Japan Autumn Leaves Forecast 2026: Peak Dates for Kyoto, Tokyo and Nikko

In 2025, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) recorded Kyoto’s official maple date on 10 December — about two and a half weeks after Tokyo’s (23 November). That surprises a lot of people who book Kyoto for early November. For 2026, the two big forecasters both expect leaves to be normal or a little late: tenki.jp puts the start of peak viewing at about 13 November for Arashiyama in Kyoto, 19 November for Mt Takao near Tokyo and 23 October for Nikko’s Irohazaka, while Weathernews says Arashiyama will be at its best in late November.

This news clip shows the Eizan Railway in Kyoto switching off the carriage lights as the train creeps through the lit-up “Maple Tunnel”:

Lights go out as the Eizan Railway slows through the Maple Tunnel (TV Osaka News)

When do the leaves change in Japan? The official maple dates by city

Every autumn the JMA watches a designated sample maple tree at its observatories and records the day it changes colour — the kaede no kōyōbi, or maple colouring date. It’s the closest thing to an official “autumn has arrived” date. The table below shows 2025 and how far each city was from normal (JMA’s figures, checked on 27 October 2026). We’ve worked out the normal date from those two numbers.

City	2025 maple date	Difference from normal	Normal date (calculated)
Sapporo	6 November	9 days late	28 October
Sendai	20 November	1 day early	21 November
Tokyo	23 November	5 days early	28 November
Nagoya	25 November	3 days early	28 November
Osaka	4 December	3 days late	1 December
Kyoto	10 December	5 days late	5 December
Hiroshima	27 November	5 days late	22 November
Fukuoka	1 December	normal	1 December
Kagoshima	2 December	13 days early	15 December

Two things stand out. Kyoto is one of the last big cities to turn, later than Tokyo and even Fukuoka. And the gap between north and south is huge: Sapporo’s normal date is more than six weeks before Kagoshima’s, so a trip that runs down the country can follow the colour south. No city had a 2026 date yet when we checked.

The JMA date is for one tree in the city. Famous spots in the hills, such as Arashiyama or Nikko, have their own forecasts, and those are what most travellers plan around.

Japan autumn leaves forecast 2026: famous spots

Spot	tenki.jp (14 October)	Weathernews map (29 October)
Nikko, Irohazaka road (Tochigi)	from 23 October, same as last year	already at its best on 29 October
Arashiyama (Kyoto)	from 13 November, same as last year	from about 23 November
Mt Takao (Tokyo)	from 19 November, later than last year (11 November)	from about 13 November

tenki.jp says leaves will be “normal or later than normal” across Japan, especially in the lowlands of eastern and western Japan. Weathernews’s third forecast (29 October 2026) says a strong cold spell in early November should speed up the colours, but after that warmer days mean spots that usually peak from mid-November onwards will mostly be a little later than normal. The two forecasters disagree by ten days on Arashiyama, and they swap places on Mt Takao (Weathernews 13 November, tenki.jp 19 November). If Kyoto is your main goal, aim for the second half of November and keep your dates flexible.

If you’re reading this in late October, Nikko is the place to go now. For more on what’s on at the same time, see our guide to Japan’s autumn festivals.

Related guidesWhat to Wear in Japan in November: Weather by City and Week (°C and °F)

Kyoto autumn leaves: the maple tunnel train and night viewings

The Maple Tunnel (Eizan Railway). On the Kurama Line north of the city, the track between Ichihara and Ninose stations runs under a corridor of maples. From 7 November to 6 December 2026, trains slow down through this section, and after dark the trees are lit up. The lights start with trains leaving Demachiyanagi from about 4:30 pm and Kurama from about 4:50 pm, and run until the last trains leaving at about 8:44 pm and 9:03 pm. You don’t need a special ticket or a reservation, just the normal fare. The panorama train Kirara runs on this line too, but Eizan Railway warns it can be crowded and suggests ordinary trains as well. The period may be extended if the leaves are late.

Temple night viewings. Several temples open after dark in autumn. These are places of worship, so keep your voice down and follow the staff’s directions; our temple and shrine etiquette guide covers the basics.

Temple	Night viewing 2026	Hours	Fee
Eikando (Zenrinji)	20 November – 6 December	entry 5:30–8:30 pm, gates close 9 pm	¥1,000 (junior high school age and up)
Kodaiji	23 October – 13 December	open all day, last entry 9:30 pm, lights on at 5 pm	same price day and night

Kodaiji notes that once you leave through the exit, you can’t go back in on the same ticket. We couldn’t find Kiyomizu-dera’s autumn night viewing for 2026 on its official site, so check closer to the time.

Beat the crowds. Kyoto’s official tourism site runs a crowd forecast (kankō kaitekido) for 11 busy spots, including the north end of Togetsukyo Bridge in Arashiyama, Nishiki Market and Fushimi Inari. You pick a date and the weather, and it shows how crowded each spot is likely to be on a five-level scale, hour by hour from 6 am to 11 pm. The page is in Japanese, but the colour-coded chart is easy to read with a browser’s translate button. If you’d rather spend a crowded afternoon indoors, our list of Kyoto experiences to book ahead has tea ceremonies and craft classes. Or take the train 46 minutes east to see maples lit up below a National Treasure keep: Hikone Castle and its Genkyuen garden light-up has the 2026 dates.

Tokyo autumn leaves: a garden at night and a mountain an hour away

Rikugien night viewing. Rikugien garden lights up its maples from 25 November to 6 December 2026, 6 pm to 8:30 pm (last entry 7:30 pm). Advance tickets cost ¥1,000 and are sold online only from 1 November at 9:00 (Japan time). On the day it’s ¥1,200, online or at the main gate. There’s a daily ticket limit to keep crowds down, so the advance ticket is the safer choice on weekends. The garden closes at 5 pm and reopens at 6 pm for the night session, so a daytime ticket won’t get you in.

Mt Takao. tenki.jp expects Mt Takao, in western Tokyo, to be at its best from about 19 November 2026, about a week later than last year. Weathernews (29 October) has it a little earlier, from about 13 November. It’s a good choice if you’re based in Tokyo and want mountain colour without an overnight trip.

Which week should you book?

• Late October: Nikko’s Irohazaka and the mountains. Sapporo’s normal maple date is 28 October.
• Mid to late November: Kyoto’s famous spots, Mt Takao and most of central Japan.
• Late November to early December: city gardens in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, and the night viewings, many of which run until 6 December. Nights by then are around 6–9°C (44–48°F), so check what to wear in Japan in November.

Booking for next year instead? Leaves and Japanese holidays overlap in November, and that changes how busy trains and hotels get. Which 2027 weekends will be the most crowded? See our Japan public holidays 2027 guide.