Kanagawa or Tokyo? When each is busy and when it is quiet

TL;DR

In 2025, Kanagawa's busiest month was August (10.1% of its guest nights) and Tokyo's was December (9.1%). The quietest were February (6.8%) and February (7.3%). Their two busiest months carried 19.7% and 17.8% of the year; Japan's survey is a sample, so we do not say which is more seasonal.

Kanagawa and Tokyo, month by month

Each chart shows what share of the place's 2025 guest nights fell in each month, on the same scale; the two busiest months are highlighted.1

Kanagawa

JFMAMJJA10.1%SOND

Tokyo

JFMAMJJASOND9.1%

Share of the year, every month

Kanagawa and Tokyo: share of 2025 guest nights by month
MonthKanagawaTokyo
January6.9%7.8%
February6.8%7.3%
March8.3%8.4%
April9.0%8.6%
May7.6%8.6%
June6.9%8.1%
July8.8%8.2%
August10.1%8.5%
September7.0%8.1%
October9.6%8.7%
November9.4%8.5%
December9.6%9.1%

The key facts side by side

Kanagawa and Tokyo: key facts
KanagawaTokyo
Busiest monthAugust, 10.1%December, 9.1%
Quietest monthFebruary, 6.8%February, 7.3%
Two busiest months19.7% of the year17.8% of the year
Busiest vs quietest1.5 times as busy1.2 times as busy
From abroadGuests from outside Japan spent 18.4% of Kanagawa's guest nights in 2025. Source pageGuests from outside Japan spent 55.7% of Tokyo's guest nights in 2025. Source page
Visited from abroadRanked by nights spent by guests from outside Japan in 2025, Kanagawa comes 41st from the bottom of Japan's 47 prefectures. Source pageRanked by nights spent by guests from outside Japan in 2025, Tokyo comes 47th from the bottom of Japan's 47 prefectures. Source page
Cherry blossomSomei-yoshino cherry trees usually start to bloom around 25 March and reach full bloom around 1 April. Maple leaves usually turn red around 14 December. These are 1991–2020 averages. Source pageSomei-yoshino cherry trees usually start to bloom around 24 March and reach full bloom around 31 March. Maple leaves usually turn red around 28 November. These are 1991–2020 averages. Source page
TyphoonsOver 1991–2020, an average of 3.3 typhoons a year came within 300 km of a JMA weather station in the Kanto and Koshin region. Source pageOver 1991–2020, an average of 3.3 typhoons a year came within 300 km of a JMA weather station in the Kanto and Koshin region. Source page

Each sentence is copied from the page it links to, where its source is cited.

Weather: Yokohama and Tokyo

Averages for 1991–2020 at the weather station each page uses: Yokohama (横浜) for Yokohama and Tokyo (東京) for Tokyo.2

Average high and rain by month, Yokohama and Tokyo, 1991 to 2020
MonthHigh, YokohamaHigh, TokyoRain, YokohamaRain, Tokyo
January10.2 °C9.8 °C65 mm60 mm
February10.8 °C10.9 °C65 mm56 mm
March14.0 °C14.2 °C140 mm116 mm
April18.9 °C19.4 °C143 mm134 mm
May23.1 °C23.6 °C153 mm140 mm
June25.5 °C26.1 °C189 mm168 mm
July29.4 °C29.9 °C182 mm156 mm
August31.0 °C31.3 °C139 mm155 mm
September27.3 °C27.5 °C242 mm225 mm
October22.0 °C22.0 °C240 mm235 mm
November17.1 °C16.7 °C108 mm96 mm
December12.5 °C12.0 °C66 mm58 mm

One station per place; weather varies within every country. Not a forecast.

What this comparison cannot tell you

  • A share of each place's own year, not a crowd count. A low share means that month was quiet for that place. It does not mean the place had fewer visitors than somewhere else, and a small country's busy month can still be far quieter than a big country's quiet one.
  • Nights, not queues. A national or prefecture total cannot show crowding at one sight, beach or old town. Day trips do not count at all, because nobody stays the night.
  • One year. These are 2025 figures. Another year can differ, for example when Easter moves between March and April.
  • Japan's figures are a sample survey. The gaps between neighbouring prefectures are often smaller than the survey's sampling error, so we do not rank prefectures against each other.
  • We have not been to these places and make no judgement about which is better to visit.

Want a different pair? Open these two in Compare and add or swap places.

Key takeaways

  • Busiest in 2025: Kanagawa in August, Tokyo in December.
  • Quietest: Kanagawa in February, Tokyo in February.
  • Two busiest months: 19.7% of Kanagawa's year, 17.8% of Tokyo's.
  • What we would skip: picking one over the other on these figures alone. They show when each is busy, not which you would enjoy more.

Sources

The guest-night figures come from the Japan Tourism Agency and the weather from the Japan Meteorological Agency. We copied every figure from the two places' own pages, where each source is cited in full. See how we research.

  1. Source: 「宿泊旅行統計調査」(観光庁) (Overnight Travel Statistics Survey, Japan Tourism Agency), 2025 annual figures (final), tables 2 and 8 and reference table 1, published 6 July 2026. Survey page · workbook. Accessed 17 September 2026. Licensed under the Public Data License 1.0 (PDL1.0).
  2. Weather in Japan: 出典:気象庁ホームページ(過去の気象データ検索). Japan Meteorological Agency, 1991–2020 normals for the station named for each prefecture (the same station its prefecture page uses, where the page links the station's own table): daily maximum and minimum temperature, precipitation and days with at least 1.0 mm of precipitation (降水量の階級日数). Accessed 22 September 2026. Licensed under PDL1.0. 気象庁「平年値」を加工して作成 — edited by Gallivanting Gadabout (English wording, selection and rounding).

Modified data. The monthly shares, orderings and comparisons are our own calculations from Eurostat's counts and the Japan Tourism Agency's figures (「宿泊旅行統計調査」(観光庁)を加工して作成). Percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Neither body is responsible for these calculations or for how the figures are presented here.