When is the best time to visit Japan?

Japan by season in one view

Japan stretches from Hokkaido in the north to Okinawa in the south, so there is no single best month. The two seasons most visitors plan around are spring, when cherry blossom moves north from Kyushu from the second half of March, and autumn, when leaf colour moves south from Hokkaido between late September and early December. Between them sit an early-summer rainy season, a hot and humid summer, and a typhoon season that peaks in August and September.

Each region below pairs a named weather station with the national agency that supplies the data. Temperatures and rainfall are 1991 to 2020 normals from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), republished by the WMO World Weather Information Service. They describe long-run patterns at one station, not a forecast for your dates.

Spring and cherry blossom

The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) says the sakura season runs from the second half of March to early May, with Kyushu and Shikoku opening first and the mountains, Tohoku and Hokkaido flowering later. The table reproduces the 2026 forecast that JNTO's page still showed when we read it in October 2026, so these are pre-season forecasts, not observed bloom dates. The page credits Japan Weather Association and notes that forecasts are subject to change with the weather.

Two things stand out. First, the gap between south and north is more than five weeks: the page lists Kagoshima in late March and Kushiro in early May. Second, the dates move from year to year. The page lists Tokyo at 19 March for 2026, five days before the figure in its Average column, and Sapporo at 19 April against 1 May. First bloom is not the same as peak viewing, and the page gives no full-bloom dates, so leave several days of slack either side if blossom is the reason for travelling.

Spring is also a busy time to book in the big cities. If you are planning around a late-March trip to Tokyo or Osaka, settle accommodation early, and see our note on when to book an aparthotel. Kyoto does not appear on the JNTO table, so use the Osaka and Nagoya rows as nearby guides rather than a Kyoto date.

Rainy season and summer heat

The rainy season, tsuyu, is announced region by region by JMA and later confirmed once the season is over; the dates below are those confirmed values. In the 1991 to 2020 normal, Okinawa enters it around 10 May and leaves around 21 June, the earliest of the three regions in the table. Northern Kyushu runs from about 4 June to 19 July and Kanto-Koshin, the region containing Tokyo, from about 7 June to 19 July. JMA also lists years: in 2026 Okinawa went from around 4 May to 29 June, and Kanto-Koshin from around 2 June to 19 July. Over 2020 to 2026 the Kanto-Koshin onset ranged from around 22 May (2025) to around 21 June (2024), so the season is better read as a window than a date.

The station data show the same shape. Fukuoka records 249.6 mm in June and 299.1 mm in July, its wettest month, and Osaka records 185.1 mm in June, its wettest. Tokyo's June total is 167.8 mm, but its wettest months are September (224.9 mm) and October (234.8 mm), which belong to the typhoon season rather than tsuyu. Sapporo, in Hokkaido, has a very different June: 60.4 mm over 7.5 days, the fewest rain days of any month at that station.

After the rains, summer is hot. The August averages are a high of 31.3 degrees Celsius and a low of 23.5 at Tokyo, 33.7 and 25.8 at Osaka, and 32.5 and 25.4 at Fukuoka. Sapporo is cooler, at 26.4 and 19.1. If heat is the main concern, Hokkaido is the clearest alternative. Naha, in Okinawa, is warm for much longer: its July average high is 31.9 degrees and its January high is 19.8.

Typhoon season

JMA's normals for 1991 to 2020 show typhoons forming in every month, but the numbers that matter for travellers are approaches and landfalls. Approaches rise from 0.8 in June to 2.1 in July and 3.3 in both August and September, then fall to 1.7 in October and 0.5 in November. Landfalls follow the same curve, peaking at 1.0 in September and 0.9 in August. Over the whole year the normal is 25.1 typhoons formed, 11.7 approaching Japan and 3.0 making landfall.

These are averages. Individual years differ, and a typhoon that stays offshore can still disrupt ferries, flights and trains. September is the month with the highest landfall average, so it is the month where a flexible itinerary or flexible rate matters most. Check JMA's typhoon pages and your airline in the days before travel, and follow local instructions if a warning is issued. October and November still carry some risk, but the averages are lower than in late summer.

Autumn leaves

JNTO describes the colour season as running from late September to early December and calls November the best month in most parts of Japan. JNTO's leaf forecast page says colour starts in the colder north of Hokkaido and works south. Its autumn guide says the trees turn vivid from mid-November to early December and describes October and November as pleasant in most of Honshu and Kyushu, with Hokkaido cold enough to need a winter jacket for most of the season.

The station normals fit that picture. Tokyo averages a high of 22.0 degrees Celsius and a low of 14.8 in October, then 16.7 and 8.8 in November. Sapporo is already at 16.4 and 8.0 in October and 8.7 and 1.6 in November. The trade-off is rain and typhoons early in the season: Tokyo's October total of 234.8 mm is its wettest of the year. JNTO also suggests avoiding the late-September holiday period to dodge the biggest crowds. Because trees colour on different dates, check a current leaf forecast close to departure rather than relying on a fixed week.

Winter and snow

Winter splits the country in two. JNTO says Hokkaido has a long ski season, with resorts open from November to May, and says winds from Siberia bring heavy snow, around 15 metres a year in mountain areas such as Niseko, Furano and Rusutsu. Sapporo's normals fit: a January high of -0.4 degrees Celsius and low of -6.4, and precipitation on 18.3 days of the month.

Tokyo and Osaka are cold but mostly dry in winter. Tokyo averages a January high of 9.8 degrees and 59.7 mm of rain; its driest month is February at 56.5 mm. Osaka's January total is 47.0 mm, its lowest of the year. Naha has a mild winter, with a January high of 19.8 and a low of 14.9. A winter trip can therefore mean skiing in Hokkaido, short clear days in Tokyo, or a warmer island break in Okinawa. For a month in the capital, our guide to where to stay in Tokyo for a month covers the practical side.

Hokkaido and Tohoku

Sapporo has the most distinct year of the stations here. It has the coldest winter, the shortest summer and the clearest early-summer window: June brings 60.4 mm of rain and 7.5 rain days, against 142.2 mm in September, its wettest month. The August high is 26.4 degrees Celsius. This is the region to consider for July and August if you want to avoid the heat of the main island. Sapporo is the usual base.

Sendai stands in for Tohoku. Its January average is a high of 5.6 degrees and a low of -1.3, and its August high is 28.2. September is the wettest month at 192.6 mm over 11.2 days, and February the driest at 33.9 mm. On the JNTO table Sendai's 2026 forecast first bloom is 31 March against 8 April in the Average column, and Aomori and Akita are about three to four weeks later than Tokyo on the Average column, which makes Tohoku a good place to catch blossom after the south has finished.

Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka

The main tourist corridor has hot, humid summers and cool, dry winters. Tokyo and Osaka have similar winter highs, 9.8 and 9.7 degrees Celsius in January, but Osaka is hotter in August, at 33.7 degrees against 31.3. Both have a wetter June than April. Spring and autumn are the milder shoulder months: April highs are 19.4 and 19.9, and November highs 16.7 and 17.8.

The WMO service lists no Kyoto station for Japan, so we give no Kyoto figures; the Osaka station is the nearest guide, and our comparison of Kyoto and Osaka for a long stay covers daily life. You can browse Kyoto stays separately. For longer visits across this corridor, an apartment with a kitchen and laundry makes the hot, humid weeks easier to manage.

Kyushu and Okinawa

Fukuoka, in northern Kyushu, shares the main island pattern but with a heavier rainy season: 249.6 mm in June and 299.1 mm in July, and a drier October, at 94.5 mm over 6.8 days. Blossom arrives early here; JNTO's 2026 forecast puts Fukuoka at 24 March. See Fukuoka for stays.

Naha is subtropical. Even the coolest month has a high of 19.8 degrees Celsius, and the warmest has 31.9. June is wetter here than at any of the other five stations (284.4 mm), and September is nearly as wet (275.2 mm). It rains on roughly 8 to 12 days in every month, with November the lowest at 8.2 days. Check both the rain and the typhoon figures above before fixing dates for an island trip. Browse Naha if island time is the goal.

Best months by purpose

The list below links each purpose to the source behind it. It is not a ranking of months, only a summary of where the sources point.

• Cherry blossom: the second half of March to early May, depending on region (JNTO, 2026 forecast page).
• Autumn leaves: late September to early December, with November the best month in most of the country (JNTO).
• Skiing in Hokkaido: November to May (JNTO); Sapporo's January and February are its coldest months by the JMA normals.
• Avoiding the rainy season: early June to mid-July on the main islands, earlier in Okinawa, by JMA normals.
• Lower typhoon exposure: December to April, when the JMA approach averages are zero or close to it.
• Cooler summer weather: Hokkaido, where Sapporo's August high is 26.4 degrees Celsius against 31.3 to 33.7 at Tokyo and Osaka.
• Drier city weather: December to February in Tokyo and Osaka, though it is cold.

Shoulder seasons and planning notes

On the data above, the practical shoulder months are April to May and October to November on the main island. April and May bring highs of 19.4 to 24.9 degrees Celsius at Tokyo and Osaka, and rain totals of roughly 100 to 140 mm before the rainy season. October and November are cooler and, on the normals, wetter early and drier later. Both spans overlap with blossom or leaf peaks, so they are popular as well as pleasant.

Winter outside the ski areas is the other option if you prefer cold, dry city days; Tokyo's December to February totals are 57.9, 59.7 and 56.5 mm. We have no visitor numbers for any month, so this is a reading of the climate, not a crowd count. Check the country entry rules on the official immigration website before you plan dates.