Hokuto: Visiting Japan’s Sunniest City
Located in the northwesternmost portion of the prefecture of Yamanashi, Hokuto, Japan is a city, which sits on an elevated highland is mostly forested. This makes the town relatively cooler in the summer weeks, unlike the rest of the country. Hokuto houses over 46,000 residents in more than 21,000 households. The city is also the second home for most tourists visiting the area, so expect plenty of hotels and lodging available here.
Best Time to Visit
While in Hokuto, you should not miss attending the month-long celebration of the Akeno Sunflower Festival. Being home to over 600,000 sunflowers and strategically located to have the most extended daylight in the country, the Akeno area is easily the best place to get those Instagrammable photos for your vacation. The event runs from the latter part of July to the end of August. The summer season is peaking by this time of year, so you might expect a relatively low tourist population. This makes most of Hokuto, Japan hotels cheaper. On the contrary, the spring season is considered the busiest for tourism in the city, as this is when the sakura is in full bloom.
What to Do & Area Attractions
If you drop by Yatsugatake Mt.ains, the accommodations of Yatsugatake Wanwan Paradise and Neo Oriental Resort Yatsugatake Kogen Cottage are both within one-minute walk from the site. From the hotels, the Hirayama Ikuo Silk Road Museum is also just a five-minute drive away and the Philia Museum is within a 10-minute drive. The hotels also feature free parking and cozy rooms for the guests.