March is Japan changing its mind about the weather roughly every ten days. Its first half still carries a winter coat comfortably; by the third week, plum blossom has finished and the earliest cherry trees in Kyushu and along the southern coast are opening, weeks ahead of Tokyo and Kyoto's own bloom. Luxury Japan Travel's flagship, The Classic Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan, is timed to this exact turn, opening on 30 March 2027.
the weather
The weather
Tokyo's March days average a high of 14.2°C and a low of 5°C. Kyoto runs close to the same figures, 14.1°C by day and 4.3°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 4.5°C and a low of -2.4°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 116 millimetres of precipitation across around 6.2 days with measurable rain in March, while Sapporo's own March total is 77.6 millimetres, mostly as rain by this point in the year.
in season
What is in season
- Plum blossom fades through the first half of the month.
- The earliest cherry blossom of the year opens in Kyushu and Shikoku from around the third week.
- Hinamatsuri, the Doll Festival for girls, is fixed on 3 March.
- Graduation ceremonies fill the last week of the school year, a distinctly Japanese seasonal sight on campuses nationwide.
- Strawberries and hamaguri clams are at their best on spring menus.
beyond the three cities
Beyond Tokyo, Kyoto and Sapporo
The pace of the season's turn varies sharply by region in March. Kyushu and Shikoku's cherry blossom is typically open by the third week, while Tohoku and Hokkaido are still weeks from their own bloom and can still see a late snowfall. Kyoto and Tokyo sit in between, their own trees not expected to flower until the very end of the month or the first days of April.
closed and crowded
What is closed, and what is crowded
March carries no nationwide closure. Trains run busier than usual on weekday mornings through graduation and job-hunting season, a domestic pattern more than a visible one. The last week of the month is generally the calm before the cherry blossom crowds arrive in the first half of April, and it is often the best week of the whole year to see Kyoto's temples without a queue. 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 warm coat through the first half of the month, lightening to a jacket by the third week as the season turns. Mornings stay cold even once afternoons have warmed, so layers work better than a single heavy coat. 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 March
The Classic Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan opens on 30 March 2027, twelve days from Tokyo to Osaka, timed to the historical bloom average rather than to a guess at any single year. Guests wanting the fullest possible planning frame, including how the 2027 forecasts will be tracked as they are released, are directed to the Cherry Blossom Forecast 2027. A deposit of USD $3,500 per person secures a place on the departure, with the balance due 95 days before travel.
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. March sits between February and April on that calendar, and the full set is gathered in The Japan Edition's Seasons hub.