The beginning of January marks a new calendar year where Japanese families gather and visit the country’s temples and shrines. If you’re in Japan at the beginning of the month you can also try picking up a lucky bag, known as fukubukuro in Japanese. Many stores from MUJI to Starbucks sell these mystery bags of miscellaneous items at heavily discounted prices.
In this article, we’ll take a look at 19 of the best things to do in January in Japan for 2025!
Planning a trip to Japan this winter? You’ll want to try an authentic Japanese onsen (hot spring) experience. Check out these helpful articles – Best Osaka Ryokan with Private Onsen, and Best Kyoto Ryokan with Private Onsen. Plus, this Japan Winter Itinerary article will give you lots of ideas for seasonal experiences and events.
Average Temperatures in January across Japan
Average temperatures across Japan in January can vary significantly depending on the region. Temperatures can range from sub-zero conditions in the Northernmost areas like Hokkaido where it can get as low as 21F (-6C) during the day and 10F (-12C) at night, to milder almost spring-like weather in some southern prefectures like Kagoshima and Okinawa, which can be around 63F (17C) during the day and 55F (12C) at night.
While it is not typically the coldest month of the year, January in Japan is still winter, and it is important to dress warmly. By packing according to the temperature in the regions you plan to visit, you’ll stay comfortable while you enjoy your trip.
Japan In January – 19 Things to See and Do in 2025!
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New Year Celebrations
1. Kawagoe, Daruma Festival
Every year, the people of Kawagoe, a small Edo-period castle town just north of Tokyo, come together at the annual Daruma Festival to give thanks for their fortunes of the previous year and to pray for good luck in the year ahead.
Over the first three days of January, visitors to the town will find the streets lined with food stalls and traders of small, round paper-mâché dolls called daruma dolls, which symbolize good luck in Zen Buddhism. On the third day, locals visit the nearby Kitain temple for the purification ceremony, where their bodies are cleansed of negative energy, ensuring a fresh start for the new year.
- When: January 1-3, 2025
- WHERE: Kitain Temple, Saitama, Kawagoe
2. Chinese New Year, Yokohama
Every year on the first day of the Chinese lunisolar calendar, the Chinese Spring Festival marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. This year, Chinese New Year falls on Wednesday, January 29th, and if you’re visiting Yokohama’s Chinatown, expect to see traditional performing arts and Chinese dragon dances beneath endless rows of colorful paper lanterns hanging across the streets. The lantern theme for 2025 is ‘Little Dragon Joy’, based on the idea that flying dragons will bring happiness. So keep an eye in the sky for one of the largest dragon lanterns in Japan.
- When: Friday, November 1, 2024, to Wednesday, February 12, 2025, 4 PM to 11 PM. Chinese New Year, January 29, 2025
- WHERE: Chinatown / Kannai / Yamashita Park, Yokohama
- More Information: Chinatown.or.jp
3. Maebashi Hatsuichi Daruma Festival, Gunma Prefecture
This event began as a market more than 400 years ago where local traders would sell everyday goods. The festival has evolved into celebrating the Daruma doll, a small, hollow, round doll that symbolizes good luck.
The festival begins inside the grounds of Maebashi Hachimangu Shrine with a memorial service for the old daruma dolls from the previous year to thank them for the luck they have brought, followed by a ceremonial burning of the dolls. Next, a procession of a portable shrine through the shopping district is believed to wipe away the bad omens and clear a path for good fortune.
The end of the ceremony is signaled by the opening of stalls selling new daruma dolls to bring good luck for the year ahead.
- When: Thursday, January 9, 2025, 10 AM to 8 PM
- WHERE: Maebashi Hachimangu Shrine, Honmachi, Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture
- More Information: Suishinka.maebashi.or.jp
4. Toka Ebisu Festival, Kyoto
The Toka Ebisu Festival is a five-day celebration of Ebisu-san, the Japanese God of fishing and good luck, and is one of the first major festivals of the year in Japan. Llarge crowds gather to celebrate the God’s birthday and pray for good luck and prosperity.
Many different types of good luck charms are available to purchase from stalls throughout the grounds of the shrine, and visitors can watch the kagura, a sacred dance performed by shrine maidens to bless branches of bamboo leaves. It is always a popular event with plenty to see, do, and eat.
- When: From Wednesday, January 8 to Sunday, January 12, 2025
- WHERE: Kyoto Ebisu Shrine, Komatsucho, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto
- More Information: Kyoto-ebisu.jp
5. Tokyo Ippan Sanga, Tokyo
On the second day of the New Year, the grounds of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo are opened to the public for the annual New Year greeting from members of the Imperial Family. There are five appearances between 9:30 AM and 2:30 PM where members of the Imperial family are announced before they make their way onto the balcony of the Chowa-Den Reception Hall, before His Majesty the Emperor addresses the crowds.
As might be expected, the event is extremely popular and monitored by heavy security, which includes two separate checkpoints visitors must pass through as they enter. Restrictions on what cannot be brought into the grounds are outlined at the link below.
- When: Thursday, January 2, 2025, 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM
- WHERE: The grounds of the Imperial Palace, Chiyoda City, Tokyo
- More Information: Kunaicho.co.jp
Fire Festivals
6. Oniyo Fire Festival, Fukuoka
One of Japan’s three main fire festivals, the Oniyo Festival is held on the last day of the Oni Festival, a 7-day ceremony that is said to exorcise the town and people of evil spirits. The final day of the event features men in loincloths transporting long torches through the grounds of the Daizenji Tamataregu Shrine lighting six giant torches, believed to be the largest in Japan.
It is believed that lighting the large torches will bring you good health and good luck. As they are lit, the shrine grounds are filled with people offering prayers for the safety and good health of their loved ones.
- When: Tuesday, January 7, 2025
- WHERE: Tamataregu Shrine, Daizenji, Kurume, Fukuoka
- More Information: Welcome-kurume.com
7. Mount Wakakusa Yamayaki Fire Festival, Nara
On the fourth Saturday of every January, a centuries-old ritual takes place on the nearby slopes of Mt Wakakusa when they are set ablaze with a fire so large that it can be seen throughout the entire city. The event, known as Yamayaki (the burning mountain), is a carefully organized fire festival hosted by a collective of local temples and shrines.
At the beginning of the festival, visitors gather to enjoy a bonfire and the largest fireworks display in Nara prefecture. Then 300 members of the Nara City Fire Department gather to transfer the bonfire via torches to the foot of the mountain. Ukigumo Garden, in Nara Park, is recommended as one of the best places to view the incredible fire show.
- When: Saturday, January 25, 2025, 6:15 PM (fireworks), 6:30 PM (mountain burning)
- WHERE: Ukigumo Garden, Nara Park
- More Information: Pref.Nara.jp
8. Nozawa Dosojin Festival, Nagano
Another of Japan’s biggest fire festivals, this small village in Nagano sees a wooden shrine to the Shinto deity Dosojin set on fire by torch-bearing villagers, while local male villagers who are the ‘unlucky ages’ of 25 or 42 defend the shrine while singing to Dosojin. The festival offers prayers to Dosojin, in exchange for protection for their village and the inhabitants, and to ensure a happy marriage and healthy children. It is also believed that by protecting the deity the bad luck brought about by the unlucky ages of 25 and 42 will disappear.
After the battle, the shrine is burned and onlookers clap and offer their prayers. Although the event is sacred, it has a fun, friendly, and welcoming atmosphere.
- When: Wednesday, January 15, 2025
- WHERE: Nozawa Onsen village, Nagano Prefecture
- More Information: Nozawakanko.jp
9. Usokae Festival & Onisube Festival, Fukuoka
As with many festivals throughout Japan in January, the Usokae and Onisube festivals are meant to ward off bad spirits and pray for good fortune in the year ahead. The event begins at 6 pm with Usokae Festival; visitors can purchase a small carving of a bullfinch, which is then passed through the crowd during a chant as an offering to the deity Tenjin. The carving you end up with is then taken home as a good luck totem.
Later in the evening one of Japan’s largest fire ceremonies, Onisube Festival begins. Priests bless a sacred fire in front of the temple and burn bunches of straw. The flames are fanned by a group dressed as exorcists towards another group dressed as ogres. A third team gathers to protect the ogres and a performance begins to banish the evil ogres from the temple hall. After the performance, visitors often take home pieces of burnt wood from the walls of the temple for good luck.
- When: 6 PM (Usokae), & 8:30 PM (Onisube), Tuesday, January 7, 2025
- WHERE: Dazaifu Tenmangu, Fukuoka Prefecture
- More Information: Dazaifutenmangu.or.jp (Usokae), Dazaifutenmangu.or.jp (Onisube)
10. Oni Hashiri (The Demon Run of Dadadō), Kyoto
This 500-year-old fire festival occurs annually on January 14 at Otagi Nenbutsu Temple. Three large torch-wielding demons bang their drums before crowds of worshippers gathered outside the temple to expel the bad spirits and bring good fortune for the year ahead.
The ceremony includes a children’s demon run earlier in the afternoon, as well as a ceremonial throwing of lucky rice cakes, concluding after the sun sets with the Oni-Hari, the spectacular torch-lighting event.
Despite the noise and cold weather, it remains a popular festival every year as crowds gather outside the temple from the early afternoon and remain until the last demon extinguishes its flame and descends back inside the temple.
- When: Saturday, January 4, 2025, 1 PM to 11 PM
- WHERE: Nenbutsu-ji Temple, Sagatoriimoto Fukatanicho, Ukyo Ward, Kyoto
- More Information: City.gojo.jp
Illuminations
11. Nagasaki Lantern Festival, Nagasaki City
The largest Chinese New Year festival in Japan, the Nagasaki Lantern Festival features more than 15,000 colorful lanterns, works of art, and live performances throughout Nagasaki’s Chinatown and beyond.
As you wander the streets around Chinatown during this 15-day event, pick up a traditional Chinese New Year snack and enjoy performances of live music or lion and dragon dance performances, where performers in huge costumes mimic the movements of lions or dragons to bring good fortune in the coming year. On the final day, sweet-filled rice dumplings called tangyuan are eaten and families walk the streets with colorful lanterns.
- When: Wednesday, January 29 (Chinese New Year) to Wednesday, February 12, 2025
- WHERE: Nagasaki Shinchi Chinatown, Nagasaki City
- More Information: Discovernagasaki.com
12. Yukitouro (Snow Candle Way), Hokkaido
Towards the end of January, an impressive snow illumination event featuring around 1,000 candles lights up the dark forest around Sapporo’s Jozankei Shrine on a winter night. In the spirit of hospitality, the candles are decorated by the owners of local ryokan and hotels.
Visitors are encouraged to take photographs of their favorite candles and submit them to the photo contest for the chance to win a free night’s stay in their chosen hotel or ryokan. A campsite is also set up alongside the shrine where visitors can warm themselves beside a bonfire with their hot drink while roasting a marshmallow before enjoying a tent sauna.
- When: Saturday, January 25 to February 1, 2025, 6 PM to 9 PM
- WHERE: Jozankei Shrine, Minami City, Sapporo
- More Information: Jozankei.jp
13. Saga Light Fantasy, Saga Prefecture
Saga Light Fantasy is an illumination event around Saga Station in Saga City that features more than 1.5 million colorful LED lights along a 1.2km stretch of the city center. The event is organized and run by the city however many local store owners along the route also choose to illuminate their storefronts. The city has set up a digital stamp rally where visitors can scan QR codes to collect stamps along the illumination route. Those who collect all nine stamps are entered into a prize draw lottery.
The long-running event also includes several smaller events, such as the Saga International Balloon Festival on October 31, a New Year’s jazz music event, and the Sagamachinaka Great Deal, where participating stores and restaurants offer discounts.
- When: Running until January 13, 2025, 5 PM to 10:30 PM
- WHERE: Saga Station, Ekimae Machikado Hiroba (in front of the station), Saga City, Saga Prefecture
- More Information: Sagalf.jp
Other Festivals & Events
14. Grand Sumo Tournament, Tokyo
If you’re looking for a uniquely Japanese experience, you will want to pencil in the January Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo. The 15-day tournament is held at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan National Sumo Arena and features some of the top sumo wrestlers in the country facing off against each other, with the top-ranking wrestlers performing towards the end of each day.
January is one of the best times of the year to catch a sumo match as there are generally fewer tourists around in winter, making it easier to purchase tickets. Pro tip: You will still need to purchase tickets as soon as they go on sale a few weeks before. If you’re lucky you might see some of the wrestlers visiting nearby restaurants or bathhouses after the tournament.
- When: Sunday, January 12 to Sunday, January 26, 2025
- WHERE: Ryōgoku Kokugikan National Sumo Arena, 1 Chome-3-28 Yokoami, Sumida City, Tokyo
- More Information: Sumo.or.jp
15. Tōshiya Festival & Toothpick Blessing Ceremony, Kyoto
In mid-January, an archery display has taken place every year at Sanjūsangen-dō Temple, a designated national treasure, since the 16th century. This traditional archery exhibition contest sees more than 1,000 young archers compete with one another as they attempt to shoot targets 120 meters away.
While the discipline has been practiced throughout Japan for centuries, the present-day event is more of a friendly competition between young adults. Visitors are free to wander the grounds of the temple which are open throughout the day, or take part in the toothpick blessing ceremony, where blessed water is poured onto visitors as an offering of good health.
- When: Wednesday, January 15, 2025
- WHERE: Sanjūsangen-dō Temple, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto
- More Information: Sanjusangendo.jp
16. Kaga-tobi Dezomeshiki Festival, Kanazawa
Every year, hundreds of local firefighters gather on the grounds of Kanazawa Castle for the Kaga-tobi Dezomeshiki festival, a visually stunning display of acrobatics performed on large bamboo ladders. During the Edo period, the Kaga-tobi were known as elite firefighters. They would carry out their task by following the instructions of a single firefighter who sat atop a tall bamboo ladder to call out instructions for his team below. The tradition continues each year to honor these skilled public servants and to entertain the public. The event is capped by a finale performance from each team, spraying water into the crowds.
- When: Sunday, January 5, 2025, 10 AM to 11 AM
- WHERE: Kanazawa Castle Park, Marunouchi, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture
- More Information: Visitkanazawa.jp
17. Nomozaki Daffodil Festival, Nagasaki
From mid-January to early February, the beauty and aroma of more than ten million daffodils can be enjoyed at Suisen-no-Sato Park on the southern tip of Nagasaki prefecture throughout the Nomozaki Daffodil Festival. The scent of the flowers flowing inland on the salty sea air has been selected by the Ministry of Environment as one of the 100 scents of Japan.
The well-maintained park is a beautiful walk with large open spaces and countless rows of white daffodils decorating the hills. From the highest point, visitors can also see the nearby Gunkanjima, a small island off the coast covered in abandoned concrete structures surrounded by a sea wall that is slowly being reclaimed by nature.
- When: Saturday, January 18 to Sunday, February 2, 2025
- WHERE: Suisen-no-Sato Park, Nomomachi, Nagasaki
- More Information: Discovernagasaki.com
18. Japanese Food Festival, Osaka
Osaka is a city known throughout Japan for its bustling food districts offering a wide range of dishes,, so a festival based on Japanese cuisine could not be held anywhere else. For two days at the beginning of January in Hanahaku Memorial Park, food stalls set up shop to offer visitors dishes from all over Japan including different types of noodles, okonomiyaki, karaage (fried chicken), grilled meat, sashimi, cakes, and other sweets.
Regional representation and variety is the key here, so come with an open mind and an empty belly to get the most out of it. There is no cost to attend but it is an extremely popular event, so be prepared for long queues.
- When: Thursday, January 2 to Saturday, January 4, 2025
- WHERE: Hanahaku Memorial Park, Osaka
- More Information: Nippon-food-fes.com
19. Iiyama Kamakura Village Restaurant, Nagano
The Kamakura village in Iiyama is a temporary pop-up restaurant comprising 20 snow huts where visitors can relax and enjoy a bowl of Noroshi Nabe, a local hot pot dish made of miso, mushrooms, pork, and vegetables. In the center of the village stands a bright red torii gate in front of the Kamakura Shinto Shrine, where visitors are free to enter and offer a prayer before The Divine Rope, a sacred object said to ward off evil spirits.
The village can be reached in approximately 15 minutes by car, taxi, or bus from Iiyama JR Station. The restaurant village can become quite popular so reservations through the website are recommended.
- When: Friday, January 24 to Friday, February 28, 2025, 11 AM to 7:30 PM
- More Information: Iiyama-ouendan.net
Dates to Avoid Traveling Around Japan in January
National Holiday – New Year’s Day – January 1st in Japan is generally quiet when most people spend time with their families and visit shrines together. Temples and shrines will be extremely busy during the first few days of the year. Many shops and businesses will also be closed over the New Year, although you’ll find some places open in big cities like Tokyo and Osaka.
- When: Wednesday, January 1, 2025
National Holiday – Coming of Age Day – Usually held mid-January, the purpose of this national holiday is to celebrate all of the young people who are turning 20 that year, which is the official age of becoming an adult in Japan. This holiday shouldn’t affect your travel plans, you may see groups of young people dressed up in beautiful kimonos more than usual.
- When: Monday January 13, 2025
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