Filipinos recommend: Japan's top tourists destinations!
Japan was listed as the top travel destination for Filipino. Diper Tour receives a lot of travelers from Philippines every year. If this is your first time visiting Japan and you have no idea, you will definitely want to know what top places to visit in Japan. We’ve got some recommendations according to our Philippine customers and now we’re listing them by seasons.
Travel to Japan in Spring
Talking about spring, people must think of flowers, especially cherry blossoms. The best cherry blossom spots in the main cities are as below:
*Tokyo:
Asakusa (Sensoji temple): the oldest temple in Tokyo
Meguri River: 8-kilometer-long river with cherry trees
Kinuta Park & Yoga Sakura Tunnel: a 1-kilometre Sakura tunnel in Kinuta Park
Imperial Palace East Gardens: a big public & free garden
Nijo Castle: there are illuminations held in the evenings
Arashiyama: there are many cherry trees around the Togetsukyo Bridge
Okazaki Canal: you can take a boat trip and enjoy evening illuminations
*Hiroshima
Miyajima & Itsukushima Shrine: UNESCO World Heritage site
Another popular type of flower in spring is wisteria. It is said that wisteria will bring good luck to humans and bad luck to demons. In general, wisteria bloom from April to May in Japan, just follows cherry blossom period. So if you just miss cherry blossom, you can still enjoy the wisteria. It is less famous than cherry blossom, however, the stunning blooming also captures thousands of travelers. Where to see the best wisteria blooms in Japan?
*Tokyo
Kameido Tenjin Shrine: the 350-year-old shrine is home to over 100 purple wisteria trees
*Ashikaga (about 2 hours’ drive from Tokyo city)
Ashikaga Flower Park: almost 350 wisteria trees that are more than 150 years old
*Nara
Kasuga Taisha Shrine
*Sennan (about 1 hour’s drive from Osaka city)
Shindachijuku Wisteria Garden
*Kitakyushu (about 1.5 hours’ drive from Fukuoka city)
Kawachi Wisteria Garden: over 150 wisteria trees of all colors and a 220-meter-long wisteria tunnel
For more information of the seasonal flower parks in Japan, please check:
Here is one attraction where you can feel winter when it is actually in Spring and summer, that is Snow Wall of Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. The entire route is open from April 15 to November 30, but the snow corridor is only open to the public from mid-April to end-June. The Alpine route is approximately 90km long and the visitors need to take different kinds of transportation including railroad, cable car, bus, etc. Here are more to see than snow wall and visitors can enjoy a variety of scenery in different seasons. With 20 meters high small walls, the Alpine Route snow corridor captures thousands of visitors each year.
There are not only various Winter Festivals in Japan, there are also many Summer Festivals and fireworks. If you are planning to spend your summer holiday in Japan, there are also relaxing beach, flower fields, street festivals and seasonal food waiting for you.
Here are the lists of the major Summer Festivals in Japan locations:
Tenmangu Shrine in Osaka: Tenjin Matsuri (July 24-25)
Gion in Kyoto: Gion Matsuri, the largest festival in Kyoto (July 1-31)
Nijo Castle Kyoto: NAKED Summer Festival, illuminations, fireworks and traditional food stalls (July 26-August 25)
Hell Festival in Noboribetsu Onsen: the Great Demon King Enma’s parade through Gokuraku Street in the hot spring resort (August 23-25)
Katase Nishihama Beach in Kamakura: Enoshima Minami Beach Show Fireworks (August 11, 17, 24 and 30)
Hokkaido Shrine in Sapporo: Hokkaido Jingu Shrine Festival (June 14 to 16)
Miyajima Island in Hiroshima: Miyajima Water Fireworks Festival (Late August, varies by year)
Besides of numerous summer festivals, there are natural sightseeing you won’t miss in Japan. It is the best time for plenty of types of flowers in Japan, especially in Hokkaido. Let’s introduce the amazing summer flower spots to you.
*Hokkaido
Takino Suzuran Hillside Park in Sapporo: large park with 240,000 bulbs of 128 different kinds of tulips
Farm Tomita in Furano: large lavender fields
Shikisaino-Oka in Biei: seasonal flowers
Onuma National Park in Nanae: lotus
Nasu Farm in Chitose: sun flowers
The recommended Hokkaido summer tour package with flower fields:
Comparing to summer, autumn is cooler and you can enjoy a different sightseeing - autumn leaves. Because of the four distinct, many travelers believe that autumn is more comfortable to travel. Fall is long, stretching from mi-September to December. Generally, the best time to see fall colors is November in some main tourist cities like Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. What are the top tourists spots for autumn foliage?
*Nikko
Oku-Nikko: the center of Nikko National Park
Lake Chuzenji: the highest natural lake in Japan
Kegon Waterfall: falls straight down from the 97-meter cliff
Japan is good for travel no matter in what season. “Sakura” brings Japan to the world and people know it happens in Spring. What makes Japan’s winter more popular is the hot spring (onsen) with a snow view and the ski resorts throughout the whole country. Here’s the guide to the best winter destinations and attractions in Japan:
*Shirakawa-go
Ogimachi Village: main attraction of visiting Shiragawa-go, UNESCO heritage site
Recommended tour package regarding to Shirakawa-go:
The abundant snow and ice resources make Hokkaido the perfect destination for hosting Japan winter festivals. Here’s a list of the locations of some major Hokkaido winter festivals.
Lake Shikotsu Ice Festival (February 1-24, 2025)
Asahikawa Winter Festival (early February, 1 week duration)
Sounkyo Onsen Ice Fall Festival (late January to mid March)
Recommended Hokkaido winter tour package with Hokkaido winter festival:
Besides of winter/snow festivals in Hokkaido, there is another attractive activity that is unique in Hokkaido throughout the whole Japan, that is Icebreaker trip. It’s only available from mid-late January till the end-March in Abashiri, the most Northeast city in Japan. If you stay in Hokkaido long enough, you can go to Abashiri and join the drift ice cruise in the Okhotsk Sea.
As the most northern island in Japan, Hokkaido is home to more than 100 ski resorts. So if you plan to make a Japan winter holiday, Hokkaido is the best choice. The winter time in Hokkaido is the longest one among Japan, from November to May, while the best ski period is from December to March. The list of the ski resorts in Hokkaido from the reviews from most of our customers:
*Niseko
Located just 2 hour drive from New Chitose Airport and Sapporo, Niseko ski resort district is one of the most popular one. Located on Mount Niseko-Annupuri, the big three ski resorts (Grand Hirafu, Niseko Village and Annupuri) are joined together, so people can ski between them with shuttle buses by using Niseko All Mountain Pass.
*Furano
With less crowds than Niseko ski resorts, the ski resorts near Furano captures more people’s eyes these years. Known as the ski resort town, Furano is only 2.5km away from the ski area. There are two ski zones in Furano Ski Resort (Prince Snow Resorts), Kitanomine Zone and Furano Zone.
*Hoshino Resort Tomamu
If you are looking for the most magical winter wonderland experience in Hokkaido, I will recommend Hoshino Resort Tomamu. It’s a large-scale resort with an area of about 1000 hectares. The highlights of the resort are Unkai Terrace, the ski area and the ice village.
Standing 1088 meters tall, Unkai Terrace Tomamu is just high enough to touch the clouds. Unkai (Sea of Clouds) is a phenomenal of Tomamu summer during the early morning. While in winter, Hoshino Resorts Tomamu ski resort will meed your ski dream, no matter you are a beginner or an experienced skier. With three modern ski-in and ski-out hotels, the resort has very convenient transportation from Sapporo and free shuttle buses are available between the resort’s different areas. In the evenings, stroll around the illuminated Tomamu ice village and have fun in the ice world! A collection of 11 ice domes and a variety of fun activities make it one of the most popular resorts among the locals and foreigners.
If you would like to visit the classic Japan tourists spots from Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, etc., please check our Osaka itinerary from Singapore and Tokyo itinerary from Singapore.
From the booking to payment of our tour Ms Linda was very accomodating. She assisted us all the way and was very prompt to answer all queries. And when we had the tour, our tour guide and driver was very punctual and helpful to our group of 13 pax. We will definitely recommend it to others that need the same service that we have.
Josette Ariel Hermenegildo January 6 ★★★★★
We had a great 10 day vacation in Japan( from Osaka to Tokyo). With Celine and Diper tour’s assistance, everything went well. From Universal & Disneyland tickets to tourist spots & attraction, we really had no hassle and enjoy every place that we visited. Thank you very much Celine, very prompt to reply our emails and suggested what’s best for our tour. Special mention to Ian our tour guide driver in Tokyo who really speaks english well that also gave us some tips and backgrounds on places. All in all we had fun and had a great time. Again, thank you Celine so much and thanks to Diper tour that made our trip to Japan a memorable one.
CS Siew December 16 ★★★★★
DT offers a flexible and a convenient way for us to only go to places we want to go. Being a private tour, it allows us to customise and as such, see more places than conventional tours. We had a fuss free and enjoyable time in Japan, thanks to Abby and her ground crew.
Our driver, Cavin was excellent throughout, very considerate and careful. He even went to the extent to make sure my wife only bought local Japanese biscuits n delicacies from local (cheaper n more variety) shops rather than from touristy shops. We travelled in comfortable and clean Toyota Alphard throughout our journey. They can get closer to certain sites which are surrounded by narrow roads or alleys.
Abby was very patient and accommodating with our requests and changes. She ensures our entire journey went like clockwork.
No hesitation in recommending Diper Tours. Thanks Abby
