Bad idea to go in late May?

Unfortunately, I realize that weather can't be predicted with absolute accuracy. But how high of a risk do I run heading into an entire trip of rain if I visit Japan the last week of May? I wish I could visit at an more optimal time, but it is not possible. :(

Any advice or words of wisdom is much appreciated.

Japan is a huge country with many different climate zones. Therefore, it is good to mention the places you plan to visit in weather related questions.

Generally speaking, late May tends to be a good time to travel especially on Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. Okinawa sees quite a lot of rain, while Hokkaido is only just "recovering" from winter. The "rainy season" on Honshu does not start until early June.

On average, Tokyo sees about 52% sunny days and about 29% rainy days in late May. But it is possible to have seven days of sunny weather or seven days of rainy weather or anything in between.

Late May is possibly the best time of the year to visit Honshu climate wise (the other is October). Definitely not a bad time to come- the weather is beautiful today and the temperature is still quite mild- about 23 deg C.

The rainy season doesn't start until mid June, so there is no reason to expect more rain than usual in late May. Of course there can be rain at any time of the year- last week it rained for 4 days in a row, but you could just as easily have sun every day you are here.

Dont worry, i'm going on the 31st of may, so if anything i'll experience the rain of mid june, last time i was in japan it was late july and i rained almost every day, but i still had the time of my life! if anything the rain adds to the demension and beauty of japan! one more element to experience.

Uji dude whats 52 + 29 ? so if it rains 29% and is sunny 52% where did the 19% go? does it rain gumballs in japan? for 19% of the time? LOL nice statistics!

I guess that for 19% of the time it is neither sunny nor raining. Perhaps, it is overcast/cloudy...

"Sunny" is defined as a day on which the sun was shining for at least 40% of the day's duration.

"Rainy" is defined as a day with at least 1 millimeter of rainfall.

Accordingly, it is possible for a day to be considered both rainy and sunny or neither (overcast days).

I don't know about where okoyaki lives but there are plenty of days here where it is overcast, i.e. not sunny, but not raining. Maybe think a bit more before you laugh at someone's info, okoyaki.

I visited in late may and it was amazing.

Only 1 rainy day the whole time and even that didn't spoil it.

Seeing the bright signs cut through the rain and watching people rush by. It was amazing.

Fabulous time to visit the main island Honshu. Also the two smaller iland Kyushu and Shikoku. Probably still cool on the northern island.

I think May is a great time in Japan. The trees are leafing out/have leafed out, so it is wonderfully green; it is not too hot yet, and the rainy season has not started in earnest. Of course you can have bad weather. But I think even the rainy season has a worse reputation than it deserves. It isn't like there are monsoons or weeks of rain. Just days here & there.

Woohoo!! leaving tomorrow afternoon for a 2 weeks trip, can't wait.