December opens with the last of the Autumn Leaves Tour of Japan's sold-out 2026 departure, which concludes on 4 December, and with the country's colour still lingering in its southernmost pockets, Kyushu and parts of Kyoto's own gardens among the latest in the country to turn. From there the month turns quickly toward the New Year, illuminations lighting gardens and city streets at their brightest of the year before the whole country slows for the same closure that opened January.
the weather
The weather
Tokyo's December days average a high of 12°C and a low of 3.8°C. Kyoto runs close to the same figures, 11.6°C by day and 3.5°C overnight, since both cities sit in the same broad climate band despite Kyoto's inland basin sharpening the extremes at either end of the year. Sapporo is a different country: an average high of 2°C and a low of -4°C, figures from the Japan Meteorological Agency's published climate normals for 1991 to 2020, the thirty-year average against which every year in Japan is still read. Rain follows the same normals: Tokyo averages 57.9 millimetres of precipitation across around 4.7 days with measurable rain in December, while Sapporo's December total, 114.5 millimetres, falls almost entirely as snow.
in season
What is in season
- Illuminations are at their height in gardens, parks and city streets nationwide.
- The last of the year's autumn colour lingers in Kyushu and in a handful of Kyoto's own late gardens into early December.
- New Year preparations, osechi cooking and mochi-making, build through the second half of the month.
- Year-end bonenkai gatherings fill restaurants through December.
- Crab season is at its best on winter menus, particularly in the north.
- Joya no Kane, the ringing of temple bells at midnight on New Year's Eve, closes the year.
beyond the three cities
Beyond Tokyo, Kyoto and Sapporo
Kyushu carries the country's latest autumn colour into the first days of December, often a full month behind Tohoku's. Hokkaido, by contrast, is already deep in winter by December, its snow cover settled for the season while the far south is only just letting go of autumn.
closed and crowded
What is closed, and what is crowded
The last days of December through 3 January are the same nationwide closure that opens the year: shops, restaurants, banks and many museums close from around 29 December, and airports and trains are at their busiest either side of the New Year move. Christmas itself is not a public holiday in Japan and is, for most businesses, an ordinary working day, with the New Year, not Christmas, treated as the country's true holiday season. Opening hours at smaller shops, temples and museums vary enough by day and by property that any single visit is worth confirming the same week, rather than relying on a printed schedule alone.
what to wear
What to wear
A full winter coat, scarf and gloves, especially once the middle of the month has passed. Hokkaido asks for the same proper winter footwear and thermal layers as January, with snow now settled for the season. Comfortable, easily removed shoes are worth choosing whatever the season, since temples, ryokan and traditional restaurants alike expect shoes off at the door, often several times in a single day.
where the tours run
Where Luxury Japan Travel goes in December
The Autumn Leaves Tour of Japan's sold-out 2026 departure concludes on 4 December; no 2027 date has been ruled, so none is stated here. For the rest of December, including travel over the New Year closure, guests are directed to the Custom Tour of Japan, with a minimum length of five nights and no ceiling on party size.
the year
Continue through the year
This page is one of twelve, one for each month of the Japanese year, each reporting the same weather, season and closure detail in its own month and linking both of its neighbours in the sequence. December sits between November and January on that calendar, and the full set is gathered in The Japan Edition's Seasons hub.