The month of October is a bit of a weird one in Japan. On the one hand, it’s when the sultry heat of the Japanese summer finally subsides and temperatures start to cool. On the other, it’s also too early to see any real autumn color unless you’re willing to head up to Japan’s northern regions. So, like with September, a lot of people simply elect to visit Japan later in November when the fall foliage, or Koyo, is at its peak. Alas, in doing so, they are really missing out. That awkward timing is one reason Japan in October gets overlooked.
Part of the problem is that October tends to get judged by what it isn’t. It isn’t quite summer anymore, but in places like Tokyo and Kyoto, it also doesn’t look much like the autumn that appears on postcards and travel posters. What October offers, however, is some of the most comfortable weather of the year across much of Japan. With the worst of the heat and humidity finally beginning to recede, long days spent walking around outside become a much more reasonable proposition again.
The other mistake is assuming that autumn in Japan begins and ends with fiery red maple leaves. Long before the famous fall foliage reaches the major cities, the seasonal transition is already underway in other forms. Early October can still catch the tail end of the Higanbana season, while fields of Susuki and other autumn flowers begin taking over from the greenery of summer. In other words, the autumn colors are there. They just aren’t always hanging from trees yet.
Of course, those unwilling to wait until November aren’t entirely out of luck on that front either. Autumn works its way through Japan unevenly, arriving earlier in northern regions and at higher elevations. By the middle of October, parts of Hokkaido, Tohoku and the mountains of central Japan can already be well into, or even past, their fall color season, even while much of the country farther south remains stubbornly green. Daisetsuzan in Hokkaido usually leads the country into autumn, with its first seasonal colors appearing around mid-September.
Better still, fall foliage is only one part of what makes October in Japan worth considering. This is also harvest season, meaning autumn foods and festivals begin appearing across the country, while Halloween has grown into a fixture of the month in Japan’s larger cities. There is still some lingering typhoon risk to account for, but don’t let November steal all of autumn’s thunder. Japan in October has more than enough going on to justify a trip of its own.
The Tail End of Higanbana
Known in English as red spider lilies, Higanbana are one of Japan’s clearest signs that summer is finally giving way to autumn. Their name comes from Higan, the Buddhist observance held around the spring and autumn equinoxes, and they have traditionally bloomed around the latter. These days, though, that timing has become less reliable. With Japan’s summers running hotter and longer, the flowers are increasingly blooming later, meaning the opening days of October can still offer a chance to see them.
For all their beauty, Higanbana have some rather grim symbolism attached to them. The poisonous plants were historically grown around rice paddies and graves, helping cement their association with death. In folklore, meanwhile, Higanbana can guide the deceased toward reincarnation or appear along the path when two people meet for the final time. As a result, they have come to symbolize death, separation and passage into the afterlife, associations that still make them a popular bit of visual foreshadowing in anime and manga.
The most famous place to see them is Kinchakuda Manjushage Park in Hidaka City, Saitama Prefecture. Set inside a broad river bend of the Komagawa, the park is home to roughly five million Higanbana that carpet the forest floor in red when they bloom. The flowers usually peak around the autumn equinox, but warmer weather can push the season back. In particularly late years, visitors arriving at the very beginning of October may still find plenty in bloom.
Kinchakuda Manjushage Park is hardly the only option either. Around Anao-ji in Kameoka, Kyoto Prefecture, Higanbana appear between the surrounding rice fields, while Handa City in Aichi Prefecture has about three million planted along the river banks of the Yakachigawa. Farther west, Miyoshi in northern Hiroshima Prefecture is home to several notable colonies, including Tsuji and Mirasaka. The exact timing varies each year, but if September has been especially warm, early October is still worth keeping on your radar.
The Forgotten Side of Autumn Colors
Autumn color in Japan also appears in its grasslands, where the changing season can be just as visible as it is in the trees. Known in English as Japanese silver grass, Susuki begins producing soft plumes in late summer, and those seed heads shift toward gold and russet as the season advances. It belongs to Japan’s traditional group of seven autumn flowers, which has helped secure its place in seasonal imagery. The grass also has a strong link to Tsukimi, when it serves as the standard decoration for harvest-moon viewing.
There is even a Japanese term for the broader phenomenon. Kusa Momiji (lit. “Grass Autumn Leaves”) describes the way marshes and meadows change color much like forests do. Sengokuhara in Hakone is perhaps the best-known example, with Susuki covering an enormous hillside, while Senjogahara inside Nikko National Park offers a wilder version as its highland marsh turns shades of red and gold in early to mid-October. At roughly 1,400 meters above sea level, Senjogahara sees its grasses change ahead of the surrounding larches.
You don’t necessarily need to make a special trip to see this side of the season either. Susuki and other tall grasses grow along riverbanks, roadsides and lakeshores throughout Japan, including around Kawaguchiko with Mt. Fuji rising behind them. Autumn here isn’t solely about waiting for the maple leaves to turn red. Much of its natural beauty comes from watching all these different colors and textures gradually come together across the Japanese countryside.
Where to See Autumn Leaves in Mid-October
If you’re determined to see the classic red and gold autumn leaves during the middle of October, the trick is to head north or gain elevation. Tokyo, Kyoto and much of central Japan are usually still far too early at this point in the season. Up in northern Honshu, however, autumn has already begun working its way down from the mountains. Few prefectures illustrate this progression better than Aomori, where Japan in October can look considerably more advanced than it does farther south.
The Hakkoda Mountains rank among Tohoku’s earliest fall-color areas, with the upper slopes changing in late September and the base following by mid-October. From there, the seasonal progression continues to Oirase Gorge, where a mountain stream flows out of Lake Towada through the surrounding forest. Starting at Nenokuchi on the Lake Towada shore, the principal walking route traces the stream through Oirase Gorge for about 9 km. Oirase Gorge usually reaches peak color from late October into early November, extending the autumn display after the higher terrain has already begun changing.
At the upper end of the gorge sits Lake Towada, Honshu’s largest caldera lake and part of Towada-Hachimantai National Park. Its steep, forested rim follows a similar seasonal schedule, with the surrounding mountains at their most colorful from mid to late October. At roughly 400 meters in elevation, Lake Towada lies well below the summits of the Hakkoda Mountains. Put Hakkoda, Oirase and Lake Towada together and you essentially have a moving autumn route, with the best color shifting downward in elevation as the month progresses.
The Delicious Delicacies of Autumn
Autumn in Japan has another nickname worth knowing: Shokuyoku-no-Aki (lit. “Autumn of Appetite”). The phrase reflects just how many ingredients come into season once the summer heat finally breaks. October sits squarely in that harvest period, bringing everything from newly harvested rice and fruit to mushrooms and fresh seafood. For travelers, that makes food one of the easiest ways to experience the season without having to chase a particular bloom or foliage forecast.
On the savory side, few foods are more closely associated with autumn than sanma, or Pacific saury. The oily fish is traditionally grilled whole with salt and served with grated daikon, though it appears in plenty of regional preparations too. Salmon also comes into season, while wild mushrooms such as shimeji and maitake begin appearing more prominently. Sitting at the expensive end of that spectrum is matsutake, the famously aromatic mushroom commonly served grilled, steamed in dobin mushi or cooked with rice.
October is equally dangerous for anyone with a sweet tooth. Chestnuts, sweet potatoes, persimmons, Japanese pears, grapes and apples all belong to the autumnal roster, and Japanese confectioners waste little time putting them to use. Kuri kinton, chestnut yokan and mont blanc desserts proliferate during the season, while roasted sweet potatoes make their annual return as the temperatures drop. Even ordinary supermarkets and bakeries start looking markedly more autumnal once chestnut and sweet potato flavors take over the shelves.
Then there is the harvest itself. Rice is generally harvested from late summer into October depending on the region, putting shinmai, or new-season rice, on tables around the country. Chestnuts also move into savory dishes such as kuri gohan, or chestnut rice, while October brings seasonal soba and sake, particularly in major agricultural regions such as Niigata. In other words, autumn in Japan is not merely something to look at. Between the mushrooms, fish, fruit, rice and seemingly unavoidable chestnut desserts, October is a season that is just as easily eaten.
Central Japan’s Harvest Festivals
October is also when a number of major autumn festivals take over central Japan. Some are explicitly harvest festivals, while others developed around local shrine traditions that happen to fall at the same time of year. Either way, they add another layer to the season beyond food and foliage, particularly in the mountain communities of Gifu Prefecture. For anyone looking beyond the big cities, these events are also a useful reminder of how closely the season is tied to the agricultural calendar.
The heavyweight is the Takayama Autumn Festival, held annually on October 9 and 10 around Sakurayama Hachimangu in Hida-Takayama. Also known as the Hachiman Festival, it is the autumn half of the famous Takayama Festival and features 11 elaborately decorated festival floats moving through the old streets. One of them, the Hotei-tai, carries intricate karakuri mechanical dolls. At night, the floats are lit by glowing lanterns as they make their way through the city. Together with the spring festival, it is often counted among Japan’s most celebrated float festivals.
Shirakawa-go follows with the Doburoku Festival, which runs from October 14 to 19 as the celebration moves between the village’s shrines. The main days fall on October 14 and 15 at Shirakawa Hachiman Shrine. The village brews doburoku, a cloudy sake left unrefined, as an offering of gratitude to the gods for the harvest before serving it to visitors. Since 1995, Shirakawa-go has held UNESCO World Heritage status for its characteristic gassho-zukuri farmhouses with thatched roofs.
Taken together, Takayama and Shirakawa-go make a pretty compelling case for spending part of October in this corner of the Japanese countryside. The leaves may not always be at their absolute peak yet, but the harvest is underway, the temperatures are cooling and some of the region’s biggest traditional celebrations are taking place. If autumn in Japan is supposed to be about more than simply staring at maple trees, these harvest festivals make that idea especially obvious.
Don’t Forget About Halloween
Over the lifetime of this site, Halloween in Japan has changed enormously . What was once barely a blip eventually exploded into the infamous street parties around Shibuya, where huge crowds of costumed revelers descended on the Tokyo neighborhood every October. Predictably, the drinking, litter and general chaos eventually pushed Shibuya City to crack down. A 2019 ordinance prohibited street drinking around Shibuya Station during Halloween, and in October 2024 Shibuya City expanded the nighttime ban there to every night of the year. These days, the old free-for-all has effectively been stamped out.
That doesn’t mean Halloween itself has disappeared. Organized events like the Ikebukuro Halloween Cosplay Festival in Tokyo now provide a much more controlled place for costumes, photography, stage events and cosplay. Theme parks such as Universal Studios Japan also lean heavily into the season, with Halloween events running throughout much of October. If dressing up is your priority, these organized events are far better bets than simply wandering into Shibuya.
Elsewhere, expect Halloween to show up through decorations, seasonal food, costume parties and nightlife events across the major cities. Tokyo still embraces the holiday enthusiastically, just in a much more organized and commercialized way than during the peak Shibuya years. By the final weekend of October, costumes are hardly unusual in entertainment districts. Just don’t arrive expecting the old Shibuya street party, because that era is largely over.
Traveling During Typhoon Season
October sits on the trailing edge of Japan’s typhoon season, which means the risk is lower than it is in August or September but not completely gone. Storms can still approach the archipelago during the first half of the month, particularly across Okinawa, Kyushu and other southern regions, before occasionally tracking toward Honshu. Most October trips will pass without incident, but it is still worth remembering that one badly timed system can throw a wrench into an otherwise perfectly planned itinerary.
For travelers, the bigger concern is usually disruption rather than danger. Strong typhoons can ground flights, suspend Shinkansen bullet train services, cancel ferries and close outdoor attractions until conditions improve. The good news is that Japan is extremely accustomed to dealing with these systems, and transport operators usually begin announcing changes well before a storm actually arrives. If one appears in the forecast, keep an eye on updates from the Japan Meteorological Agency and give yourself some flexibility instead of trying to force a tightly scheduled travel day through the middle of it.
The other thing to keep in mind is that typhoons tend to be fairly concentrated events. A storm may ruin a day or two, but once it passes, October offers a quick return to the crisp, comfortable weather that makes the month so appealing in the first place. By later in October, the overall risk also continues to decline as the season winds down. Typhoon season is therefore something to plan around rather than something that should scare anyone away from choosing to visit Japan in October.
Until next time travelers…
