When Japan’s Autumn Leaves Turn in 2026

Autumn color moves through Japan in the opposite direction to the cherry blossoms. The north and the high ground turn first. Tokyo and Kyoto, the cities people mean when they say they are coming for the leaves, sit near the end of that procession, not the start.

At a glance: late October and November

• Late October: the mountains. Nikko’s Irohazaka from about 23 October, Oirase Gorge from about 15 October, Shirakawa-go from about 31 October.
• Mid-November: Kyoto’s Arashiyama from about 13 November, Miyajima from about 18 November, Mount Takao from about 19 November.
• Late November into early December: the city trees. Tokyo’s benchmark maple on 28 November, Osaka on 4 December, Kyoto on 11 December.

The Japan Weather Association’s 14 October update says the colour will be on time or a little late this year, and later than usual on the plains of eastern and western Japan, because November is expected to run warm.

On 1 October 2026, Japan Meteorological Corporation published its second foliage forecast of the year, replacing the 2 September call this page first used. It expects red maples to turn around the usual time across the country, with ginkgo average or a little late in the north and east. Its next release is due in early November.

What the 1 October call says

Each date is the forecast day when most of the leaves on a city’s benchmark tree have turned, measured the way the Japan Meteorological Agency observes its sample trees. The second date is the average.

• Sapporo: 4 November, against an average of 28 October. That is three days earlier than the September call, but still a week late. Ginkgo is due on 3 November.
• Nagano: 21 November, against 12 November.
• Tokyo: 28 November, right on the average and a day earlier than in September. Ginkgo in the city is called for 26 November.
• Hiroshima: 28 November, against 22 November.
• Kanazawa: 30 November, against 24 November.
• Osaka: 4 December, against 1 December. Ginkgo is due on 24 November.
• Kyoto: 11 December, against 5 December, unchanged from September. Kyoto ginkgo is called for 27 November.

The famous spots run ahead of the city trees

A benchmark tree in a city garden is not the hillside you are travelling to see. The Japan Weather Association’s 14 October forecast on tenki.jp gives dates for named spots. Best viewing starts from about 15 October at Kamikochi and Oirase Gorge, 23 October at Nikko’s Irohazaka, 31 October at Shirakawa-go, 13 November at Kyoto’s Arashiyama, 18 November at Miyajima and 19 November on Mount Takao.

Weathernews, in its 8 October update, agrees on the shape and leans a little later. Places that usually peak by mid-October are on time. Later places, including Arashiyama, are slightly behind because the autumn is running warm, with Nikko in late October and Arashiyama in late November. Its next update is due in late October. By 10 October, tenki.jp reported northern and eastern Hokkaido already at their best.

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How to use a date you can still move

A mountain week and a city week are different trips. The high country around Nikko and the Japanese Alps are October places. The temple gardens in Kyoto and the ginkgo avenues in Tokyo are late November, running into early December on these forecasts. Arriving in Kyoto in mid-October for red maples is how people photograph green trees and then blame the season.

Build the autumn itinerary around the week of each city’s forecast, and leave one day with nothing on it. A temple on a hill can turn before the tree in the forecast, and a sheltered courtyard can lag it. The habit is the same one as the cherry blossom dates: read the latest note, then give the week room to slide. Kyoto works better when you stop sprinting, and that goes double in late November.

The nights you already hold decide which of these weeks you will actually see. A hotel in Kyoto through early December is a leaves trip. A hotel in Kyoto in mid-October is a temples trip in green. Put those nights down first, then choose the garden that matches them. Plan Sakura lays those booked nights out by day, so you can see which gardens fall in which week.