Visiting iN Japan in February

In a previous post, I shared the benefits of off season travel.

In this post, I want to share why February is a particularly excellent month to visit Japan. You’ll have less crowds and overall you’ll get to see the beauty of winter in Japan.

If you’re an avid skier or snowboarder, or even if you simply love winter and snow, then a lot of this mountainous country will have this for you. Japan has had record breaking snowfall this season.

There are various snow or winter festivals including the Snow Festival in Hokkaido.

February brings more sunshine than January. If you’re in cities or further West, temperatures are milder. And while everyone loves to talk about cherry blossoms, there are blossoms very few talk about, plum.

Plum or ume trees start to bloom in mid-February into March depending on area. They are in bloom longer compared to the fleeting cherry blossoms, the blossoms have a delicate and sweet scent and are really a symbol of ushering in Spring.

The blossoms can range from white to a deep red in color.

Here are a few ideas of where you can see and enjoy these beautiful blossoms:

•Osaka City- the inner moat of Osaka Castle has over 1,000 plum trees.

•Atami,Shizuoka- not too far from Tokyo, Atami Garden hosts the Plum Blossom Festival and is one of the earliest places to see plum blossoms. It has over 60 varieties of plum trees.

•Tsukigase, Nara- this area of Nara has over 10,000 trees. This area even comes of up in Matsuo Basho’s poetry from the 16th century.

One of the reasons many visitors wants to visit Japan is the food. Japanese eat seasonally and this is reflected in regional cuisine and dishes.

One caveat is the strawberry. In the 1960s, strawberries began to popularize with the invention of greenhouse cultivation. However, there was little production domestically. Strawberries were pretty tart and this is why they were consumed with milk and sugar or condensed milk. iIn The 1990s, Tochigi prefecture was the first to create their own variety of strawberry and soon other prefectures followed.

Strawberries show up in both Western and Japanese desserts prior to this. One dessert is Ichigo daifuku or white mochi (rice cake) with red bean paste and a strawberry inside. This is something you must try when you’re in Japan. Strawberries are also tied to Valentine’s Day in Japan for their sweetness and being shaped like a heart.

Foods that are popular in winter in Japan include seafood like crab, puffer fish fugu, oysters, as well as hot pot and stews as well seasonal fruit like citrus mandarin citrus and dekopon or Sumo Citrus® as they’re known outside of Japan.

Finally, hot springs or onsen, are wonderful in the winter. After a long day of sightseeing or skiing, you can relax and warm up your body. Famous hot springs town have water that’s full of minerals. The Japanese bathe in the evening all year and doing so helps you sleep better.

Traveling to Japan in February will be lower nightly rates at hotels or Japanese inns, less crowds, and the chance to really travel slower.