Погода: Фукуока, декабрь

Regulars are specific that northern Kyushu runs genuinely dry and clear this month, more sunny days than much of the rest of the country in winter, with coastal cities along this stretch relatively mild compared with inland Japan. Our row backs that cool, still-mild read, 12.4C over 5.8C nights feeling 2C, with 58.3mm of rain across 8.3 days and a trace of snow, 1.2cm. Regulars are consistent snow in the city itself is genuinely rare early in the month, appearing only in some years and largely dependent on exactly where a Siberian cold front settles, with one recent year seeing first snow in November and the next seeing none until deep December. Layers over a warm coat remain the standard advice given how much year-to-year variation regulars report. The sea sits at a cool 15.3C. The record: humidity 73 percent, 6.4 hours of sun, a 14 kph wind and AQI 49.

Regulars describe early March here as properly cold rather than mild spring - single figures at night, chilly enough by day that a real jacket and layers matter, with thermal innerwear recommended by more than one poster. Our row backs it closely, 15.9C reading as 14C over 7.9C nights feeling 5C, with 112.3mm of rain across 11.1 days. On blossom the timing is precise: early-flowering plums are still out at the start of the month while the cherry has not yet arrived, so a visitor chasing sakura specifically needs to look toward late March into early April instead. The Kyokusui no Utage festival at Dazaifu on the 2nd and narcissus at Uminonakamichi Seaside Park are named as the early-month alternatives. The sea is 14.3C. The record: humidity 76 percent, 7.9 hours of sun, a 14.5 kph wind and AQI 62.

Fukuoka-forum threads on winter travel describe January as genuinely cold but notably milder than Japan's other major cities this time of year, one regular specifically comparing it favorably to Seoul's harsher winter at a similar latitude. Coastal Kyushu's position keeps extreme cold snaps rarer here than further north, though posters still call proper winter layers essential - a real coat, gloves, scarf and hat. Snow shows up on occasion but isn't the norm, more a light dusting some years than a defining feature. Regulars point winter visitors toward a day trip out to nearby Yanagawa for a canal boat ride, plus the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum and the local motsunabe stew specialty. The record: 10.5C days feeling like 7C, 3.9C nights, 67mm across 9.3 days, 3.1cm of fresh snowfall, a 12.4C sea, 74 percent humidity and 6.6 hours of sun.

May in Fukuoka is the last month before the rains: Kyushu's tsuyu usually begins around 7 to 10 June, so May sits outside it and regulars call it the nicest season of the year. That does not mean dry - our row carries 172.2mm across 11.4 precipitation days - and their description of the rhythm is three days of sun then a day or two of rain. It is also warm and, this far south, humid enough that you will sweat. The packing list they give runs the whole range: short sleeves, long sleeves, a light jacket, a rain parka, waterproof shoes and a folding umbrella. Mid-May to early June is the window. The record: 24.6C days that feel like 26C, 16.4C nights, humidity 79 percent and 8.8 hours of sun.

November is autumn-leaf season in northern Kyushu, and the Fukuoka forum's whole answer is about altitude rather than date. The high ground turns first - Unzen's Nita Pass and Mt Tsurumi above Beppu, at around 1,300m, peak in early November - while the plains run two or three weeks later, so the city itself starts from about mid-November, with Raizan Sennyoji in Itoshima usually around the 15th to 20th. A cold year brings it all forward. And it does not end with the month: once the mountains are bare, the city streets and parks hold their ginkgo yellow into mid-December. The record: 18.8C days, 11C nights, 7.9 precipitation days, only 7.6 hours of sun in a 10.4-hour day, AQI 48.