Favourite things to do in the summer

Thank you everyone for your suggestions so far!

We have been to Japan in the summer (August) once before. Incredibly humid, it is the hottest most dehydrated we have ever felt. We hope to experience the summer festivals, fireworks and make our second attempt to climb Fuji. The last time we attempted it they closed the trail just after 8th Station due to the weather, so we had to turn around. The hydrangea viewing sounds amazing.

If you have any further suggestions, please share them! We hope to scour all that Japan has to offer, big and small.

@LIZ Hmm, havina a "hot, wet towel on the face" doesn't sound appealing...But, since I've never experienced it before, it shall be interesting to try it out xD Actually, is just central Japan who gets hot and humid during the summer? I read that Hokkaido has dry summers (perhaps, even Tohoku too). What about Kyushu? Maybe hotter and less humid? Or the same as in Kanto?

Naturally further south = heat. Tohoku is pretty variable. Aomori and parts of Akita are said by some to be quite bearable for people who don't manage well in the Japanese summer, but I find Fukushima to still be easily hot enough for my tastes. Kanto is serious heat despite not being as far south as some places. The Tokyo metropolitan area is one of the most famous examples of the urban heat island phenomena. As I understand it more concrete = more heat. And there's a lot of concrete in Tokyo.

I can kind of understand the logic of people who truly can't handle hot weather visiting northern Japan in the summer. They are not going to have a nice time in Tokyo, Kansai, or Kyushu, so it makes sense to go somewhere else. But for someone who really wants to experience all the seasons Japan has to offer, I recommend embracing, rather than running away from the heat.

@LIZ thank you for the info ;) I do intend to embrace all the seasons, though I must confess that I'm not a fan of extreme cold (actually I don't mind dry cold such as in Germany or Czech Republic, but humid cold such as in Portugal is awful). As for hot, I'm okay (never felt humid hot, but I love to feel the heat, so maybe it will be fairly okay to me?).

Not sure if the equator thing applies to humidity, to heat of course, but humidity maybe not so much (I was in Morocco and it was very dry). The south of Portugal gets very humid during winter, which I hate so much. I think southern Asia also has problems with humidity in summer. I have a few friend who went to Thailand and said that it was unbearable.

Anyway, for me, weather was never an obstacle for traveling. Of course, I had some not-so-good occasions with rain, but if I have the money and time, I will surely catch a flight and go! xD (of course, pre-Covid...)

Apart from the equator thing, visitors should keep in mind that the climate in Japan is dramatically different between the Pacific side and the Sea of Japan (or the East Sea) side. The latter is much cooler, so the whole side, from north to south, would work as a great summer resort to get away from the harsher heat of the Pacific side.

The same thing can be said for winter. The Pacific side gets more sunshine. If you pass Maibara Station on a train, you'd know how immediately different it is. For this reason, the Sea of Japan tends to attract less crowd in any season, which makes it another great get-away place!

And yet, that side of Japan shared a magnificent culture when people used to rely on ships to travel to/from the ancient capitol of Kyoto. For low temperature, sophisticated Japanese culture, including traditional sweats and cuisine in general, you've got to visit the Sea of Japan side!