Japan in August
Obon in mid-August, the festival of the dead: Japanese travelers are on the move too, and it becomes one of the busiest months of the year. The month we'd tell a first-time visitor to skip. Peak heat, peak humidity, and the first typhoons of the season.
Temperature
31°C (88°F) / 24°C (75°F)
in Tokyo, afternoon and night
Crowds
very busy
across the cities we track (checked Oct 16)
Ryokan booking
not open yet
traditional inns · from Jan 27
Japan weather in August, north to south
| City | Afternoon / night | Rain or snow |
|---|---|---|
| Sapporo north (Hokkaido) | 26°C (79°F) / 19°C (66°F) | about average 127 mm, one day in 3 |
| Tokyo central (Kanto) | 31°C (88°F) / 24°C (75°F) | very wet 155 mm, one day in 4 |
| Kyoto central (Kansai) | 34°C (93°F) / 25°C (77°F) | very wet 154 mm, one day in 4 |
| Osaka central (Kansai) | 34°C (93°F) / 26°C (79°F) | about average 113 mm, one day in 4 |
| Naha far south (Okinawa) | 32°C (90°F) / 27°C (81°F) | very wet 240 mm, one day in 3 |
August and September are the two months when typhoons come closest to Japan: 3.3 on average, against 0.8 in June. See “The four seasons” in the month-by-month overview
Thirty-year averages (1991-2020) recorded by the Japan Meteorological Agency, which tell you the month's usual climate and not the weather you will actually get on the dates you have chosen. Last checked August 8, 2026.
Roughly what it costs
Occupancy (official statistics, 2023-2025)
busy
66%
Price range per night
per night, two people
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The dates in August
August 2027 has one public holiday and 4 dates when something is happening, and the night before that holiday is the most expensive of the month: ryokan charge their Saturday rate for it.
Nebuta Matsuri, Aomori
Giant illuminated floats parade through central Aomori each evening. Dancers surround them, and you can join in costume.
Aomori fills up
Sendai Tanabata, Sendai
Thousands of colored paper decorations cover the shopping streets of central Sendai.
Sendai fills up
Day before a holiday
ryokan rates go up
Public holiday: Mountain Day
It falls in the run-up to Obon, the busiest stretch of the summer on the roads and the trains.
everything fills up
Awa Odori, Tokushima
Troupes of dancers move through the streets of central Tokushima each evening, until late in the night.
Tokushima fills up
Obon
The bon-odori are danced in the evening, in neighborhoods and at temples, while the trains and the expressways are packed with people heading back to their family home towns.
everything fills up
quiet
nothing to plan around
If your dates can move: shift by a day to miss the nights before a holiday, once booking opens.
If they are fixed: those nights will be the first to go on the day booking opens. The rest of the month can wait.
Where to start
The order matters more than how early you get to it.
Kyoto and the small stops first
Kyoto, Kanazawa, Takayama, and any night in a ryokan: few rooms, and the whole of Japan is aiming at the same dates, so this is where rooms run out first, not in Tokyo.
Tokyo and Osaka can wait
Tens of thousands of rooms. These cities are never really full. The simplest approach is still to book it all in one go, on free cancellation rates for whatever might still move.
Three questions about August
Is August hot in Japan?
In Tokyo, 31°C (88°F) in the afternoon and 24°C (75°F) at night on average, while at the same moment Sapporo sits at 26°C (79°F) and Naha at 32°C (90°F). August and September are the two months when typhoons come closest to Japan: 3.3 on average, against 0.8 in June.
Is August cheaper?
Across the cities we track, this is one of the four months when hotels are fullest. The price range for the month is in the budget block, city by city.
Do typhoons really reach Japan in August?
Yes. August and September are the two months when they come closest to the country. It is also the hottest stretch of the year, with the humidity on top.
Going further
Calendar
Climbing Mt Fuji: four trails, two rulebooks
Four trails reach the summit, under two rulebooks. The one you reach from Tokyo shuts at 4,000 climbers a day; the other three demand a briefing first.
Calendar
How to book hotels in Japan: when sales open
The costly mistake is reading an empty calendar as a full one.
Calendar
The worst time to visit Japan, week by week
Three weeks carry almost all of the pressure, and one of them is not even a public holiday. The other 49 are far more open than the month-level lists suggest.
The next step
Which site to book on
Every site holds a different slice of Japan. See which site holds what.
Before you book: what a ryokan rate includes. It counts people rather than rooms, and dinner is nearly always part of it, served at a fixed time that you pick when you book rather than on the evening itself. Read the ryokan page.
Bookings for your dates open on a fixed date. We write that day.
Say you're after the cherry blossoms in April 2027: ryokan inns open around October. On the day, you get an email, you book, and it's done.
Temperature and rainfall: 1991-2020 normals from the Japan Meteorological Agency. Occupancy from Japan's official tourism statistics, public holidays from the official calendar. Tanuki Trip never books on your behalf. You book it yourself, wherever you want.