May is one of the best months of the year. Warm days but not hot, cools off at night. Rain is rare. I recommend that you travel after the Golden Week holiday period finishes to avoid crowds. This year, it starts on Sat. 4/27 and the last day is Mon. 5/6. Every year is a bit different.

I love Japan in May. Lots of things are green and beautiful, and other than the Golden Week period there won't be a lot of domestic tourism (Golden Week is one of the three big travel seasons - most Japanese will be off that time).

John W.

May is almost perfect weather-wise. It's one of the best if not the best months to visit. You don't need a thick jacket. Bring a thin one for the evening/early morning. During the day, it'll be a T-shirt weather. Go after Golden Week.

Some if not many male overseas tourists I saw today in Fushimi Inari were in their shorts already, some young females with midriff-bare outfits as well. No, I'm not arguing if that's proper attire to pay a visit to a shinto shrine, but it's just that that makes you think as if summer has come already. Come May, temp's sure rising higher during daytime. So bringing a summer sweater/cardigan will suffice, methinks.

Thank you all for your responses! I looked it up on Google and will be there after the Golden Week from the 11th to the 15th of May so I think we're good in that regard. Your response has been a great help! It'll be our first time in Japan this May so just really keen on getting ready and informed.

Hope this won't be something for you to think twice about for your May trip, but do you know about yellow sands?

Fine sands blown up by the wind from the big deserts in or between China and Mongolia are carried across the ocean to Japan, particularly in springtime. Sometimes hazardous to health, since PM2.5 is also carried.

In some days this and last week skies got pretty hazy, where some people got sneezy (yes, I saw some overseas tourists walking with masks on in Fushimi Inari yesterday), even car roofs becoming quite dustier than in other times of the year. Yes, it's pointed out yellow sands contribute to natural environment, enriching mineral components in the sea, helping to increase natural composite in the soil and so forth. But to average joes/janes, they are nothing but a menace. So people with asthma, for instance, may like to postpone their late April to early May Japan visits. But in other respects, Japan is quite nice to visit in May. Yellow sands usually don't reach beyond the Kansai/Chubu region. So Tokyo/Kanto(?) is free from sand-induced hazy skies, so are Tohoku and Hokkaido.

No, I did not know about the yellow sands but thank you for bringing this up. We will need to be extra cautious especially the two elderly people with us.

No problem, Harmony, am glad it helps. No yellow sands over Honshu Island today. See the forcasted image:

https://www.data.jma.go.jp/env/kosa/fcst/

Btw, temps during the daytime will rise one groove/grade above, come May. Not sure but if you were planning to visit Osaka Castle, yet if so then I advise you stay well-hydrated. Yes, once on the terrace of the topmost floor (a 360-degree view gets unfolded below your eyes), nice breezez cool your body. Problem is, you need to brace for a long line of elevators (ground floor to the 5th, or, should I say, to the 4th floor), unless you walk up the stairs from the ground level. The elevators don't go any higher. So from the 4th/5th, visitors have to cope with another 3stories through the (hot and muggy) stairs. The said castle has become the most popular sight for overseas tourists the way I see it. Yes, inside is a modern museum, rather than an original setting. Nonetheless, stately outer moats are one of a kind, together with the shape of the main keep and its breezy topmost floor terrace.

Up to you, yet come nightfall, you may like to set foot on (neon-glaring, loud/deafening music played) Dotombori, or uptown Umeda area. Yes, options for side trips galore. Kyoto is ony about 30min train riade away from here; likewise, Kobe too.

Have great fun!