Погода: Такаяма, июль

Forum posters consistently recommend Hakuba as a cooler mountain alternative to Tokyo's oppressive July heat and humidity, alongside other Nagano Prefecture mountain towns like Karuizawa and Kamikochi. Posters describe July as the start of Hakuba's 'Green Season,' with hiking, mountain biking and canoeing all rated as good activities, and note hotel rates run cheaper than winter ski season even though some hotels and restaurants close for the shoulder period. Posters do flag July as generally the hottest month even in Hakuba, with highs occasionally reaching into the high-80sF on a warm day, though this stays notably more comfortable than the lowland cities. Posters generally recommend Hakuba specifically for anyone wanting outdoor summer activities without the worst of Japan's urban summer heat.

Takayama's forum is consistent that November is the transition month, not full winter: by mid-month a cold wind picks up and light snow can fall, but it's the kind that melts rather than piles up on the streets, since Takayama sits in a basin rather than up in the mountains. Real snow season, posters agreed, doesn't properly start until December. Expect cold mornings warming a little by afternoon, and layer up - one traveler compared the feel to a chilly October day in the northeastern US, more brisk than bitter.

May is good weather in Takayama — 20°C by day, 10 overnight, before June's heat and rain — but it falls between the two things the town is best known for. The Sannō Festival, the spring half of the Takayama Matsuri and one of the three most beautiful festivals in Japan, runs 14–15 April; the autumn festival is in October. May gets you the old town, the float exhibition hall and the Japanese Alps without either crowd. The record does show rain on fourteen days, so "before it gets wet in June" is a relative claim.