Japan’s rainy season, tsuyu (梅雨, the plum rains), is a six-week stretch of humid, cloudy weather with frequent rain that moves north through the country from May to July. On average it runs from 10 May to 21 June in Okinawa, from about 6 June to 19 July in Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka and Fukuoka, and from mid June to late July in northern Tohoku. Hokkaido has no rainy season.
It is not the monsoon of South Asia and it does not rain every day: Tokyo records rain on 39% of June days, about twelve, and many of those are light. But the sunny-day share drops to its lowest of the year (27% in Tokyo, 25% in Chiba), the humidity climbs above 75%, and in Kyushu the rain can be very heavy. This guide gives the dates for every region, the numbers city by city, what the season is really like, and how to plan a trip through it.
- Okinawa: 10 May to 21 June
- Kyushu (Fukuoka, Nagasaki): 4 June to 19 July
- Kansai (Osaka, Kyoto), Tokai (Nagoya) and Kanto (Tokyo): 6 to 7 June to 19 July
- Hokuriku (Kanazawa): 11 June to 23 July; northern Tohoku (Aomori): 15 June to 28 July
- Hokkaido: none
- Tokyo in June: rain on 39% of days, sunny 27%, high 26°C, humidity 75 to 80%
Rainy season start and end dates by region (1991 to 2020 averages)
| Region | Main cities | Average start | Average end | June rain days | June rainfall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Okinawa | Naha, Ishigaki | 10 May | 21 June | 38% | 284mm |
| Southern Kyushu | Kagoshima, Miyazaki | 30 May | 15 July | 43% | 450mm plus |
| Northern Kyushu | Fukuoka, Nagasaki | 4 June | 19 July | 39% (Nagasaki 43%) | 250 to 336mm |
| Shikoku and Chugoku | Hiroshima, Takamatsu | 6 June | 19 July | 37% | 227mm |
| Kansai | Osaka, Kyoto, Nara | 6 June | 19 July | 38% / 39% | 185 to 200mm |
| Tokai | Nagoya | 6 June | 19 July | 40% | 187mm |
| Kanto | Tokyo, Yokohama, Chiba | 7 June | 19 July | 39% | 168mm |
| Hokuriku | Kanazawa, Niigata | 11 June | 23 July | 35% | 170mm |
| Southern Tohoku | Sendai | 12 June | 24 July | 35% | 144mm |
| Northern Tohoku | Aomori, Morioka | 15 June | 28 July | 35% | 120mm |
| Hokkaido | Sapporo | none | none | 25% | 60mm |
The dates shift by a week or two each year. The Japan Meteorological Agency announces the start and end for each region as they happen (or a few days after), and years with a late end (2019, 2020: 1 August in Kanto) tend to produce flooding in western Japan.
Check the rain odds for your dates in any city (58 years of records)
Choose the city and dates of your trip. The tool counts how often it rained, how often it was sunny and how hot it was on those dates every year since 1968.
What the rainy season is actually like
A front, not a monsoon. The rainy-season front (baiu zensen) forms where warm, humid air from the Pacific high meets cooler air from the Okhotsk high to the north-east. It stretches from China across Japan and drifts north and south by a few hundred kilometres day to day. When it sits over you, the sky is grey and it drizzles or rains; when it slips south, you get a cool, cloudy day; when it slips north, a hot, humid, sometimes sunny one. Weeks alternate between wet and dry spells in a way that is hard to forecast more than a few days ahead.
Heavier in the south and west. South of the front, warm moist air is fed straight in from the East China Sea, and Kyushu regularly gets rainfall of 100mm or more in a day in late June and early July; the deadly floods of July 2018 (western Japan) and July 2020 (Kumamoto) were rainy-season events. North of the front, in Tokyo and Sendai, the rain is more often light and persistent with cooler temperatures.
Humid, not yet hot. Tokyo’s June high of 26°C is five degrees below August’s, and 30°C is reached on only 11% of June days, but the humidity of 75 to 80% makes it feel warmer and everything damp. Japanese homes run dehumidifiers and the shops sell anti-mould products by the aisle. The last week of the season, in mid July, is usually the wettest and most oppressive, and its end is followed within days by full summer heat.
Rainy season by city: sunshine, rain and heat in June
| City | June high / low | Rain days | Sunny days | June rainfall | 30°C days | Humidity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sapporo | 22 / 13°C | 25% | 43% | 60mm | 2% | 72% |
| Sendai | 23 / 16°C | 35% | 30% | 144mm | 3% | 80% |
| Kanazawa | 26 / 18°C | 35% | 36% | 170mm | 9% | 76% |
| Tokyo | 26 / 18°C | 39% | 27% | 168mm | 11% | 76% |
| Chiba (Tokyo Disney Resort) | 26 / 19°C | 37% | 25% | 151mm | 6% | 80% |
| Nagoya | 28 / 19°C | 40% | 32% | 187mm | 19% | 73% |
| Kyoto | 28 / 19°C | 39% | 29% | 200mm | 29% | 71% |
| Osaka | 28 / 20°C | 38% | 31% | 185mm | 22% | 71% |
| Hiroshima | 27 / 20°C | 37% | 35% | 227mm | 10% | 74% |
| Fukuoka | 27 / 20°C | 39% | 32% | 250mm | 14% | 76% |
| Nagasaki | 26 / 20°C | 43% | 31% | 336mm | 7% | 81% |
| Naha (Okinawa) | 30 / 25°C | 38% | 42% | 284mm | 48% | 80% |
Two things stand out: Sapporo’s 43% sunny days (the best in the country in June) and the 300mm plus totals in Nagasaki and Fukuoka. If your June trip is flexible, spend it in Hokkaido; if it is fixed in Kyushu, keep an eye on heavy-rain warnings.
Travelling in the rainy season: what works
- Go to Hokkaido: no rainy season, 22°C, lavender starting in late June. Or Okinawa after 21 June, when its season has ended and the sea is 28°C.
- Plan indoor-heavy days: museums, department stores, aquariums, onsen, covered arcades (Osaka and Kyoto are full of them), and treat dry spells as bonuses for gardens and temples.
- Pack for damp: a compact umbrella, quick-dry clothes, a second pair of shoes, a small towel. A light layer for over-cooled trains and shops.
- Enjoy what the season is for: hydrangeas (Kamakura’s Meigetsu-in, Kyoto’s Mimurotoji and Yoshimine-dera), moss gardens at their greenest (Saiho-ji, Sanzen-in), fireflies in early June, and the year’s lowest hotel rates in Kyoto.
- Watch the warnings in Kyushu and Shikoku: the Japan Meteorological Agency issues heavy rain warnings and, for the worst events, emergency warnings; trains and expressways are suspended pre-emptively. Our typhoon tracker page links to the live warning map.
After the rainy season: the sudden switch to summer
The end of the rainy season is announced when the front dissolves or is pushed north of Japan by the Pacific high. Within a few days the sky turns hazy blue, the temperature climbs five degrees and the heatstroke warnings begin: the first week after the end is the most dangerous of the summer because bodies are not yet acclimatised. From that point the weather story is heat and, from August, typhoons. See Japan weather in July, how hot is Japan in summer and the typhoon season guide.
Compare June and July in any two cities
The rainy season is the hardest part of the Japanese year to forecast a week out, because the front’s position on any given day depends on the tug-of-war between two high-pressure systems. What forecasters can say reliably is the pattern: the second half of the season is wetter and more oppressive than the first, and the last week before the end is often the wettest of all.
Frequently asked questions
When is the rainy season in Japan?
Roughly early June to mid July on the main islands (Tokyo 7 June to 19 July on average), mid May to late June in Okinawa, and mid June to late July in northern Tohoku. Hokkaido has none.
Does it rain every day in the rainy season?
No. Tokyo averages rain on 39% of June days, and much of it is light. Wet and dry spells alternate as the front moves; some days are sunny and hot.
Is the rainy season a bad time to visit Japan?
It is the least popular season, so it is cheap and uncrowded, and hydrangeas and moss gardens are at their best. If sunshine matters most, choose Hokkaido or go after 20 July.
Is the rainy season the same as typhoon season?
No. The rainy season is a stationary front in June and July; typhoon season peaks in August and September. They overlap only briefly, though a typhoon can intensify the front’s rain in early July.
What is tsuyu?
The Japanese word for the rainy season, written 梅雨 (plum rain) because it coincides with the ripening of plums. The Japan Meteorological Agency announces its start and end for each region every year.
- Early June to about 19 July on the main islands; 10 May to 21 June in Okinawa; none in Hokkaido
- Tokyo in June: rain on 39% of days, sunny 27%, humid but only 26°C
- Heaviest in Kyushu (250 to 336mm); lightest in Tokyo and Tohoku
- Best strategy: Hokkaido, indoor-heavy days, hydrangeas and low prices; keep an eye on heavy-rain warnings in the west
Sources: Japan Meteorological Agency climatological normals (1991 to 2020) for temperatures, precipitation and sunshine; JMA daily observations 1968 to 2025 (58 years) compiled by this site for the share of sunny, rainy, snowy, hot and cold days. Written by a certified Japanese weather forecaster (気象予報士). Percentages are the share of days in the month; a 30 percent rain-day figure means roughly 9 days a month. Rainy season dates: JMA 1991 to 2020 normals of onset and end.