Source: Wikimedia Commons · Ccgxk, CC0
Japan's year turns on three days of shrine queues and a week of closed doors. The closures start on 26 December, the Nozomi loses its free-seat cars on Christmas Day, and Tokyo's first sunrise of 2027 is at 06:50.
1The 2026-27 dates that decide the trip
Japan doesn't stop for New Year. It closes in an order, and the order is published: the rail and airport notices land in December, the shrines post their hours a few weeks before the crush, and the shops set their January days in the last week of the year.
| Date | What it changes |
|---|---|
| 25 December 2026 | The Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen's Nozomi goes all-reserved, and stays that way to 5 January |
| 26–31 December 2026 | The big museums close. Tokyo National Museum shuts after 25 December |
| 29 December–3 January | Public offices close for the block the law fixes |
| 31 December | Omisoka. Trains run a normal timetable until the operators publish their New Year's Eve notices in early December |
| 1 January 2027 (Friday) | The only national holiday in the run, and hatsumode at its heaviest |
| 11 January 2027 (Monday) | Coming of Age Day, the next long weekend, and the second travel peak |
Book what you can before the closures land. A seat on a 2 January train is sold from 2 December, the arrival paperwork clears before you fly, and a hotel in the peak week is cheapest the further it sits from the middle of the holiday.
2The Nozomi all-reserved window, 25 December to 5 January
JR Central pulls the free-seat cars out of the Nozomi for the whole New Year period: from 25 December 2026 to 5 January 2027 the train runs all-reserved, and cars 1 and 2 are sold as ordinary reserved seats instead.
The rest of the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen is unchanged. Hikari, Kodama, Mizuho, Sakura and Tsubame keep their free-seat cars through the same dates, so a traveller who has left it late can still ride by changing train type rather than paying for a green car.
Reserved seats open at 10:00 exactly one month before the travel date, which puts 2 January 2027 on sale at 10:00 on 2 December 2026. SmartEX and Express booking reach a year ahead of the date with conditions attached, so seats exist to be taken well before the one-month line.
Keep reading Is the JR Pass worth it in 2026?
3What shuts, and when
The museums give the clearest picture of the week. Tokyo National Museum closes on 26 December, stays shut to the end of the year, then opens on 1 January 2027 from noon until 20:00 — the one afternoon of the holiday when a museum is a good idea while everything else is shut.
Public offices close from 29 December to 3 January, the block fixed by the law on holidays for administrative organs, and the private sector follows it closely enough that the first working week of the year is the quietest time to be in a city.
Shops and restaurants set their own days, so a page written in October can be wrong by 30 December. Check the venue's own page in the last week of December, and treat any restaurant booking made for 1–3 January as something to confirm by phone.
4Hatsumode at the three shrines worth the queue
Hatsumode is the first shrine visit of the year, made in the first three days, and for a lot of Japanese families it's the only shrine visit they make. The big shrines count visitors in millions over those three days; the small ones hand out the same amulets with no queue at all.
Source: Wikimedia Commons · Yoshikazu Takada, CC BY 2.0
Meiji Jingu in Tokyo and Fushimi Inari in Kyoto take the heaviest crowds, and Asakusa's Senso-ji carries the temple version of the same ritual.
Meiji Jingu 明治神宮
- Address
- 1-1 Yoyogi Kamizono-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-8557 · Map
- Phone
- +81 3-3379-5511
- Hours
- Sunrise to sunset, moved month by month: October 05:40–16:40, November 06:10–16:10
- Closed
- None — the grounds open every day
- Website
- meijijingu.or.jp
The gates at Meiji Jingu open with the sunrise and shut with it — November runs 06:10 to 16:10 — so it's not a shrine you can walk into at three in the morning on an ordinary day. Its own calendar lists the 元旦祭 in the early hours of 1 January and the 月次祭 on the 1st and 15th of every month, and the hatsumode hours for 2026-27 go up on the shrine's notice page in December.
Senso-ji 浅草寺
- Address
- 2-3-1 Asakusa, Taito-ku, Tokyo 111-0032 · Map
- Phone
- +81 3-3842-0181
- Hours
- Main hall 06:00–17:00, from 06:30 between October and March
- Closed
- None — the precinct is open every day
- Website
- senso-ji.jp
Senso-ji's main hall opens at 06:00 the rest of the year and at 06:30 in winter, and its annual-events list keeps 除夜の鐘, the bell rung through New Year's Eve, and the 新年大祈禱会 in the first days of January.
Source: Pexels
5Fushimi Inari's published New Year timetable
Kyoto's busiest shrine publishes a timetable rather than one opening time, because the first five days are run hour by hour. The table below is the version it published for 1–5 January 2026, and it was still the one on the site on 18 October 2026; the 令和9年 replacement lands in December.
| Day | Prayers (御祈祷) | Amulets (授与所) | 御朱印 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 December | 08:30–14:30 | From 08:00 | 08:30–16:30 |
| 1 January | 00:00–17:30 (05:00–07:00 closed for a ceremony) | 06:30–21:00 | 07:00–18:00 |
| 2 January | 07:30–17:30 | 06:30–21:00 | 08:00–17:30 |
| 3 January | 07:30–17:30 | 06:30–21:00 | 08:00–17:30 |
| 4 January | 08:30–16:30 | 07:30–19:30 | 08:30–17:00 |
| 5 January | 08:30–16:30 (11:00–13:00 closed) | 07:30–19:30 | 08:30–17:00 |
The same notice covers the practical half of the visit. Stalls stand from 31 December to 5 January; the precinct car park closes from 30 December to 6 January, and coaches use the third car park on 1–5 January; 御朱印 are written slips only, so nothing gets written into a book you have carried since Kyoto Station. The 授与所 extension to 21:00 runs across the first three days, which makes 1 January the longest window of the week. The shrine also asks visitors to check that trains are running before setting out.
Keep reading Where to stay in Kyoto: the station, Gion or a machiya?
If the shrine is the only fixed point in the Kyoto days, the rest of them are worth an order rather than a list: Kyoto in four days puts Fushimi Inari on the morning that has the least traffic against it.
6The first sunrise of 2027
Tokyo's first sunrise is at 06:50 on 1 January 2027, and 06:51 the next morning, according to the National Astronomical Observatory's tables for the city's coordinates.
That's early enough that the practical question is the night before. The 1 January trains run on a holiday timetable, so the first departure of the day is later than a week-day commuter would expect; on the coast and at the mountain viewpoints, the people at the front arrived on a 31 December train and stood there in the cold.
In central Tokyo the sunrise crowds are smaller than the shrine crowds, and short. Meiji Jingu, Asakusa and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building observation deck fill from about 06:00, and the trams and trains are quiet again by 08:00.
7Narita in the 2026-27 New Year peak
Narita Airport estimates its own New Year traffic every December, and the shape of the last one is the one to plan around. For 26 December 2025 to 4 January 2026 it expected 956,100 international passengers and 230,500 domestic, with the international outbound peak on 28 December and the inbound peak on 4 January — both Sundays.
The outbound peak day carried 54,100 international departures, the inbound peak 48,700 arrivals. The airport's own advice for that period: use public transport, and arrive well in advance. Immigration, baggage claim and the airport rail platforms all take longer on those two days than the rest of the year.
Source: Pexels
The 2026-27 estimate lands around 24 December 2026, and it's published on the airport's own press page rather than a news rewrite. If your flight leaves on the last Sunday of December, the check-in counter is where the hour goes.
8Four nights over New Year in Tokyo
City-centre business hotels in Tokyo run ~¥11,500–14,500 a night over the New Year peak week, room only for two adults in one room.
Those are four of the most expensive nights of the Japanese year outside Golden Week, and the cheap stock in every price tier goes first. The room you can still cancel is worth more than the room you can't when the 2 January train is the one that sells out, and the per-person rate and capacity rules decide what a family of four actually pays.
Keep reading 10 Tokyo hotels a budget traveller can book in 2026, and what the rate hides
Source: Wikimedia Commons · Mr.ちゅらさん, CC0
| For the New Year week | Why before you go | Check tickets |
|---|---|---|
| Tokyo hotel | The peak week, and the cancellable room is the one that keeps the plan alive | Trip.com Klook KKday |
| JR Pass, 7, 14 or 21 days | A New Year trip that crosses three cities is the case the pass was priced for | Trip.com Klook |
| Japan eSIM | Queue tickets, timed-entry museums and a train seat all live on a phone | Trip.com Airalo eSIMania |
9Questions and answers
What's open, what has to be booked, and how early to move on the New Year dates.
Is anything open in Japan on 1 January?
Trains run, the big shrines run their heaviest day of the year, and some museums open in the afternoon — the Tokyo National Museum's doors open at 12:00. Shops and restaurants are the uncertain half: the ones that matter to you will publish their hours in the last week of December.
Do I have to reserve a seat on the shinkansen over New Year?
On the Nozomi, yes, for the whole period from 25 December 2026 to 5 January 2027: it runs all-reserved, so a free-seat ticket gets you on the platform but not into a seat. Hikari, Kodama, Mizuho, Sakura and Tsubame keep their free-seat cars over the same dates.
When do seats go on sale for the New Year trains?
Reserved seats open at 10:00 one month before the travel date, so 2 January 2027 opens on 2 December 2026 and 5 January opens on 5 December. SmartEX and Express booking can reach twelve months ahead with conditions, and the one-month date is the one that matters for the peak days.
What closes over New Year in Japan?
Public offices close from 29 December to 3 January, museums close from around 26 December and reopen in the first days of January, and shops and restaurants decide for themselves. Anything with a ticket desk or a booking line has its own page for the week, so check that rather than a guide.
What time is sunrise in Tokyo on 1 January 2027?
06:50, and 06:51 on 2 January, for the city's coordinates. The first trains run on a holiday timetable, so the practical plan is the last train of 31 December or a bed within walking distance of wherever you want to watch it.
Where do people go for hatsumode in Tokyo?
Meiji Jingu and Senso-ji carry the biggest crowds. Meiji Jingu's gates follow the sun the rest of the year and its 元旦祭 falls in the early hours of 1 January; Senso-ji's main hall opens at 06:00, or 06:30 between October and March, and rings its New Year's Eve bell on 31 December.
How early should I get to Narita over New Year?
Earlier than the airline's minimum, on the airport's own advice: it asks passengers to use public transport and arrive well in advance for the peak period, which last year ran from 26 December to 4 January with 956,100 international passengers, peaking on the last Sunday of December outbound and the first Sunday of January inbound.
Is New Year a good time to visit Japan?
It's the best week of the year for shrines and the worst for shopping, and the trains sell out a month ahead rather than a day. Plan the hatsumode days around the crowds, keep 1–3 January light on bookings that need a shop to be open, and book the train seat in the first week of December.
Keep reading
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Sources
- JR Central — 東海道・山陽新幹線「のぞみ」全席指定席対象期間: the 2026 fiscal-year windows, with 年末年始 from 25 December 2026 to 5 January 2027, free seats kept on Hikari, Kodama, Mizuho, Sakura and Tsubame, and reserved seats sold from 10:00 one month before the travel date (railway.jr-central.co.jp/nozomi/)
- SmartEX (JR Central's own booking service) — 年末年始期間の＜のぞみ全席指定席＞についてのお知らせ: the previous period, 26 December 2025 to 4 January 2026, and the booking rules that carry over (smart-ex.jp)
- Tokyo National Museum — Getting Here, Admission & Hours: hours 09:30–17:00 (to 20:00 Fridays and Saturdays), closed Mondays, closed 26–31 December 2026, open 1 January 2027 12:00–20:00 (tnm.jp)
- Fushimi Inari Taisha — 令和8年正月 御祈祷・授与所・御朱印の開所時間: the per-day table, the stalls from 31 December to 5 January, the precinct car park closed 30 December to 6 January, and 御朱印 as written slips only (inari.jp, page current on 18 October 2026)
- Meiji Jingu — ご参拝の方へ, アクセス and the annual calendar: opening hours set by sunrise and sunset (October 05:40–16:40, November 06:10–16:10), the 元旦祭 on 1 January and the 月次祭 on the 1st and 15th (meijijingu.or.jp)
- Senso-ji — temple hours and the annual-events list: main hall 06:00–17:00, from 06:30 October to March; 除夜の鐘 and 新年大祈禱会 among the year's events (senso-ji.jp)
- National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 暦計算室 — Tokyo (35.6581N, 139.7414E), January 2027: sunrise 06:50 on 1 January, 06:51 on 2 January (eco.mtk.nao.ac.jp/koyomi/)
- Narita International Airport Corporation — Passenger Estimates for the 2025–2026 New Year Holiday Period, 24 December 2025: 26 December 2025 to 4 January 2026, 956,100 international and 230,500 domestic passengers, peak departure 28 December (54,100), peak arrival 4 January (48,700), and the advice to use public transport and arrive early (narita-airport.jp)
- 行政機関の休日に関する法律, article 1 — 29–31 December and 1–3 January are holidays for administrative organs (elaws.e-gov.go.jp)
- Booking.com — Tokyo hotel search results for 2 adults and one room in yen, in the New Year peak week, room only; the figure is per night for the room, not per person