October offers some of the most reliably comfortable weather of the Japanese year: warm without August's heat, and dry more often than not, once the last of the typhoon risk passes in the first half of the month. Autumn colour is on the move throughout, reaching Tohoku's Naruko Gorge and Hirosaki Park and Nikko's mountains by the second half of the month, while Kyoto and Tokyo's own colour is still weeks away.
the weather
The weather
Tokyo's October days average a high of 22°C and a low of 14.8°C. Kyoto runs close to the same figures, 23.4°C by day and 14.4°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 16.4°C and a low of 8°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 234.8 millimetres of precipitation across around 7.1 days with measurable rain in October, while Sapporo's own October total is 109.9 millimetres, mostly as rain by this point in the year.
in season
What is in season
- Autumn colour reaches Tohoku, Naruko Gorge and Hirosaki Park, and Nikko by the second half of October.
- Sports Day, a national holiday, falls on the second Monday of the month.
- Matsutake mushrooms and new-season rice are at their best.
- The last typhoon risk of the year usually passes by the middle of the month.
- Comfortable, dry weather makes October a genuine shoulder season for walking and touring.
beyond the three cities
Beyond Tokyo, Kyoto and Sapporo
Autumn colour's regional order is the defining fact of October: Hokkaido and Tohoku turn first, Nikko and the Japan Alps follow through the month, and Kyoto and Tokyo's own colour is still five or six weeks away by the time Tohoku is at its best. The same order repeats every year, even as the exact dates move with the season.
closed and crowded
What is closed, and what is crowded
October has no nationwide closure, and while it is an increasingly popular shoulder-season month, it still falls well short of the crowds either side of it in April or November. Tohoku's colour spots draw their own concentrated domestic visitors during the second half of the month, without approaching Kyoto's November peak, so October is a genuine window for the traveller who wants space as well as scenery. 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
Light layers with a cardigan or jacket for the evenings, comfortable enough for a full day's walking. The weather is genuinely pleasant for most of the month, one of the easier wardrobes of the year to pack. 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 October
No fixed departure of Luxury Japan Travel's own tours runs in October, since the Autumn Leaves Tour of Japan does not open until late November. Guests wishing to track the season as it moves south through the month are directed to the Autumn Colour Forecast, updated weekly through the season; guests wanting to travel in October itself 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. October sits between September and November on that calendar, and the full set is gathered in The Japan Edition's Seasons hub.