Weather & Crowd in Mar

I hope to avoid the peak tourist season to Tokyo, Kyoto & Osaka which is Apr-May & Oct-Nov. Hotel prices are at peak =(

However I understand that Jun-Aug is very hot and humid period which is something I dread..

Dec-Feb tends to have very short daylight and can be a little chilly and dull for me.

That seems to leave me with Mar. Can anyone advise what is the weather and crowd like in Mar and is it worth visiting in Mar?

Thanks!

Early March is low season, but it often still feels like winter.

Second half of March is school holidays and many spots will be crowded with kids and families.

April, except late April is not so busy, except popular cherry blossom spots like Kyoto.

Golden Week in late April and early May is very busy.

But after Golden Week, most of May is off season and pleasant weather. This is one of my favorite times to travel in Japan. Towards the end of May and beginning of June, it starts to rain more and more.

July and August are very hot and crowded due to the summer holidays.

September comes often with bad weather.

October and November are very pleasant months to travel. Nice weather, off-season (except the spots famous for autumn leaves).

December through February is winter.

I recommend May (immediately after Golden Week), October and November.

The situation is different if you plan to visit Hokkaido or Okinawa.

My first visit was in late March 2006 and it was lovely. The weather though cold first thing in the morning was sunny and warmer than the UK. The crowds were not noticable (Tho I didnt know what to expect). The cherry blossom came out during my two magical weeks in Tokyo & Kyoto.

Thanks, Uji & Stan for your helpful replies.

I actually emailed a few hotels in tokyo for rates in 1st wk of Nov 08 and they replied me that Oct & Nov is in fact the PEAK SEASON and the rates quoted was hence not cheap...

Somehow it gives me the feeling that hotels will probably treat the whole of May (after the golden week) as peak and the rates may not go down at all =(

The peak of peak season in Japan is Golden Week(early May), New Year, and Obon(August).

The second peak season is school holidays in summer, winter and spring.

So I think Oct and Nov are the best season to visit Japan, very beautifull, mild weather, and still not so crowded.

I have been to Japan at different times of the year (Except July-August). The last 2 trips were in April(starting around the 5th)and late October. On the April trip we visited Kyoto but stayed in Kobe and didn't find the crowds to be a problem. In fact walking the philosophers' path with all the many others admiring the Sakura blossoms was a very pleasant experience. The October trip was very pleasant, weather wise. Another trip, mid-October (we went to Osaka from Canada just for a long weekend!) was worrisome at first as we landed on the tail end of a typhoon, but turned out OK.

my first trip to Japan was during july and august. it was extremely hot even in sapporo. The past couple years, i only visited during march and oct. It was great weather during those two months.
I just got back from japan yesterday. For this time, it was almost rainny days in sapporo/kagoshima/tokyo