Best Time to Visit Tokyo · Guide №130
Tokyo in December: Weather, Events, Crowds and What to Pack
December is two cities: illuminations and office parties until Christmas, then a shutdown and New Year. The weather, the closures and the week to book.
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Tokyo in December is two entirely different cities depending on the date. Until Christmas it is the brightest, busiest, most social month of the year — illuminations everywhere, office parties in every izakaya, department stores at full volume. From about 28 December it empties, half the restaurants shut, and the whole place turns inward for New Year.
Getting the two halves right is the entire trick. This guide covers the weather, the events, the year-end closures that catch visitors out, and which week of the month is actually the one to book.
December weather in Tokyo
Cold, dry and remarkably sunny. Tokyo sits on the Pacific side of Japan, which in winter means the snow falls on the other side of the mountains and Tokyo gets the clear, dry air that comes down after it. December is the driest month of the year at roughly 50 to 60 mm of rain, and one of the sunniest.
| Period | Typical high | Typical low | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–10 Dec | 13–15°C | 5–7°C | Last of the autumn colour in the gardens |
| 11–20 Dec | 11–13°C | 3–5°C | Cold mornings, bright afternoons |
| 21–31 Dec | 10–12°C | 2–4°C | Occasional frost; snow very unlikely |
Snow in December is rare — Tokyo’s first snowfall usually comes in January or February, and a December fall is unusual enough to lead the news. What you do get is dry air that will strip your lips and skin within two days, and a wind chill that makes 5°C feel considerably worse on an exposed platform.
The compensations are real. December has the clearest views of Mount Fuji of any month, visible from Shibuya Sky, the free Metropolitan Government Building deck in Shinjuku and half the Yamanote Line on a good morning. Sunrise is late, around 06:45, and sunset is at 16:30 — which sounds bleak but produces long, low, excellent light all afternoon.
The first three weeks: the loudest month of the year
December before Christmas is when Tokyo is most itself. Every district is lit, every department store is running a food event, and every izakaya is full of bonenkai — year-forgetting parties, the compulsory-ish office drinking that runs through the whole month and peaks in the middle two weeks.
Two practical consequences. First, book anywhere you actually care about eating, because the good izakaya are taken by group bookings weeks ahead on Thursday and Friday nights. Second, the last trains in mid-December are the most chaotic of the year — genuinely drunk salarymen, missed stops and a long queue for every taxi. Aim to be on a train by 23:00 or commit to staying out.
The illuminations are the headline attraction and they are almost all free. Marunouchi, Tokyo Midtown, Roppongi Hills Keyakizaka and Caretta Shiodome are the four worth crossing the city for — our Tokyo illuminations guide ranks them properly and, more importantly, lists the end dates.
Christmas is a working day
25 December is not a public holiday in Japan. Offices open, trains run a normal timetable, and the day is treated as a romantic occasion rather than a family one — Christmas Eve is the big date night, restaurants are booked months in advance, and hotel rates on 24 December in central Tokyo are among the highest of the year.
The traditions are their own thing: fried chicken, mostly from KFC and pre-ordered weeks ahead; a white sponge and strawberry Christmas cake from every bakery and convenience store; and a discount on any unsold cake after about 18:00 on the 25th. Nothing closes. If you want a quiet Christmas, Tokyo is one of the easiest cities in the world to have one in.
December events worth planning around
- Chichibu Yomatsuri, 2–3 December — one of Japan’s three great float festivals, in Saitama about two hours from Ikebukuro. Enormous lantern-covered floats hauled up a hill after dark, plus a full winter fireworks display. Cold, crowded and genuinely spectacular. The Laview limited express from Ikebukuro to Seibu-Chichibu is ¥1,700 one way.
- Hagoita-ichi, Sensoji, 17–19 December — the battledore market, where stalls sell ornate decorated paddles bearing kabuki actors and, increasingly, current celebrities. Free, atmospheric and a good excuse to see Sensoji after dark.
- Setagaya Boro-ichi, 15–16 December — a flea market that has run for over four centuries, filling the streets of Setagaya with several hundred stalls. It repeats on 15–16 January.
- Winter fireworks — a handful of displays run in December, including at Tokyo Bay. Cold, short and much less crowded than the summer ones.
- Ameyoko year-end rush, 28–31 December — the market street beside Ueno station becomes a shouting, shoulder-to-shoulder scrum as Tokyo buys crab, salmon roe and everything else for the New Year table. It is the single most alive place in the city that week.
Note that 23 December is no longer a public holiday — it was the previous Emperor’s birthday and moved to 23 February with the change of reign. Plenty of older guides still list it. The Ueno guide covers Ameyoko and the museums around it the rest of the year.
The last week: what actually closes
This is the part that ruins trips, and almost nobody warns about it in advance. From roughly 29 December to 3 January, Japan shuts for New Year. Not everything, and not everywhere — but enough to matter.
| What | Over 29 Dec – 3 Jan |
|---|---|
| Small restaurants, independent shops | Mostly closed, some for the full week |
| Museums and public gardens | Almost all closed 29 Dec – 1 Jan or longer |
| Department stores | Closed 1 Jan, reopen 2 Jan for the sales |
| Convenience stores, chain restaurants | Open throughout |
| Trains and metro | Normal, plus all-night service on 31 Dec |
| Shrines and temples | Extremely open, and extremely busy |
If your trip covers that window, plan around it deliberately: shrines, illuminations that are still running, department store food halls before they close, and the New Year rituals themselves, which are genuinely one of the best things about visiting Japan. Our Tokyo New Year guide covers hatsumode, the temple bells and what to do on 1 January.
New Year’s Eve, briefly
31 December in Tokyo is quiet until about 22:00 and then extraordinary. Families eat toshikoshi soba — year-crossing buckwheat noodles — at home or in a standing noodle bar. At midnight, temples ring their bells 108 times, once for each earthly desire; Zojoji beneath Tokyo Tower and Sensoji in Asakusa are the two big public ones. The metro and JR run all night, which happens on no other date.
Crowds, prices and the week to book
| Window | Crowds | Hotel rates | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–12 Dec | Low | Low to moderate | The best value week of the winter |
| 13–23 Dec | Moderate | Moderate | Illuminations at peak; book restaurants |
| 24–25 Dec | High | Highest in the city | Date-night pricing; avoid unless that is the point |
| 26 Dec – 4 Jan | Very high domestic | High | Closures, packed shinkansen, unmissable rituals |
The clear winner is the first ten days of December. Autumn colour is still hanging on in the gardens, the illuminations are already lit, the bonenkai crush has not started, hotel rates are at their annual low outside of February, and the weather is bright and cold rather than grim. If you are choosing dates freely, choose that.
The window to avoid unless you have a reason is 27 December to 4 January. Domestic travel peaks, shinkansen reserved seats sell out, hotel rates climb, and the closures bite. The reason to accept all that is New Year itself, which is worth it — but go in knowing. See the shinkansen guide if you are travelling onward in that period; reserve as early as the system allows.
Shopping, sales and lucky bags
December is the biggest retail month in Japan and it works on a different calendar to the West. There is no Black Friday equivalent that matters and no pre-Christmas discounting to speak of — prices hold right through the 25th. The sales start on 1 or 2 January, which means a visitor arriving on 27 December watches full-price windows for a week and then walks into a citywide markdown.
The January opening also brings fukubukuro, the sealed lucky bags: a fixed price, an unknown selection of stock worth notionally two or three times as much, and queues outside department stores before opening. Prices run from about ¥3,000 at a fashion chain to ¥50,000 and up at a luxury brand. Some retailers now publish the contents in advance, which removes the gamble and most of the fun.
Before that, December is about gift culture — oseibo, the formal year-end gift, which is why department store food halls are stacked with boxed sets of everything from ham to soy sauce from about the first of the month. It is worth walking through one purely as a spectacle. Our Tokyo shopping guide covers the districts, and tax-free shopping explains what you can reclaim.
Day trips that work in December
Cold, clear December is the best month of the year for anything involving a view, and one of the worst for anything involving a garden.
- Kawaguchiko and the Fuji Five Lakes — the single best month for a clear Fuji. Cold, quiet, and the reflection shots people fail to get in summer haze.
- Hakone — outdoor onsen in cold air is the entire point, and the Fuji view from the Owakudani ropeway is reliable in December.
- Chichibu — for the Yomatsuri on 2–3 December, and for the frozen waterfall displays later in the winter.
- Nikko — beautiful and genuinely cold; check that the Chuzenjiko roads and buses are running before committing.
What does not work: the coastal day trips lose their point in the cold, and most public gardens close over the New Year window. Our day trips from Tokyo guide has the full set with journey times.
What to pack
- A proper winter coat, but not an Arctic one. Wool overcoat, padded jacket or a decent shell with a fleece under it.
- Layers you can shed. Trains, shops and restaurants are heated hard — often to 24°C — and you will be uncomfortably hot indoors in anything heavy.
- Gloves, scarf, and a hat if you feel the cold. Evening illumination walks are the coldest two hours of any Tokyo day.
- Lip balm and moisturiser. The dry air is the most underestimated part of a Tokyo winter. Drugstores sell excellent versions from ¥400.
- Heat pads — adhesive kairo, about ¥100 each in any convenience store. Buy a box on day one.
You will not need snow boots, thermal base layers for daily wear, or anything you would pack for a Canadian winter. The full breakdown is in our Tokyo packing list, and the wider cold-weather logistics are in the Tokyo winter guide.
What to eat in December
- Oden — the simmered fish-cake stew, best from a specialist counter but perfectly good from the convenience-store vat at ¥100 to ¥200 an item. See our konbini food guide.
- Nabe — every izakaya runs hotpot menus from December, shared at the table. The best cheap winter meal in the city.
- Crab — peak season, and the reason Ameyoko sounds like an auction floor at year end.
- Fugu — pufferfish season runs through the winter, in licensed restaurants only, from about ¥5,000 for a set.
- Yaki-imo — roast sweet potato, sold from vans that drive slowly through residential streets playing a recorded song. Around ¥500 and one of the great small pleasures of a Tokyo winter.
- Christmas cake and fried chicken, if you are here on the 24th or 25th, purely for the anthropology.
Is December the right month?
Yes, if you want the illuminations, cold bright weather, the best Fuji visibility of the year and — in the first two weeks — genuinely low prices. It is an underrated month, and the first ten days in particular are one of the best-value windows on the entire calendar.
Yes also, differently, if you want New Year: hatsumode at a major shrine, the bells at midnight, the city at its most traditional. Accept the closures and the crowds as the price.
No, if you are travelling between about 27 December and 4 January without wanting the New Year experience — you will pay peak rates for a city with half its restaurants shut. And no if you dislike short days; it is dark by 16:30 and that is not for everyone.
For the month either side, see Tokyo in November for the foliage overlap, and best time to visit Tokyo for the year-round comparison. To build the trip, start at Tokyo travel planning.
The 24th and 25th deserve their own plan, because almost none of it works the way a visitor expects: the markets are ticketed, the fried chicken needs pre-ordering, and Christmas Eve is the hardest restaurant night of the Japanese year. Our guide to Christmas in Tokyo has the bookings timeline and what stays open.
If your trip runs over the turn of the year, the calendar keeps moving: the shutdown lifts around the 4th, the sales and the lucky bags open on the 2nd, and the last three weeks of January are the cheapest and clearest of the whole Tokyo year. Our guide to Tokyo in January picks up where this one ends.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is December a good time to visit Tokyo?
Yes, particularly the first two weeks. It is the driest month at 50–60 mm of rain, one of the sunniest, and the illumination season is at full strength. Highs run 10–15°C with lows of 2–7°C. Prices are at an annual low until about the 13th, then climb through Christmas and peak over New Year.
Does it snow in Tokyo in December?
Very rarely. Tokyo sits on the Pacific side of Japan, where winter air arrives dry after dropping its snow on the mountains. The city’s first snowfall normally comes in January or February, and a December fall is unusual enough to make the news. Expect cold, clear and dry rather than white.
What closes in Tokyo over New Year?
Between roughly 29 December and 3 January, most museums, public gardens, independent restaurants and small shops close, and department stores shut on 1 January. Convenience stores, chain restaurants, trains and shrines stay open — shrines extremely so. Plan that week around hatsumode, illuminations still running, and food halls before they close.
Is Christmas a holiday in Japan?
No. 25 December is a normal working day; offices open and trains run as usual. Christmas Eve is treated as a couples’ night rather than a family occasion, which makes 24 December one of the hardest nights of the year to get a restaurant table and one of the most expensive for hotels. Note that 23 December is no longer a public holiday either.
How cold does Tokyo get in December?
Highs of 13–15°C at the start of the month falling to 10–12°C by the end, with overnight lows dropping from about 6°C to 2°C. Frost is possible late in the month. A wool coat or padded jacket over layers is enough; interiors are heated hard, so bring things you can take off.
Photo Credits
- Tokyo Station Marunouchi building floodlit on a winter evening – 2024 Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building at night by Kakidai, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- The Ameyoko market entrance beside Ueno station – Ameyayokocho Entrance by Kamasakizaki, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.