Tokyo

• New Year & Hatsumode · Jan 1-7 · religious

  The country's biggest holiday - hatsumode (first shrine visit) throngs Meiji and Sensoji for three days, many shops closed.

• Setsubun · Jan 29-Feb 4 · religious

  Bean-throwing rituals at every shrine to drive out the winter demons - Sensoji and Zojoji draw big crowds.

• Plum blossom (ume) · Feb 19 – Mar 4 · festival

  The quieter prelude to sakura - Yushima Tenjin and the imperial gardens lined with pink-white blossom.

• Cherry Blossom Season (Hanami) · Mar 5 – Mar 22 · festival

  Tokyo's most celebrated season — parks erupt in pink as salarymen spread blue tarps in Ueno and hanami parties run late into warm spring nights.

• Cherry blossom (sakura) · Mar 26 – Mar 8 · festival

  A nationwide pause to picnic under pink trees - Ueno, Meguro and Shinjuku Gyoen overwhelmed; hotels triple.

• Golden Week · Apr 30 – Apr 13 · holiday

  Three back-to-back public holidays - domestic travel doubles, shinkansen booked solid, foreigners get a quiet Tokyo.

• Sanja Matsuri · May 14-20 · festival

  Asakusa's biggest shrine festival - three days of mikoshi (portable shrines) hauled through the streets.

• Rainy Season (Tsuyu) · May 21 – Jul 1 · festival

  Six grey weeks of drizzle and punctuating downpours blanket the city from late May through June as heat and humidity begin their slow climb.

• Vesak · May 28-Jun 3 · religious

  Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and passing marked in one day - temple visits, lantern-lit processions and acts of merit.

• Sumida River Fireworks · Jul 23-29 · festival

  A summer-evening fireworks show on the river - yukata-clad crowds, beers, the city in festival mode.

• Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival · Jul 23-29 · festival

  Tokyo's grandest pyrotechnic spectacle ignites the Sumida River on the fourth Saturday of July — an epic summer night that crowds the riverbanks for miles.

• Obon · Aug 13 – Aug 26 · religious

  Buddhist ancestor-honouring week - many Tokyoites travel to their home towns; offices quiet but transport heaving.

• Typhoon season · Sep 3 – Sep 30 · holiday

  Late-summer typhoons regularly knock out a day of trains and flights - expect 1–2 plans to need rescheduling.

• Autumn Foliage Season · Sep 3 – Sep 25 · festival

  From September, Tokyo's parks and temple grounds cool into amber and crimson as fall colors spread slowly across the city's green spaces.

• Autumn leaves (koyo) · Nov 19 – Dec 2 · festival

  Maple season in Rikugien, Mount Takao and Meiji Jingu Gaien's gingko avenue - cool, photogenic, busy.

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