When to go · Tokyo
Tokyo in May
Great month. Avoid Golden Week.
Key facts
- Verdict
- Great
- Temperature
- 24°C (75°F)75°F (24°C) / 15°C (59°F)59°F (15°C)
- average high / low
- Rain days
- 11
- Crowds
- Medium
- Japan overall
- Prices
- Medium
- Japan overall
Verdict
Avoid Golden Week.
All twelve months in one grid — weather, crowds and prices, with gaps left as unknown.
Is another month better than May?
No other month rates higher than May for Tokyo in this guide.
Weather in May
- TokyoHighs around 24 °C (75 °F), lows around 15 °C (59 °F), rain on about 11 daysHighs around 75 °F (24 °C), lows around 59 °F (15 °C), rain on about 11 days
- Honshū cities, Japan · Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshimabest weather
Rainy season June to mid-July; humid heat July–August; typhoon risk peaks in September.
Spring season
Plum blossom in February, cherry blossom late March to early April (Ueno, Chidorigafuchi, Meguro River), azaleas and iris after.
Watch: Golden Week (late Apr–early May): full trains and hotels.
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.
Grand Sumo tournaments check
15 days, starting the second Sunday of the month · Ryōgoku Kokugikan
Tickets sell out on release weekends; same-day unreserved seats in small numbers (check).
Golden Week
About 29 April – 5 May · Nationwide
Japan's biggest holiday week: Shinkansen and day-trip trains full, Tokyo itself a little calmer. Book onward travel early.
Sanja Matsuri
Third weekend of May · Asakusa, around Sensō-ji
Portable shrines carried through the streets for three days; Asakusa is packed and slow.
Kanda Matsuri check
Mid-May, main parade in odd-numbered years · Kanda Myōjin, Akihabara, Nihonbashi
Processions through central streets; roads closed around Kanda.
Crowds and prices
- Crowds · Japan overall
- Medium
- Prices · Japan overall
- Medium
Japan overall: After Golden Week, one of the best months: warm, green, calmer.
Compare two months
Weather, crowds and prices for any two months in Tokyo, side by side.
Verdict
May: Great
Oct: Great
Daytime high
May: 24 °C (75 °F)75 °F (24 °C)
Oct: 22 °C (72 °F)72 °F (22 °C)
Night low
May: 15 °C (59 °F)59 °F (15 °C)
Oct: 15 °C (59 °F)59 °F (15 °C)
Rain days
May: 11
Oct: 10 (better)
Crowds
May: Medium
Oct: Medium
Prices
May: Medium
Oct: Medium
Festivals listed
May: 4
Oct: 3
May: Avoid Golden Week.
October: Good walking weather.
Tokyo: figures are long-term averages from this guide, not a forecast.
What to pack
- A rain jacket or umbrella and shoes that dry fast