Japan in July

I do leave on the 23rd...it is all so surreal at the moment   Three years and it is over...wow!  haha 

The hotel in Kyoto seems nice...It is really easy to walk most of Kyoto so no matter where it is located the location isn't a problem   When you arrive at Kyoto Station on the Shink you can go up to the 2nd floor and the information desk is there-AND you can stop off for beignets as it is right across from the information desk!    

Your Tokyo and Miyajima hotels look good, especially Miyajima!!  I love the traditional Japanese guesthouses...

It should be fairly easy to buy your ticket for the airport limousine-at Kansai it is on the bottom floor...Narita was pretty easy to navigate, if I remember correctly.   

  Seems like you are prepared to brave the craziness of Japan in the summer!!  Good luck dear   Eat tons of sushi and sashimi and soba and drink lots of cold beeru!    Have a great time! 

Miyajima is famous for oysters, eat those if available, too!  (You'll find that every little place in Japan is 'famous' for some kind of food.. in my area, it's cabbages and tuna.)

I'm trying to figure out if you need a taxi from T-CAT.. your hotel might actually be in walking distance.  Ask the hotel, I'm having trouble bringing up maps right now.  And no, you don't need to reserve the coach from Narita.  They run all the time and it's very easy to find the ticket booth and the stops.

I'll be here!  Give me a call when you're ready to hit Kamakura.

madeira, I never got around to asking what it is you do in Japan?  I am the stereotypical English teacher on the JET Programme  

Gardening, general housewifery, painting, printmaking, DIY stuff.. and the MOFA gives me cash for teaching the diplomats stuff.  I first came over with GEOS, and liked it so much I bought a piece of the country.  Hoping to open an art gallery in a few years, my town needs one, and rents are cheap.

That's really awesome   Good luck with the art gallery opening!  That sounds like it could be a very good idea    Your Japanese must be amazing...man, mine is dismal.  That is what I get for living in Osaka and not studying  

Haha, my Japanese is terrible.  I get by, and can understand a lot, but I really need to get more grammar down.  Two years in the UK didn't help much, either.  Why do you want to leave this unique country of four seasons?

My mortgage just went from 1% to 2.4%.  Beat that, western countries!

haha  I can understand enough to get by but I am completely illiterate!  Japanese is bloody hard!  I studied Arabic at uni and had a much easier time with that   Leaving...well, my contract is finished for starters...I think I am at war with Japan haha  I love it and I hate it and I think it is time for a change...I am not a big city girl...New Orleans (where I am from) isn't that big-everyone knows everyone and Osaka is monstrous!  Though, saying that, I don't think I could have lived in the inaka   I was never very interested in Japan to begin with hah-Africa is more my style but I do enjoy it now!  And, well, it would be nice to see my husband   He has been back in Harrogate since March...

It is already been a sad month...I leave in 2 weeks and it isn't going to get any happier really...Man, how much amazing sushi and okonomiyaki and green tea and soba do you think I can eat in 2 weeks?!?  haha

Eat eat eat!  Don't forget about somen, now is the time!  Since we got back, I've been eating so much I'm bound to turn into a perfectly circular person..  And it's Ayu season, just learned how to deal with the long rods.  Caught about 60 last week, made delicious tempura.  The inlaws set me up with a pickling vat (nuka), now making pickles like crazy.. honestly, I love Japan so much I really never want to leave again.  The first cicadas are out making noise now, it's hanabi season..

If you haven't looked at Japanese weather reports recently, come prepared for intense heat and humidity.  This is the first year I've turned on the a/c.  And buy bug dope as soon as you can.  This summer is a bit ridiculous.  At least in Kanto.

I'm in Japan now.  Part of your plan should be staying at my house for a few days, we're close to Kamakura and decent beaches/mountains.  (About 20 minutes to Yokohama, 45 to Shinegawa.)  That bit is free, of course.  And hey, we should have furniture by then!

Can I knock on your door next year? 

I've been avoiding this thread because I am not quite ready to plan my far east trip next year. I don't want to get too excited just yet! I am thinking of doing Korea and Japan... HK might be pushing it but I've made contacts so it all depends how long I will travel!

I am already getting excited!

Sure, we have tons of room.  I actually have to remind myself to visit parts of the house.. The only downside is we're pretty far from any nightlife.  What time of year were you thinking of?  I think I'd try to avoid July/August.. I haven't been able to go outside in the daytime recently.  (Today is good, though..yay!)

...
I knew it would be hot, but it seems like this summer is a bit of a scorcher!!! oh well...Such is life I'll hide in many air conditioned shops

Thanks for the advice - What's bug dope?

What's the best time to visit if you hate heat and humidity like I do 

EDIT - I mean the centralish chunk.

Bug dope: insect repellant.  Is it a Pacific Northwest term? 

Japan is always fairly humid, especially compared to the UK, but heat is fairly easy to avoid.  June to August are the sticky months.  It does usually cool off at night, in Kanto, anyways.  Like I said, though, this year is crazy. 

Yep, Japan is ALWAYS humid...the weather has been really crazy, like Madeira mentioned.  This is the hottest and muggiest it has been in the 3 years I have lived here.  The winter also seemed to be the coldest.  Best times, in my opinion, are around October, November, and then hanami season-about the end of March, April...a bit into May.    And I really envy you with your big house, Madeira!  My apartment isn't that small but it definitely could be that way when it was my husband and I living together for the first few months