Join the First Shrine Crowds of the New Year
You step off the train into a stream of people moving with quiet purpose, many in dark coats, some in kimono, all heading the same way. It is the first days of January, and Tokyo is observing hatsumode — the first shrine visit of the year. The practice peaks from January 1 to 3, and Meiji Jingu in Tokyo draws roughly three million visitors across those first three days. Expect long, orderly queues, the crackle of coins tossed into the offering box, and the smell of charcoal and grilled snacks from the stalls lining the approach. If you would rather avoid the crush, shrines welcome first visits throughout January, and the queues thin noticeably after January 3.
A few practical notes for these days: many restaurants and museums stay closed from January 1 to 3, so plan your meals around what remains open. Department stores, by contrast, reopen with fukubukuro — lucky-bag sales — on January 1 and 2, which is a spectacle in its own right if you enjoy watching a city shop with intent.
Watch Fifteen Days of Grand Sumo at Ryogoku
From January 10 to 24, 2027, the Grand Sumo Hatsu Basho takes over Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo for fifteen consecutive days, running Sunday to Sunday. This is the first tournament of the year and the one that sets the tone for the season. Tickets are required, advance sales open around five weeks ahead, and weekends and the final days sell out first — so if you want to be there for the closing bouts, book the moment sales open.
- Top-division bouts finish by around 18:00.
- Arrive between 14:00 and 15:00 to catch the day's most significant matches without sitting through the entire programme.
- The venue is Ryogoku Kokugikan, in the Ryogoku district of Tokyo.
Spend a Day Among Custom Cars at Makuhari
If your January 3 holiday stretches into a longer Tokyo stay, the Tokyo Auto Salon runs January 15 to 17, 2027, at Makuhari, drawing roughly 300,000 attendees to a show built around custom cars. It is a loud, densely packed counterpoint to the shrine visits of the first week — a very different face of the same city, and an easy day trip out to the Makuhari area.
Eat, Drink and Warm Up in the Winter City
Tokyo in January generally offers clear, dry winter skies, which makes walking between shrines, markets and stations far more pleasant than the summer months. Build your days around warm, substantial food: the stalls around major shrines during hatsumode sell grilled snacks and hot drinks, and the department-store food halls — depachika — are a reliable option once stores reopen after January 3. Note that many restaurants close from January 1 to 3, so check before you set out on those first days.
If you want to push further afield, the Atami Plum Garden Festival opens in early January at Atami Bairin, home to Japan's earliest-blooming plum grove, with taiko drumming and geisha dances as part of the programme. It is a manageable trip from Tokyo and a way to see the season turn while the rest of the country is still in deep winter.
Plan Around the Calendar — and Book Early
January 3 falls inside the hatsumode peak, so the first thing to decide is whether you want to be in the crowd or just after it. If you want the full experience, plan your shrine visit for January 1 to 3; if you prefer shorter queues, come later in the month, when shrines still welcome first visits but with far less pressure. Around that, the sumo tournament (January 10–24), the Tokyo Auto Salon (January 15–17), and the Kobe Luminarie (January 29 – February 7, with light arches viewable free from surrounding streets and paid zones at Meriken Park) give you a spine of dated events to build an itinerary on.
Winter is peak season in Japan's north, so if you intend to combine Tokyo with the snow-country festivals — the Nozawa Onsen Dosojin Fire Festival on January 15, the Sounkyo Ice Waterfall Festival from January 23 to March 7, or the Lake Shikotsu Ice Festival from January 30 to February 23 — book transport and lodging early. Nozawa accommodation fills quickly, and Iiyama or Nagano city work as alternative bases. Dates for all of these are subject to official confirmation, so verify before you commit. Start with your flights and your sumo tickets, and the rest of January will arrange itself around them.