1st week December travel

Hi

Is the first week of December a busy time for Tokyo and Kyoto?

Do I need to book bullet trains in advance?

I want to go to Arashiyama Hanatouro and am wondering how much time is needed there?

Thank you

It happens from 12/8 to 12/17 this year.
Check out their official web site: http://www.hanatouro.jp/arashiyama/

It attracts lots of people for night time, but Kyoto is always crowded now days and booking Shinkansen will not be more difficult than usual.

Last time I travelled at that time of year was about 4 years ago and it was an awesome time, and not very busy. The Arashiyama lightup is nice but forget going through the bamboo groves at night, it is just a crush of people. If you can shift your dates back a few days to a week you would be getting some pretty good autumn colours still, especially Kyoto, Nara, Uji.

Kyoto is always busy these days though and it really takes a lot of the fun out of it, personally I would give it less time and spend some time at Kamakura/Enoshima (near Tokyo), and Nara

Unfortunately I the dates are already set. Do you know whether we can go to the temples in Arashiyama during the light up?

Would you recommend spending time in the afternoon in Arashiyama as well as staying there longer for the Hanatouro or just going to the Hanatouro itself? I won't be spending much time in kyoto.

Cheers, no matter it is a great time to travel. I dont recall being able to go into the temples. I'd go around when it is getting dark, so about 5PM that time of year. Most of the people are around the bridge itself and in the grove. Seriously, the grove is like a tokyo train in peak hour so you wont be seeing what they showed on the website. The far (mountain) side of the bridge though was pretty quiet, we were able to find food no problems at all, which was welcome because it was freezing.

It's not a particularly busy travel season, but at popular places to see autumn leaves it can get pretty packed. Other areas are just fine though.
In Tokyo, the Sensoji Temple & Nakamise Street are full of people in the daytime all year long, but it is still worth visiting and one of Tokyo's most famous and popular places.
https://goo.gl/q5nDom
Meiji Shrine is another big tourist spot - best on a Sunday afternoon if you want to combine it with Harajuku to see the girls and wild fashions.
https://youtu.be/3tY7jPFhTBM
Be sure also to see some of Tokyo's many famous traditional gardens. Koishikawa Korakuen is very popular for autumn leaves but for good reason.
https://goo.gl/tAECfM
You also might like the Icho Namiki or Ginkgo Lane.
https://is.gd/BLtNTR
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3061.html

For Arashiyama, as you'd expect, there will be big crowds at places - but you can also see some places in the daytime as well.
https://goo.gl/Neiowd
A couple of favorites for autumn there are Jojakkoji and the Hogonin Temple.