May 2020 and potential issues with Olympics

Hello everyone,

My wife and I are thinking of visiting Japan in May 2020 (Arriving May 10th, leaving May 31th).
We choose May for a number of reasons:

1. Interest in the spring blossoms is not very high (we live in a area with lot's of orchards (apples, pears, cherries) so we are able to enjoy the blossoms every year. Not as pretty as the Sakura in Japan, but we are willing to accept that.

2. Cost should be pretty good as we avoid both Golden week + the sakura's

3. From a weather point of view May should be a very good time of visiting to my understanding? Not to hot, not to cold, just before rainy season in June.

Our full itinerary is not yet set but the idea is to start in Tokyo, discover the Japanese Alps, see Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima. Perhaps we will adjust a bit but the exact itinerary will depend on the plane tickets.

However, we are receiving some remarks from people it's perhaps not the best idea to visit, due to the Olympics starting in late July, and "there will be construction and renovation everywhere, you should go in 2021". I find it hard to believe that there would be such major hindrance and have "all" tourist hotspots under renovation? I assume they might be doing some last minute work on both infrastructure and stadiums, but except maybe some (minor?) hindrance in Tokyo itself, I can't imagine experiencing any issues outside of Tokyo? (perhaps it's even a good thing, of lot's of people reason that way it will be quite calm when we are visiting :))
*I'm aware the floating Torii gate is under renovation, I already spotted this. :)

What is the general vibe here in regard to visiting in the first part of 2020? I did a quick check in the forums, but couldn't find any really topics about it.

May is a great time to visit. We visited from about 8 May to 22 May this year (just after Golden Week) and it was really good although uncharacteristically hot (temps around high 20's celsius). The Alps should be very pleasant but keep your eye on temperatures because we have been there at that time and it was cold as well, I think temps are a bit unpredictable. Put it this way, if a bit of heat (high 20's celsius) will ruin your holiday, it might be better to go earlier. Usually by the beginning of June it is too hot for me in Tokyo.

I am only passingly familiar with the preparation for the Olympics but really, Tokyo is a very big city and you seem to be getting out of there pretty quick. If you look at where the venues are (wikipedea) you can stay away from them if you want. There only seems to be limited venues outside of Tokyo. Personally I wouldnt let it put you off at all, in fact we might go over again at the same time.

Alps areas that I have found particularly nice around that time of year include Karuizawa, Kamikochi, and Takayama which you can essentially travel to in that order if you like (stopping over at Matsumoto which I have found to get a bit warm that time of year).

we are receiving some remarks from people it's perhaps not the best idea to visit, due to the Olympics
Quite false. May is months ahead of the Olympics and construction work in Tokyo is never-ending.

I would go for it. May is a perfect month to visit Japan. Normally nicely warm but not yet hot.

Regarding construction work, I was in Tokyo this May and it was just normal. Ifll go back again in October and expect it to be normal again. Itfs a city with millions and millions of inhabitants. So the Olympic venues are only a very small part.

Also I donft think that there is any special construction work at touristic highlights that wouldnft be ongoing anyway.

Eg I think in Kyoto Kiyomizudera is still under renovation, but it is now since quite some time. But there are hundreds of other nice places in Kyoto as well.

Btw, there is actually no need to avoid GW. Just avoid traveling on the most busy days of it. But if anything specially Tokyo should be a bit more calm during GW, as nearly all office workers are off (and many of them traveling somewhere else). But even other parts of Japan during GW are totally fine. Working in a Japanese company that was/is also my prime time for holidays and I always enjoyed it.

Enjoy your trip to Japan!

Most tourist destinations are not undergoing renovation and I have not heard of any tourist destinations that scheduled their renovations around the Olympics. Maybe there are some, but most renovations of historic sites take years, so their renovation schedules were established long before the Olympics.