Japan holiday & crowd calendar
Enter your travel dates to see which days hit a Japanese holiday or a domestic travel rush, how busy JR rates each day, and when your Shinkansen seats go on sale. The colours come from JR’s own season calendar, not our guesswork.
Data checked 16 Oct 2026 · Covers October 2026 to March 2028
October 2026
November 2026
December 2026
The big travel periods
Sat 21 Nov – Mon 23 Nov 2026
Labour Thanksgiving weekend 2026
A three-day weekend in peak autumn-leaf season. All Nozomi are all-reserved.
- Late November is autumn-leaf season in Kyoto and Tokyo, on top of the long weekend.
- Book Shinkansen seats when they go on sale, one month ahead.
Fri 25 Dec – Tue 5 Jan 2027
New Year 2026–27
Japan’s biggest travel week. Many restaurants, museums and banks close 29 Dec–3 Jan; shrines are packed on 1–3 Jan.
- JR peak days: 29–30 Dec (out of Tokyo) and 2–3 Jan (back).
- Every Nozomi is all-reserved from 25 Dec to 5 Jan.
- Withdraw cash before 31 Dec and check opening days before you plan a visit.
Wed 28 Apr – Wed 5 May 2027
Golden Week 2027
Four national holidays (29 Apr, 3–5 May) and the busiest domestic travel week of spring. Hotels across the country raise prices.
- JR peak days: 28–30 April and 1–5 May.
- Book hotels well ahead and Shinkansen seats the morning they go on sale.
Fri 6 Aug – Sun 22 Aug 2027
Obon 2027
Not a national holiday, but the week most families travel home. Mountain Day (11 Aug) falls inside it.
- JR peak days (Tokyo–Osaka and west): 10–11 and 15–16 August.
- JR East and the Hokuriku Shinkansen are at peak from 10 to 19 August.
- Book long-distance seats one month ahead to the day.
Fri 17 Sep – Sun 26 Sep 2027
September holidays 2027
A three-day weekend (18–20 Sep) followed by Autumnal Equinox Day on Thursday 23 Sep. Not a full Silver Week this year.
- JR marks 17–20 and 23–26 September busy on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen.
- Tuesday 21 and Wednesday 22 Sep are quiet days on JR’s calendar: the easiest days that week for a long trip.
Sat 25 Dec – Wed 5 Jan 2028
New Year 2027–28
The same pattern as every year: travel out before 31 Dec, back on 2–4 Jan, closures around 1 Jan.
- JR peak days: 29–30 Dec and 3–4 Jan.
- Many businesses close for the first few days of January.
How to read the calendar
Japan’s railways price reserved seats by season. JR publishes, a year at a time, which days are peak, busy, normal or quiet, and those labels follow demand closely: peak days are the ones when everyone in Japan travels at once. That makes JR’s calendar the best public signal of when trains, and the places they go to, will be crowded.
There are two calendars. One covers the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen (Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima) and Kyushu; the other covers JR East, including trains from Tokyo to Tohoku, Hokkaido, Nagano and Kanazawa. They differ most around Obon, when JR East keeps a longer peak. Choose the one that matches your route.
A national holiday is not automatically a crowded day for visitors. A holiday on a Wednesday barely moves the trains; a holiday that makes a three-day weekend does. Read the colour, not the holiday.
Booking: what opens when
- Shinkansen and limited express seats go on sale at 10:00 Japan time, one month before travel. For the first and last days of Golden Week, Obon and New Year, the popular trains between Tokyo and Kyoto or Osaka can sell out the same day.
- On all-reserved Nozomi days, marked R on the calendar, the Nozomi has no unreserved cars at all. Hikari and Kodama trains keep theirs.
- Hotels have no fixed sale date. For peak periods, book as soon as your dates are firm.
If you have a JR Pass, you still need a seat reservation to be sure of sitting down on a peak day. See whether the JR Pass is worth it.
Japan’s national holidays, 2026–2027
| Date | Holiday |
|---|---|
| Mon 12 Oct 2026 | Sports Day (スポーツの日) |
| Tue 3 Nov 2026 | Culture Day (文化の日) |
| Mon 23 Nov 2026 | Labour Thanksgiving Day (勤労感謝の日) |
| Fri 1 Jan 2027 | New Year’s Day (元日) |
| Mon 11 Jan 2027 | Coming of Age Day (成人の日) |
| Thu 11 Feb 2027 | National Foundation Day (建国記念の日) |
| Tue 23 Feb 2027 | Emperor’s Birthday (天皇誕生日) |
| Sun 21 Mar 2027 | Vernal Equinox Day (春分の日) |
| Mon 22 Mar 2027 | Substitute holiday (休日) |
| Thu 29 Apr 2027 | Showa Day (昭和の日) |
| Mon 3 May 2027 | Constitution Day (憲法記念日) |
| Tue 4 May 2027 | Greenery Day (みどりの日) |
| Wed 5 May 2027 | Children’s Day (こどもの日) |
| Mon 19 Jul 2027 | Marine Day (海の日) |
| Wed 11 Aug 2027 | Mountain Day (山の日) |
| Mon 20 Sep 2027 | Respect for the Aged Day (敬老の日) |
| Thu 23 Sep 2027 | Autumnal Equinox Day (秋分の日) |
| Mon 11 Oct 2027 | Sports Day (スポーツの日) |
| Wed 3 Nov 2027 | Culture Day (文化の日) |
| Tue 23 Nov 2027 | Labour Thanksgiving Day (勤労感謝の日) |
Method and sources
National holidays are from the Cabinet Office’s official list. Season colours are read from JR Central’s published season calendars for April 2026 to March 2028, which cover JR Central, JR West, JR Shikoku, JR Kyushu and JR East; we checked every day against the published calendar. All-reserved Nozomi dates are from JR Central’s announcement for the year to March 2027. Seat sale times are JR Central’s. We update the data when JR publishes the next year’s calendar.
- Cabinet Office: national holidays
- JR Central: seasonal reserved-seat fees and calendars
- JR Central: all-reserved Nozomi periods
FAQ
When are the busiest times to travel in Japan?
New Year (roughly 25 December to 5 January), Golden Week (late April to 5 May) and Obon (mid-August) are the three biggest domestic travel periods. JR classes their busiest days as peak season, and every Nozomi on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen runs all-reserved. Three-day weekends around national holidays are busy too, especially in spring and autumn.
When do Shinkansen tickets go on sale?
Reserved seats go on sale at 10:00 Japan time one month before the travel date, on the same date of the previous month. JR Central’s SmartEX and Express Reservation services accept requests up to a year ahead; seats are assigned one month before.
What does JR’s peak season cost?
On peak days a reserved seat on a JR limited express or Shinkansen costs ¥400 more than in normal season; on busy days ¥200 more; on quiet days ¥200 less. JR Hokkaido’s conventional lines charge the same all year.
Is Obon a public holiday in Japan?
No. Obon is not a national holiday, but it is when many people take time off and travel home, usually around 13–16 August. JR’s calendar puts the peak days on either side of it. Mountain Day (11 August) is the national holiday nearest to it.