cherry blossoms at Hirosaki Castle in Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture. The cherry trees blooming at this traditional castle are very beautiful.
Let’s go to see grass cherry blossoms and nemophila!
When the cherry blossom season ends in the main cities of Honshu, this time the shibazakura (grass cherry blossoms) and nemophila flowers are at their peak.
I especially recommend flowers in the following places. Beautiful flowers that can rival cherry blossoms are blooming all over and are also superb. If you are planning a trip to Japan during these times, please add it to your itinerary.
Recommended places
Nemophila
Hitachi Seaside Park (Ibaraki Prefecture)
Nemophila are beautiful here from late April to mid-May. Rape flowers and tulips also bloom here in April.
shibazakura
Fuji Motosu Lake Resort (Yamanashi Prefecture)
In the vicinity of Mt. Fuji, the grass cherry blossoms are beautiful every year from mid-April to late May. With Mt. Fuji in the background, a wonderful landscape is created.
Beware of traffic jams in popular tourist spots
Many places in the Japanese archipelago are very easy to enjoy in April weather. You can have a pleasant time not only in the places I introduced above but also in many other tourist spots.
However, there is one thing I want you to keep in mind: Traffic jams. Japanese people often travel for sightseeing in Japan in April. In addition, since the number of tourists visiting Japan increases year by year, famous sightseeing spots are very crowded.
For example, my friend experienced heavy traffic when going to see moss slope from Tokyo to Mt. Fuji. Because of the traffic, the trip took seven hours to get there. If you go to a famous sightseeing spot on a day trip from Tokyo, I recommend that you depart as soon as possible in the morning.
In Japan, elementary school and junior high school are on vacation from late March to early April. For this reason, there are many families going on sightseeing trips during this period. From the end of April to the beginning of May there is a long vacation period called “Golden Week”. During this time, famous sightseeing spots are especially crowded so please beware.
Now, let’s plan to make your vacation in Japan the best experience ever!
