Advice during Obon travel

I unfortunately booked to travel to Japan between Aug 13-18 and I know it is a bad time to travel the country.

With someone with no knowledge of the language and contacts, is visiting Kyoto for 2 nights reasonable? and traveling from North to South or East to West Kyoto time consuming or expensive?

With someone with no knowledge of the language and contacts, is visiting Kyoto for 2 nights reasonable?

Certainly. Hundreds of thousands of foreign tourists do it ever year.

and traveling from North to South or East to West Kyoto time consuming or expensive.

Yes, it can be time consuming, but does not have to be expensive.

Hi, travelling in Japan in Obon is not impossible but you need to be prepared. You should get ALL your accommodation booked up before you go or you will have a depressing time trudging from hotel to hotel trying to find a bed, especially in Kyoto. I would suggest longer than 2 nights in Kyoto - remember 2 nights only gives you 1 full day - not enough for all Kyoto has to offer! Get yourself a Green rail pass too as you will have no problem getting seats; ordinary class cars get full very quickly in Obon. You might want to think about getting a travel company to sort your accommodation if you have not already - check the ads on the top/sides of these pages. Good luck!