When to go · Osaka
Osaka in January
Good month. Cold; quiet after Jan 3.
Key facts
- Verdict
- Good
- Temperature
- 10° / 3°
- average high / low
- Rain days
- 5
- Crowds
- Low
- Japan overall
- Prices
- Low
- Japan overall
Verdict
Cold; quiet after Jan 3.
Weather in January
- OsakaHighs around 10 °C, lows around 3 °C, rain on about 5 days
- Honshū cities, Japan · Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshimacool
Rainy season June to mid-July; humid heat July–August; typhoon risk peaks in September.
Winter season
Illuminations from Umeda to Nakanoshima, fugu season, Tōka Ebisu in January, cheap rooms.
Watch: Closures around 28 Dec–3 Jan.
Festivals and holidays
Dates as our data lists them. Moving holidays (lunar and Islamic calendars, Easter) shift every year: check the date for your year before you build a trip on it.
New Year shrine visits (hatsumōde)
1–3 January · Sumiyoshi Taisha, Osaka Tenmangū, every shrine
Sumiyoshi Taisha draws some of the largest crowds in Kansai; one-way routes from the station. The castle keep, museums and many restaurants close around 28 Dec–3 Jan.
Tōka Ebisu
9–11 January · Imamiya Ebisu Shrine, near Namba
About a million visitors buy lucky bamboo branches for business; lanes packed day and night.
Doya Doya check
14 January · Shitennō-ji
Young men in loincloths scramble for paper talismans; short, crowded, free to watch.
New Year
Dec 31–Jan 3
Shrine crowds; some restaurants closed; transport runs late on New Year's Eve.
Crowds and prices
- Crowds · Japan overall
- Low
- Prices · Japan overall
- Low
Japan overall: Cold, dry and clear in the cities after 3 Jan; ski season in Hokkaidō and the Alps.
What to pack
- A warm coat, hat and gloves for mornings and evenings
- Layers: a fleece or light jacket