10 cool places to escape Japan's summer heat
As it heats up across the country, who isn't looking for a place to cool down and escape the soaring temperatures? While indoor activities and hitting the beach are always popular in July and August, this year, we're looking to Japan's stately forests and valleys to help stave off natsubate (summer heat fatigue).
In Japanese, these cooling summer getaways are called hishochi. Whether you want to be surrounded by trees, bask in the splashing of a waterfall or take in the beauty of some alpine flora, you'll find your own summer escape in these 10 cool spots across Japan.
1. Iya Valley (Tokushima)
Vine bridges, misty forests and mountain air in remote Shikoku
Traverse one of Iya Valley's historical rope bridges.
Image: AND555/iStock
Escape the heat of the city to the mountains of Tokushima Prefecture and you'll find Iya Valley.
With a topography that includes Shikoku's second tallest peak, Mount Tsurugi, and several waterways, the Iya Valley has become increasingly popular for its natural landscape.
The highlight of the valley is crossing one of the region's three remaining historical vine rope bridges. Suspended 14 meters over the valley below, Iya no Kazurabashi is the main bridge. Stop by in the late evening and see its surroundings illuminated with LEDs.
2. Furano (Hokkaido)
Lavender fields and soft summer breezes in Japan's north
Treat your eyes and nose to fresh lavender in Furano, Hokkaido.
Image: littlewormy/iStock
Located in the middle of Hokkaido, Furano has much to offer heat-weary travelers. One of the most well-known summer resorts, this getaway features daytime highs of 25 degrees Celsius during July and August. Perhaps the most famous attraction here is flowers and specifically lavender, with fields that stretch out to the horizon, delighting both your visual and olfactory senses. Furano also offers cooling summer foods, like ice cream flavored with local milk and lavender, and spiced soup curry loaded with seasonal vegetables.
3. Kiyomizu Waterfall (Saga)
A spiritual cascade surrounded by forest and statues
Buddhist statues and the cascading Kiyomizu Falls imbue this site with spiritual power.
Image: Cycleいとうゆき/Pixta
About two hours on foot or a 15-minute taxi ride from Arita's Ogi station in Saga Prefecture, the 75-meter-high Kiyomizu Waterfall cascades down the mountainside. Kiyomizu is considered one of the top 100 waterfalls in Japan.
With Buddhist statuary standing watch near the base, Fuyo Myou, the fearsome destroyer of evil, reminds you of the spiritual power the site has long held.
4. Hotel New Otani Garden (Tokyo)
Historic rooftop gardens and misty waterfalls in the city
Stroll through this rooftop Japanese garden in the heart of Tokyo.
Image: Kuremi/iStock
With a history stretching back over 400 years, the garden of the Hotel New Otani was developed by several powerful samurai families. Visitors can enter this 10-acre green space for free and enjoy the cooling mist coming off the main waterfall.
Elsewhere, you can explore a variety of historical stone lanterns from the Kamakura (1183-1333) and Edo (1603-1867) periods. Also, check out the stone garden where different elements represent mountains and the sea.
5. Karuizawa (Nagano)
A classic summer retreat with ponds, trails and cool lakes
Karuizawa's beautiful forests have long been known as an escape from Japan's city heat.
Image: bradtzou/iStock
Maybe the most famous summer cooling area on our list, Karuizawa is known for its scenery. In the summer, it's hard to beat its lush forests, waterfalls and deep cool lakes. Thanks to the high volume of tourists, Karuizawa also has a well-developed network of shopping and cultural sites to view alongside its breathtaking natural scenery. Don't miss the chance to escape the heat with a stroll alongside Kumoba Pond or enjoying the gentle splashing of Shiraito Waterfall surrounded by verdant forest.
6. Nasu Highland Park (Tochigi)
Escape from Tokyo with outdoor fun and hot springs
All this greenery is only about one hour from Tokyo by bullet train.
Image: TNK/Pixta
A bit over an hour from Tokyo via shinkansen, Tochigi Prefecture's Nasu Highland Park is a cooling paradise close to the metropolis. Located at a higher altitude, this park offers summer vacationers the chance to engage in a variety of outdoor activities, from hiking to cycling, at temperatures rarely exceeding 30 degrees Celsius, even in August.
With an abundance of hot spring facilities and cultural venues, like the Nasu Stained Glass Museum, you can also relax in indoor-outdoor spaces to avoid the harsh sun.
7. Oirase Area (Aomori)
Kilometers of trails, waterfalls and shaded forest hiking
Immerse yourself in over 14 kilometers of hiking trails under the lush summer foliage.
Image: Anesthesia/Pixta
Oirase Gorge in Aomori is bordered by a majestic forest with trickling streams and waterfalls. Oirase Stream, which runs along the bottom of the gorge, is located near an accessible 9-kilometer-long hiking trail which provides access to both scenic bridges and waterfalls. The entire gorge itself extends 14 kilometers from Lake Towada with the surrounding greenery providing a cooling effect in the summer and spectacular colors come autumn.
8. Bijin Bayashi Forest (Niigata)
Beech trees and serene paths 2° cooler than town
This beautiful forest offers a cool escape from the sweltering summer heat.
Image: PIXSTAR/Pixta
In Niigata prefecture's Bijin Bayashi Forest, elegant and straight beech trees provide shelter from the unrelenting heat. While usually an alpine species, these beech trees were able to grow unhindered after the land was clear-cut in the early 20th century. The forest takes on a different character each season with a blanket of snow in the winter and a yellow and orange canopy overhead in the fall.
Cool off in the summer under the shaded foliage and a breeze that lowers the temperature a couple of degrees.
9. Mount Daisen (Tottori)
Hike to shrines and waterfalls on a sacred peak
Marvel at the view from Mount Daisen's Oyama Afuri Shrine.
Image: kuro/Pixta
Tottori Prefecture's Mount Daisen is the tallest peak in the Chugoku area. A dormant volcano, Mount Daisen has significant spiritual importance and has been compared to Mount Fuji.
With hiking courses for all levels, come and enjoy the cooling effect of the many pristine forests and waterfalls. The Natsuyama course will bring you to the Misen peak and through a beech forest while the Daisendaki Waterfall course offers the perfect summer resort photo spot of a two-tiered waterfall.
10. Todoroki Valley and Nippara Limestone Caves (Tokyo)
Cool caves and urban forest trails — Tokyo's natural air-con
There's no sun down here in the Nippara Limestone Caves.
Image: Ystudio/Pixta
Finally, while we would love to add Setagaya Ward's Todoroki Valley to this list, most of it has been closed to the public since 2023. With a pleasant one-kilometer trail flanked by thick woods and housing a variety of stone structures, you'll want to keep this spot in mind for future summers.
As you wait for Todoroki Valley to reopen in March 2026, why not escape the sun altogether with a trip to the Nippara Limestone Caves at the western edge of Tokyo. One of the biggest cave networks in Kanto, this certified natural monument stretches over 1,270 meters long from start to finish. With temperatures hovering around 11 degrees throughout the year, it's the perfect place to cool off and explore an otherworldly landscape.
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Japan Times
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- Japan Times
The international artists supporting Japan's craft legacy
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'When I think about all the weird cups I have made and sold, and how there are people, somewhere, drinking their morning coffee out of them and enjoying it, it's mind-boggling to me.' Fujie, Ferber and Cunningham all came to Japan to cultivate a specific skill and join a lineage that was not available in their home countries. But beyond their engagement with their respective crafts, they each found something deeper: community, collaboration and a place of their own in Japan's cultural landscape. Whether they realize it or not, they have joined the narrative of Japanese craftsmanship — and are also shaping its future. Learn more about the artists via their Instagram accounts @ @jessethedeshi and @sculptspace
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Chanoma: Meticulous Japanese Sweets in a Green Ikebukuro Oasis
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That name stems from the contrast between the towering high rises lining the main street in front of Ikebukuro Station and the many lower-stature structures in this area, like a green valley between the mountainous buildings. It also reflects his desire to see this a place where many branching 'tributaries' flow together to become one stream uniting diverse people and facilities to create something new. This cafe in a green urban valley between the buildings is truly an oasis of the metropolis. (© Kawaguchi Yōko) Chanoma's design was done by Sudō Tsuyoshi's design studio. The general concept was one of gently tying together the physical space, so they removed the wall that once stood round the garden. They also removed some of the paving on the grounds to replant shrubbery there. That helps blur the borders with the outside to create a more comfortable, half-indoor, half-outdoor environment. A place where visitors can feel free to find their own way of being in the space—that is the true charm of Nishi Ike Valley. The 2023 Nishi Ike Valley fair, held in the parking lot across from Chanoma, attracted over 200 children to enjoy festival games, street stall food, and shaved ice. Other events, like Nishi Ike Valley Day, include market stalls selling food made in the facility's shared kitchen and other offers of casual fun. On an earlier interview done a few years ago, Fukano shared a clear hope: 'I want to see people living in the buildings alongside us to come down and have fun on the street, and to hear the voices of children.' In May 2025, construction finished on a new residential building within the Nishi Ike Valley grounds. The first floor already has tenants like restaurants, a gym, and a work-share space. With this new public living space, connecting residents with those who come for fun, the day when that dream comes true seems close at hand. A Garden for All Seasons Chanoma was the first business to open here, becoming the nucleus for the Nishi Ike Valley project and an object of curiosity from many. Rather than being a perfectly polished commercial facility, it embodies the Nishi Ike Valley concept of 'A house in town to enjoy the spaces between.' In the garden, spring sees the blossoming of cherries, and the ume begin to ripen in early summer. Autumn is when the chestnuts and yuzu appear. When planting the garden, Fukano says, 'We focused on things that bear fruit, that lose their leaves in autumn, and that attract butterflies to lay their eggs.' There are gardeners to care for the trees, people to water the plants early in the morning, and those who come to sweep the leaves from the streets. This garden itself calls for many hands to tend it, and so has formed its own small community. 'It feels good to me to work in this environment. Watering the plants every day helps me see up close the vitality of these plants and feel the changing of the seasons,' says Katō. Once, some visitors from overseas staying at a hotel in Ikebukuro came to Chanoma three days in a row. They brought different friends every day, and apparently explained to each that visiting the cafe was their new morning ritual. The Japanese-style atmosphere seems to charm visitors from overseas. (© Kawaguchi Yōko) If you want a quiet time to visit, avoid the weekends and come on a weekday morning. The scenery around Chanoma offers new flowers and fruit with every season. It is a place that makes you want to come again and again, a place that nurtures moments of stillness. Chanoma Address: 5-12-3 Nishi-Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo Hours: 10:00 am–6:30 pm (last orders at 6:00 pm) Closed: Tuesdays Access: 6 minutes on foot from Kanamechō Station on the Tokyo Metro Yūrakuchō Line; 8 minutes on foot from JR Ikebukuro Station Website: (Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo: The shop as seen from the entrance. © Kawaguchi Yōko.)
Yomiuri Shimbun
17 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Residents of Akusekijima Island in Southwestern Japan Still Concerned About Earthquakes After Strong Tremors Hit 1 Month Ago
AKUSEKIJIMA ISLAND, Kagoshima — Sunday marked one month since strong earthquakes that reached lower 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale hit Akusekijima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, and residents are still concerned that strong tremors may occur again. Several strong earthquakes with epicenters under the sea occurred near the Tokara Islands, which include Akusekijima Island. Akusekijima Island belongs to Toshima Village in the prefecture. Temblors have been occurring less frequently, and residents who evacuated the island have been returning home. However, the area along the island chain has also been rocked by numerous earthquakes in the past, and residents' fears about more quakes have not been eased. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, earthquakes measuring at least 1 on the Japanese intensity scale — which has a maximum level of 7 — had occurred 2,241 times as of 5 p.m. on Saturday. I departed from Kagoshima Port and traveled on a ship for about 10 hours and 30 minutes and arrived at Akusekijima Island at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday. The slope of a mountain seen from the port had partially collapsed. I did not see any collapsed structures in residential areas, and there were no remarkable traces of the many earthquakes that had occurred. However, Shigehisa Nishi, 58, who runs a minshuku inn where I lodged, and his wife Keiko, 56, said that almost no guests have stayed at the inn and the revenue from their business since July has fallen about 90% from a year ago. Passersby were not seen on the roads in the local community nor were there any tourists. The village government offered economic assistance of ¥50,000 in cash per household for 155 people in a total of 79 households on Akusekijima and Kodakarajima islands. 'Although the cash aid is helpful, I'm anxious because we don't know how long the earthquakes will continue and whether tourists who lodge at our inn will return,' said Keiko. In the wake of the strongest quake which registered a lower 6 that occurred on July 3, a total of 71 residents from Akusekijima and Kodakarajima islands evacuated from the islands. They had stayed in hotels and other places in Kagoshima City and many have returned to the islands by Aug. 2.'The tremors were so violent that I feared electricity poles might fall down,' said Kazunori Arikawa, 73, who runs a minshuku inn, when describing the strongest temblor. He evacuated to Kagoshima City but returned to the island several times to land his fishing boat because a typhoon was predicted to be approaching. A number of earthquakes also hit the area in 2021 and 2023. Therefore, residents must be prepared for an emergency. When I visited a branch office of the village government on Akusekijima Island where a shelter is located, Yuki Matsushita, 36, the chief of the branch office, showed me the emergency supplies. They included canned and packed foods that could last for three days for residents and mats to sleep on. 'Some people become nervous when thinking about the earthquakes,' she said. 'Although the tremors are weak now, there hasn't been a day when zero quakes hit.' She is staying vigilant about more earthquakes occurring. Some people noted problems regarding evacuation to outside of the Akusekijima and Kodakarajima islands, a total of nine households keep 182 cattle. For farmers who cannot leave the islands because they have to take care of livestock, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry decided to subsidize half the cost of evacuating animals from the islands and keeping them at evacuation sites. However, as of the end of July, no farmer on the islands had applied for the subsidy. 'If I move my cattle off this island, it will cause them stress, and the burden will be heavy,' said Kazuya Arikawa, 60, who keeps 55 cattle on Akusekijima Island. 'Transporting them is the last option.
