Japan – The Land Of Rising Sun
Often nicknamed as the ‘land of rising sun,’ ‘Nihon,’ or ‘Nippon,’ Japan is an island nation in East Asia, located in the Pacific Ocean, to the east of China, Korea and Russia. Actually, Japan is an Archipelago comprised of over three thousand islands stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in the south.
The largest of the Japanese Islands are Honsh?, Hokkaid?, Ky?sh? and Shikoku. These islands are mainly mountainous and volcanic. Fuji is Japan’s highest peak. In Japan, you can visit, Tokyo, the Japanese capital, and the important cities, such as Hiroshima, Kanazawa, Kyoto, Nagasaki, Nara, Osaka, Sapporo, and Sendai. Japan is the destination known for its scenic beauty, and a lot of tourist attractions including mesmeric mountains, captivating sites, temples, castles, hot springs, etc.
Definitely, spring is the best times to visit Japan. During Spring, Japan is warm, but not hot, and furthermore it does not rain too much during this time of the year. If you want to enjoy the famous cherry blossoms (sakura) blooming, you must visit Japan in March-April. The Japan Meteorological Agency in early March, announces predictions about when the blooming will begin. It marks the beginning of the time of revelry and festivals.
Hanami, a festival of outdoors picnics and drunken revelry is celebrated in parks in March or April. Hinamatsuri, the Doll Festival is celebrated on 3 March. The Golden Week (April 27 to May 6) that is the longest holiday in Japan is not good time to visit Japan, as there are four public holidays and people go on for vacation, and trains are crowded, flight and hotel prices go incredibly up, but you may plan you tour a couple of weeks immediately before or after the Golden Week.
Japanese Summer runs from June to August. June brings a dreary rainy season. July-August turns Japan into a steambath, with extreme humidity and the temperature heading as high as 40°C. During this time northern Hokkaido or the mountains of Chubu and Tohoku are some of the places to visit. Summer brings number festivals that include several big and small local festivals and impressive fireworks competitions. On July 7th or early August in some places, Tanabata is a star festival commemorating a story of star-crossed lovers who could only meet on this day. Celebrated in mid-July in eastern Japan (Kanto) and mid-August in western Japan (Kansai), Obon is the largest summer festival that honors the departed spirits of one's ancestors.
Autumn, starting in September, is the best time to visit Japan. Temperature and humidity is tolerable, days are fair, and colors of fall are mesmerizing. Winter is cold and snowy, which is good time for skiing or hot-spring hopping.
Matsuri are local festivals, usually related to the rice harvest, celebrated in late summer/early autumn. Matsuri are celebrated almost every region of Japan. Gion Matsuri (Kyoto), Tenjin Matsuri (Osaka), and Kanda and Sann? Matsuri (Tokyo) are some of the most popular.
Shichi-Go-San is the festival day for children aged three, five and seven, celebrated on 15 November. ?misoka - New Year is celebrated with great fervor and festivity. It is holiday that shuts down the country between December 29 and January 3. People eat festive foods and gather at temple at midnight to wish in the New Year. Second Monday of January is Seijin Shiki, which is a nation wide festival of Coming of Age Day.
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