Kyoto month by month
Plan your visit to Kyoto by month. Compare weather, crowds, events, and prices across all twelve months with historical climate data.
Kyoto's measured year breaks into four bands. Winter holds steady and dry, with January at 8°C and 7 rain days, February at 9°C and 8, and December at 11°C and 7. March reaches 14°C with 11 rain days, and by April the high hits 20°C with the same 11. May and June push into 23°C and 27°C, and both months log 13 rain days. July and August peak at 32°C and 33°C with 15 rain days each. September drops to 29°C with 14 rain days, October to 23°C and 10, and November settles at 17°C with the year's lowest count of 6.
All 12 month guides are published below. If you're weighing shoulder seasons, May and October both average 23°C, but May logs 13 rain days to October's 10. Open the November guide first if your trip window falls between October and December, since November's 6 rain days make it the driest month in the measured year.
July and August carry the year's highest heat at 32°C and 33°C, and both log 15 rain days. September still sits at 14 rain days and 29°C.
November stands apart in Kyoto's measured year, averaging 17°C with 6 rain days, the fewest of any month.
- January
- High
- 8°C
- Low
- -1°C
- Rain
- 47 mm
January is the coldest month in Kyoto, with overnight temperatures that regularly drop below freezing at -1°C (30°F) and daytime highs that rarely climb past 8°C (47°F). The first…
- February
- High
- 9°C
- Low
- 0°C
- Rain
- 62 mm
February in Kyoto is cold, quiet, and still. Daytime temperatures sit around 9°C (48°F), and nights regularly drop below freezing to -0.2°C (32°F). The city's maple trees are bare,…
- March
- High
- 14°C
- Low
- 4°C
- Rain
- 130 mm
March in Kyoto revolves around one question. Will the cherry blossoms open before you leave? The first sakura buds typically appear around March 25-28 along the Kamogawa and at…
- April
- High
- 20°C
- Low
- 9°C
- Rain
- 156 mm
April in Kyoto is cherry blossom season, and it is the single most popular month to visit the city. Full stop. Somei Yoshino trees along the Kamo River, through Maruyama Park, and…
- May
- High
- 23°C
- Low
- 13°C
- Rain
- 223 mm
May in Kyoto opens with Golden Week, Japan's longest public holiday stretch from April 29 through May 5 or 6. That first week transforms the city. Kiyomizu-dera, Fushimi Inari, and…
- June
- High
- 27°C
- Low
- 18°C
- Rain
- 247 mm
June in Kyoto means one thing above all else. Tsuyu, the rainy season. The city receives roughly 247mm of rainfall spread across 13 days, humidity hovers around 79%, and overcast…
- July
- High
- 32°C
- Low
- 23°C
- Rain
- 231 mm
July in Kyoto belongs to Gion Matsuri. The festival runs the entire month, and the float processions on July 17 and July 24 rank among the three great festivals in Japan. That…
- August
- High
- 33°C
- Low
- 24°C
- Rain
- 213 mm
August in Kyoto is, honestly, a test of endurance. Daytime highs average 33°C (91°F) and humidity tends to sit around 77%, but the real problem is geography. Kyoto occupies a basin…
- September
- High
- 29°C
- Low
- 21°C
- Rain
- 162 mm
September in Kyoto is a calculated risk. The worst of summer's heat has broken, with daytime highs dropping from August's 33°C (91°F) to around 29°C (85°F), but humidity still sits…
- October
- High
- 23°C
- Low
- 14°C
- Rain
- 118 mm
October might be Kyoto's best-kept timing. November hogs the attention for peak maple season, but October offers 22.6°C (73°F) afternoons, a sharp drop from the 33°C steambox of…
- November
- High
- 17°C
- Low
- 7°C
- Rain
- 86 mm
November is peak koyo season in Kyoto, and if you only visit this city once, this might be the month to do it. The 2,000-plus temples and shrines sit inside a basin ringed by…
- December
- High
- 11°C
- Low
- 1°C
- Rain
- 50 mm
December in Kyoto is cold. Not bitterly so, but the kind of damp chill that settles into your bones by mid-afternoon and refuses to leave. Daytime temperatures hover around 10.6°C…