Autumn Foliage Forecast 2026
First-call peak dates for 14 city hubs — maple and ginkgo from Japan Meteorological Corporation, 2 September 2026. Tokyo maple around 29 November; Kyoto city around 11 December. How the season moves, and how to plan around these dates, is in the guide.
First 2026 call is in. JMC issued city maple and ginkgo dates on 2 September; Weathernews published a matching nationwide “late or slightly late” outlook on 3 September. JWA / tenki.jp has said its table arrives in late September. JMC revises again in early October. These are city specimen-tree dates, not temple-garden appointments.
This page holds the dates. For how the front moves, Silver Week, and how to structure the trip, read the 2026 autumn foliage guide.
Peak viewing map
Click a city marker for the 2026 maple and ginkgo first-call plus the recent record. Marker colours follow the 2026 maple date (red = earlier, yellow = later). Sequencing, altitude, and why a city date is not a temple date are in the 2026 kōyō guide.
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How to use this table
What the 2026 column is
- Maple first, ginkgo underneath. Yellow usually peaks a week or more before red in the same city.
- City hubs, not famous spots. Oku-Nikkō, Takao, and Arashiyama turn on their own clocks, usually earlier than the city row.
- First call, not final. Compare your booked weeks against the early-October revision before you lock the middle of the trip.
- Sapporo +10 and Nagano +9 are the stand-out delays; Tokyo and Osaka sit on their averages.
What belongs in the guide
- How the colour travels south and downhill over three months
- Silver Week (19–23 September) and alpine access rules
- October in Tōhoku and the Alps versus November in the cities
- Typhoons, night illuminations, and how to keep a day spare
- Open the 2026 kōyō guide
Forecast questions
When is peak autumn foliage in Tokyo in 2026?
- Japan Meteorological Corporation’s first call, issued 2 September 2026, puts Tokyo maple around 29 November and ginkgo around 26 November — both near the long-term average. Treat that as a window, not an appointment; the next revision is due in early October.
When is peak autumn foliage in Kyoto in 2026?
- The first JMC maple call for Kyoto city is around 11 December, six days later than the average. That is a lowland specimen-tree date. Northwestern districts such as Takao turn earlier, which is why a late-November Kyoto trip can still work if you go uphill. City-by-city dates are in the table on this page; how to sequence them is in the 2026 kōyō guide.
Does the Japan Meteorological Agency publish these foliage dates?
- No. JMA forecasts weather and records when maple and ginkgo actually coloured. It does not publish a national peak-foliage forecast. The 2026 dates on this page come from Japan Meteorological Corporation’s first call. Weathernews issued a matching nationwide “late or slightly late” outlook on 3 September. The Japan Weather Association (tenki.jp) has said its 2026 table arrives in late September.
Will the 2026 peak dates change?
- Yes. Autumn colour depends on temperatures in the weeks immediately before the leaves turn, so first-call dates move. JMC has said the next release is early October, with further revisions into November. Once you are inside the season, live condition reports from the specific spot matter more than the city table.
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