I'll be holidaying in Osaka at Christmastime. I went on holiday there over the summer holiday which lived up to my expectation. It's a fair bet that the Japanese yen will continue falling in the next four months so you might as well go to Japan on vacation for Christmas. I enjoy visiting the annual winter carnival where I ride the thrill rides and eat sushi soaking up the nice christmassy atmosphere. The sunlight has been dazzlingly bright all week so you may just as well have a good long soak in an outdoor onsen soaking up the sun. In fact I've just got out of an onsen and am drying myself on a towel. I heartily recommend climbing Mount Fuji which is completely off the beaten track, even though you aren't staying in Tokyo or Kawaguchiko because the extra cost of travelling there is offset by a discount on the admission. Climbing it is an arduous task but the view is worth it. In fact my friend who's just been there showed me her photos taken there by which I was awestruck. She said it was well worth it for the view from the mountaintop and the confidence she had gained afterwards. At night, even though two of the nearby lakes dry up, the remaining lakes reflect the beauty of the stars and Mount Fuji giving a double view of the starry sky and the mountain. The outline of Mount Fuji is clearly defined against the starry nights by which you'll be awestruck. You can even set up a tent and camp there to get the best of the night sky. Sometimes it's nice to be away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Again, the cheap admission charge offsets the rising transportation fee so it's definitely worth a visit. If you're gonna vacation in Osaka over the Christmas holidays I thoroughly recommend taking the airport express at IFC. It's very easy. Once you're at the ifc exit where you can head straight for Queens road central, enter ifc, go past the escalator in front of you and keep walking until you come to another escalator. Go down it, turn left and go straight ahead. It's there. If you wanna travel to Shinjuku, go through the gate, go down the escalator and look at the signs. You'll see which side is bound for Shinjuku. If you wanna have a coffee at J.Cafe, take the lift to level three, once you go out of the escalator go straight down the path and pass several shops until you come to an intersection. Turn right and it's there. If you wanna take a lift to a higher floor, turn left at the intersection, pass several shops until you see pure fitness on your left, enter pure fitness and the elevator is there. However if you ask me if Australia is a great place to go for your holiday, I wouldn't bet on it. There's nothing worth doing there. For Tokyo a dazzling sun has been forecast. In Osaka there's been a long spell of dry hot weather whereas in Kyoto there's been a long spell of wet cold weather. In Hiroshima the weather forecast is for a hot and sunny day and a warm and breezy night, just right for swimming. In Hong Kong the weather forecast is for sunny spells and scattered rain showers the whole week. For Kagoshima heavy rain and sleet showers have been forecast while for Miyazaki light rainfall and heavy snowfalls have been predicted just right for skiing. For Fukuoka a sunny and breezy day has been forecast just right for cycling whereas for Nagasaki hail showers and scattered snow showers have been predicted. In Okinawa the weather forecast said it was going to be hot and sunny today. It also stated that there would be dry sunny spells and heavy rainfall tomorrow. Of course snow showers and sleet showers are much better than thundery showers and wintry showers. In Hokkaido we had fog and drizzle earlier but now it's sleeting. Yesterday I forgot my umbrella and raincoat so I got caught in a rain shower while touring the tourist attractions there and a snow shower on my way to the hotel.