July is the month the rainy season finally breaks across most of Honshu, usually by the middle of the month, handing the country over to its full summer heat and humidity in the space of a few days. Kyoto spends the whole month inside its Gion Matsuri, the city's oldest and largest festival, its two great processions of decorated floats falling on 17 and 24 July. Hokkaido, cooler throughout, carries both the second departure of the Summer Tour and the opening of the Wild North Tour.
the weather
The weather
Tokyo's July days average a high of 29.9°C and a low of 22.4°C. Kyoto runs close to the same figures, 32°C by day and 23.6°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 25.4°C and a low of 17.9°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 156.2 millimetres of precipitation across around 8 days with measurable rain in July, while Sapporo's own July total is 90.7 millimetres, mostly as rain by this point in the year.
in season
What is in season
- Gion Matsuri fills Kyoto for the whole month, with its principal float processions fixed on 17 and 24 July.
- Tanabata, the Star Festival, is marked on 7 July in most of the country, though some regions, Sendai among them, keep it a month later by the old lunar calendar.
- The rainy season typically ends across most of Honshu by the middle of the month.
- Furano's lavender fields in Hokkaido are approaching their peak.
- Peak summer heat and humidity set in nationwide once the rainy season breaks.
beyond the three cities
Beyond Tokyo, Kyoto and Sapporo
Okinawa's rainy season, which runs earlier than the rest of the country's, has usually finished well before Honshu's breaks in July, leaving the southern islands in their own settled summer while Kyoto still waits out the last of tsuyu. Hokkaido, cooler again, is one of the most comfortable parts of the country to be in by the second half of July.
closed and crowded
What is closed, and what is crowded
Central Kyoto's streets fill for the Gion Matsuri's main processions, and the city's hotels book out well ahead for both dates. Once Japan's school summer holiday begins in the final week of July, domestic leisure travel rises accordingly, though nothing in July matches the crowds of Golden Week or Obon, which follows directly behind it in August. 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
The lightest clothing tolerable, natural fibres where possible, for anywhere on Honshu, Shikoku or Kyushu, where humidity is the greater challenge rather than heat alone. Hokkaido stays markedly cooler throughout July, and a light layer for the evening is generally enough. 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 July
The Summer Tour of Hokkaido's second 2027 departure runs from 11 to 22 July, followed directly by the Wild North Tour of Hokkaido, opening 27 July, eleven days at $21,500 per person. Both take a deposit of USD $3,500 per person, with the balance due 95 days before departure. Guests travelling on Honshu this month, including for the Gion Matsuri itself, are directed to the Custom Tour of Japan.
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. July sits between June and August on that calendar, and the full set is gathered in The Japan Edition's Seasons hub.