Japan - weather in May

May is the last month of spring in Japan, and it is a cool month in the far north, very mild or pleasantly warm in the center-north and already quite warm in the south. The rains are quite frequent everywhere, and in the south they are also abundant.

The daily average temperature is 10 °C (50 °F) in the north of the island of Hokkaido (see Abashiri), which is influenced by Siberian currents, and 13 °C (55.5 °F) in Sapporo.
On the island of Honshu, the average is 14 °C (57 °F) in the far north (see Aomori), 16 °C in Sendai, in the north-east, 17.5 °C (63.5 °F) in Niigata, in the north-west, and around 20 °C (68 °F) on the southern coast (see Tokyo, Osaka). On the island of Kyushu, the average reaches up to 21.5 °C (70.5 °F) on the south coast (see Kagoshima).
On the small southern islands the temperature is much higher, as the average is 24.5 °C (76 °F) in Okinawa and 26 °C (79 °F) in Ishigaki.

As regards to the rain, as mentioned, it is quite frequent everywhere, given that it rains for 10/11 days in most cities, while in the south it is also abundant, given that in some areas, such as the southern side of the island of Kyushu (see Kagoshima), and of the island of Shikoku (see Kochi), it beven exceeds 200 millimetres (8 inches) in the month.
On the small southern islands (see Okinawa, Ishigaki), the very rainy period known as "plum rains" (Baiu) occurs one month earlier than on the main islands of Japan, ie in May and June.

The cherry blossom (hanami), which occurred in March and April in the center-south, occurs around May 5 in Sapporo.

Although the season of typhoons, the tropical cyclones of the western Pacific, begins in June, every now and then a cyclone or tropical storm can form in the sea south of Japan, affecting the small southern islands, and more rarely the island of Kyushu and the southern side of Honshu.

In May, the sea in Japan is warm enough for swimming on the small southern islands (see Yakushima, Okinawa, Miyakojima and Ishigaki), but overall also on the southern coast of Kyushu (see Kagoshima). However, the rains are abundant and the sun does not shine often.




See also: Japan, the weather in April - June
The climate of Japan