Tokyo in November (2026): Weather, Autumn Leaves, Prices & Best Things to Do

⭐ Best November window: Monday, November 23 to Thursday, November 26, or Sunday, November 29 to Monday, November 30. Those Sunday to Thursday nights had the lowest median hotel rates of the month in our sample, $164 to $229, and they line up with the forecast peak for the city's ginkgo trees around November 26.

💰 November 2026 hotel prices (central Tokyo, 3 to 5 stars, in US dollars):
Sunday to Thursday nights: ~$164–276/night · Friday nights: ~$248–299/night · Saturday nights: ~$337–354/night, and ~$497 on November 21
Each range runs from the lowest to the highest daily median in that group of nights. The daily median is the middle rate, each night, of the 229 hotels in Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ginza and Tokyo Station, Asakusa, Ueno and Roppongi and Akasaka that quoted on at least 90% of the nights from November 4 to December 1, 2026 (two adults, one night, before taxes, pulled November 3, 2026). The one Sunday above the range is November 22, $318, the night before the Labor Thanksgiving Day holiday. Individual hotels range far wider.

Planning Tokyo for November 2026? It is the month the city's long, wet autumn gives way to clear, dry winter weather. The long-term normals give Tokyo 96.3 mm of rain on about 7 days, afternoons of 16.7°C (62°F) and nights of 8.8°C (48°F), and the sun sets at about 4:30 pm. The weather figures on this page are climate normals; the hotel prices, tour schedules and event dates are for November 2026 specifically.

What changes most over the month is colour. The trees in the city turn late: the ginkgo avenues are forecast to peak around November 26, while the mountains around Mt Fuji, Hakone and Nikko change weeks earlier. November is also one of the more expensive months to stay, because autumn is a busy domestic travel season, and the price you pay depends heavily on which nights you choose.

In our view, November is one of the most comfortable months to see Tokyo on foot, and the best of the autumn for day trips to Mt Fuji. We'd lean toward the second half of the month if the leaves are the point of your trip, and toward Sunday to Thursday nights if the budget is.

• Best dates: Sunday to Thursday nights from November 23 to 30, for the lowest hotel rates and the forecast ginkgo peak.
• Avoid if possible: the Saturday of the holiday weekend, November 21, and any Fuji or Hakone day trip that weekend, when traffic out of Tokyo can cut stops short.
• Best for: walkers, cyclists, photographers and anyone combining Tokyo with a day at Mt Fuji.

Temperature, rainfall, rain-day and sunshine figures are the World Meteorological Organization's 1991 to 2020 climate normals for the Japan Meteorological Agency's Tokyo station (WMO 47662), published by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information. Humidity and cloud cover are the Japan Meteorological Agency's own normals for the same station.

Temperature

Afternoons average 16.7°C (62°F) and nights 8.8°C (48°F), more than 5°C cooler than October and about 5°C warmer than December. Early November can still feel like a mild autumn, with highs near 20°C on sunny days, while by the end of the month mornings are cold enough for a coat. Most guests find that a light down jacket or a warm layer over a sweater covers both ends of the month.

Rain Pattern

November is the step down from Tokyo's wettest stretch: 96.3 mm on about 7 days with at least 1 mm, against 234.8 mm on about 11 days in October and 57.9 mm on 5 days in December. Rain tends to arrive with passing weather fronts, often as a grey day or two followed by clear, cool weather, rather than the downpours of summer. Humidity falls to about 64%, from 71% in October.

Sky, Daylight and Mt Fuji

The biggest difference for a visitor is the sky. Tokyo averages about 150 hours of sunshine in November against 129 in October, and the Japan Meteorological Agency's average cloud cover falls from 7.1 tenths to 5.9, then to 4.7 in December. That is why Mt Fuji, about 100 km away, appears more often from the city's observation decks and on day trips as the month goes on. The days are short: sunrise moves from about 6:02 am to 6:30 am, and sunset from 4:46 pm to 4:27 pm, so plan outdoor sightseeing for the morning and early afternoon.

We priced the 3- to 5-star hotels with at least 200 reviews in Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ginza and Tokyo Station, Asakusa, Ueno and Roppongi and Akasaka for every night from November 4 to December 1, 2026, and kept the 229 that quoted on at least 90% of those nights. Each range below runs from the lowest to the highest daily median in that stretch, the daily median being the middle rate of those hotels on a given night. All prices are in US dollars for two adults, before taxes.

• November 4 to 8: $210 to $257 on the weeknights and Sunday, and $354 on Saturday, November 7. These dates were only days away when we priced them, which can move rates either way.
• November 9 to 15: $210 to $286 from Sunday to Friday, rising through the week, and $354 on Saturday, November 14. Sunday, November 15 is Shichi-Go-San, a busy day at the big shrines but not a pricier night.
• November 16 to 22: $238 to $299 from Monday to Friday, then the month's dearest stretch: $497 on Saturday, November 21 and $318 on Sunday, November 22, the holiday weekend. About a quarter of the hotels returned no rate at all for the Saturday when we checked.
• November 23 to 26: $196 to $229. Monday, November 23, Labor Thanksgiving Day, was one of the cheapest nights of the month, as holiday travellers head home.
• November 27 to 30: $248 on Friday, $337 on Saturday, then the lowest medians of the month: $190 on Sunday, November 29 and $164 on Monday, November 30.

Most people don't realize how far the weekday matters in Tokyo: across the month, the typical Friday or Saturday median was $318, against $227 for the other nights. Hotel by hotel, November was one of the dearer times we priced. A hotel's quote for Friday, January 15, 2027 was a median 42% below its own November average, and its quote for Thursday, July 15, 2027 about 40% below; Wednesday, March 31, 2027, in cherry blossom season, was about level with November. Areas differ too: the median hotel in Asakusa was about $170 a night in November, in Ueno about $181, Shinjuku $228, Roppongi and Akasaka $252, Ginza and Tokyo Station $276 and Shibuya $333.

These are the costs we measured for November 2026, in US dollars. Hotel rates are per room for two adults, before taxes; tour prices are per person.

An example: three Sunday to Thursday nights at the month's typical weeknight median of $227, plus the Mt Fuji day trip and the Shinjuku food tour for two, comes to about $1,160 before other meals, local transport and taxes. Moving the same stay to Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights would add roughly $130 to $250 at the medians we measured. Hotels vary far more than the medians: the cheapest hotel in our showcase quoted about $154 a night for mid-November, and the dearest about $828.

November is autumn-leaf month in Tokyo, but the timing depends on where you look. The colour starts in the mountains and works its way down to the city.

The Tokyo city dates are the 2026 forecast; the others are usual timings, which shift with each year's weather.

In the city: late November

The Japan Meteorological Corporation's 2026 forecast, first published on September 2 and reported by Nippon.com, puts Tokyo's ginkgo trees at their best around November 26 and the maples around November 29. Treat these as forecasts: a warm autumn can push colour back by a week. The best-known sight is the avenue of ginkgo trees at Meiji Jingu Gaien, which usually peaks from late November into early December; we could not find the 2026 dates for the area's ginkgo festival when we checked on November 3. Rikugien, Shinjuku Gyoen and the Imperial Palace East Gardens, where our walking tour goes, are good for maples. Our Tokyo bike tour guide covers a ride that passes Meiji Jingu and the tree-lined avenues of Aoyama Cemetery.

Mt Fuji and Hakone: through November

The trees around the Fuji Five Lakes and Hakone change before the city's. November 2025 guests on our Fuji day-trip pick describe "beautifully colored trees" on the Lake Ashi cruise on November 17 and "great views of the fall foliage" on November 27. The 5th Station road is open in November in most years, though snow can close it on individual days late in the month; the tour then substitutes another stop. Our Mt Fuji tour guide explains what each operator does when that happens.

Nikko: mostly past by November

Nikko's colour comes weeks before Tokyo's. By November, the trees by Lake Chuzenji and Kegon Falls, at about 1,270 metres, are usually past their best, and what remains is lower down around the shrines early in the month. We'd book Nikko for its shrines and waterfall in November, not for the leaves; our Nikko day trip guide covers the autumn timing in more detail.

Risk level: low. November's weather rarely spoils a trip; the bigger risks are crowds, traffic and the short days.

• The holiday weekend: Labor Thanksgiving Day falls on Monday, November 23, 2026, making a three-day weekend. Hotel rates peaked on Saturday, November 21 in our sample, and roads out of Tokyo fill up. Of 62 November 2025 reviews of our Fuji day-trip pick, five mention traffic, and one guest on the 2025 holiday weekend missed the Hakone ropeway because of it.
• Short days: sunset is at about 4:30 pm. Start day trips and outdoor sights early, and save evenings for food, illuminations and observation decks.
• Cold evenings: nights average 8.8°C, and a dinner cruise or an evening walk feels colder on the water. Pack a warm layer.
• Snow at Mt Fuji: the 5th Station sits at about 2,300 metres, where it is close to freezing in November and snow can close the road late in the month.
• Rain: about 7 rainy days in the normals. A grey day is a good day for museums, a food tour or a cooking class.

Alternatives on a wet day: the Shinjuku food walk, which moves between indoor eateries, a museum in Ueno Park, or the observation decks once the cloud lifts. We think the tradeoff is fair: November's rain usually comes and goes within a day or two, and the clear days that follow are the best of the autumn.

November has some of Tokyo's most local festivals and the start of the winter illuminations.

Tori no Ichi: Saturday, November 7 and Thursday, November 19, 2026

Confirmed: the Tori no Ichi fair falls on the days of the rooster in November, which in 2026 are Saturday, November 7 and Thursday, November 19, with no third rooster day this year. The biggest is at Otori Shrine and the neighbouring Chokokuji temple in Asakusa, where stalls sell decorated bamboo rakes, kumade, for good luck in business, and run around the clock. The buying is loud and fun to watch; vendors and buyers clap hands to seal a sale.

Shichi-Go-San: Sunday, November 15, 2026

On Shichi-Go-San, families take children aged three, five and seven to a shrine in kimono to pray for their health. The traditional date is November 15, a Sunday in 2026, and families visit on the weekends around it too. Meiji Jingu is one of the busiest shrines for it. Photograph from a respectful distance and ask before photographing children.

Illuminations

Confirmed: the Keyakizaka illumination at Roppongi Hills runs from Thursday, November 5 to Friday, December 25, 2026, from 5 pm to 10 pm, and the Roppongi Hills Christmas Market from Saturday, November 21 to December 25, 11 am to 9 pm, according to the Roppongi Hills Christmas page. Expected, based on last year: the Marunouchi illumination around Tokyo Station, which ran from November 13, 2025 to February 15, 2026; we could not find the 2026 dates when we checked.

Holidays and sumo

Japan's November public holidays are Culture Day, Tuesday, November 3, and Labor Thanksgiving Day, Monday, November 23. Museums and most sights stay open on both, but they are busier. There is no sumo tournament in Tokyo in November; the November tournament is held in Fukuoka, so the wrestlers are away from their Tokyo stables for most of the month. Our sumo guide covers the 2027 Tokyo tournaments.

Ranked by our own score of how well each activity suits November's conditions, out of 10. Guest ratings out of 5 are quoted separately below.

1. Mt Fuji and Hakone: November's pick

Japan Panoramic Tours' day trip costs $156 per person and runs for about 11 hours, with the 5th Station of Mt Fuji, a ropeway over Hakone, a cruise on Lake Ashi and a bullet train back to Tokyo Station. It leaves from Ginza on weekdays and from Shinjuku every day, and had departures on every November date from the 4th except the 21st when we checked. Guests rate it 4.8 out of 5 across 33,277 reviews; its 62 reviews from November 2025 average 4.55, and many describe clear views of the mountain. We'd book this for a weekday in the second or third week: the sky is clearer than in October, the trees around the lakes are turning, and the holiday weekend's traffic is the one thing most likely to spoil the day. Our Mt Fuji tour guide compares ten options.

2. The autumn-leaf gardens

The ginkgo avenue at Meiji Jingu Gaien is the city's most photographed autumn sight, at its best late in the month; go early in the morning to beat the crowds. Rikugien, a classic Edo-period stroll garden in Komagome, is known for its maples, and Shinjuku Gyoen, a short walk from Shinjuku, has ginkgo, maples and a greenhouse for a cold day.

3 and 5. On foot and by bike

The small-group bike tour costs $104 for a 6-hour, 27 km ride in groups of no more than five, from Hatsudai past Meiji Jingu, Aoyama Cemetery, Zojo-ji and Ginza; lunch is at your own expense. The Imperial Palace East Gardens walk costs $13 for two hours on the grounds of the old Edo Castle, at 9:30 am, 11:00 am, 12:30 pm and 2:00 pm; it had 18 November dates from the 4th when we checked. We like both for November because the weather is at its most comfortable for being outside all day. See our bike tour, walking tour and Asakusa walking tour guides.

4 and 6. Evenings: food and the bay

The Shinjuku food tour costs $82 for 13 dishes at four eateries, with two drinks, in groups of up to 12; it starts as late as 8 pm and runs every day. Orange Tour's yakatabune cruise costs from $100 with a sukiyaki dinner and soft drinks, and its 4:50 pm sailing leaves just after sunset in November, so you see the city light up from the water. See our Tokyo food tours and Tokyo Bay dinner cruise guides.

7. Illuminations and the view from above

The Roppongi Hills illumination is lit from 5 pm, and the clearer November air gives the best chance of seeing Mt Fuji at sunset from Shibuya Sky or the free observation decks of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Nishi-Shinjuku. On a grey day, swap the view for the Tokyo National Museum and the other museums around Ueno Park.

8. Nikko

The Nikko day trip costs $109 and leaves Ginza at 7:00 am or 9:00 am. In November it is a trip for Toshogu's shrines and Kegon Falls rather than the leaves, which have usually passed at the lake; see our Nikko day trip guide and, for a shrine closer to the city, our Meiji Shrine guide.

• Price Sunday to Thursday nights first. The median Saturday night was $337 to $354 in our sample, and $497 on November 21; most weeknights were $164 to $276.
• Book day trips for a weekday. Traffic out of Tokyo is worst on weekends and the November 21 to 23 holiday weekend.
• Come late in the month for the leaves. Tokyo's ginkgo are forecast to peak around November 26; early November is still mostly green in the city.
• Do the outdoor sights before 3 pm. The sun sets at about 4:30 pm by mid-month.
• Pack layers. Afternoons reach about 17°C but nights fall to about 9°C, and colder at the Fuji 5th Station.
• Check the Fuji forecast the night before. Clear days are more common in November, but no tour can promise the mountain.
• Visiting at a different time of year? Our Tokyo in December guide covers the Christmas illuminations, the clearest Fuji skies of the year and much lower hotel rates before Christmas, and our Nikko day trip guide covers the earlier autumn colour in the mountains.