Kannazuki, the Japanese name for October, is the month when the gods are said to leave home for Izumo. Behind the name sits a month of ritual, and the weather of autumn in Japan finally settling in. It is also the month to plan your leaves.
The Problem Every Visitor Hits
Search for October in Japan and three answers collide. One page says the gods leave their shrines for Izumo. Another says winter begins. A third says the maples peak in late November.
Picture a first-timer at a shrine gate in the second half of October, phone in hand, the maple overhead still green. Nothing has gone wrong. The name belongs to one calendar and the leaves to another.
In my view the story behind the name is the best reason to be in Japan in October, and the leaves are the best reason to plan carefully. This guide does both: it explains Kannazuki, then shows how to fit autumn in Japan around it.
Start by writing down your travel dates.
Why This Happens
Kannazuki is the old-calendar name for the tenth month. Nekko’s seasonal calendar tells the story. The yaoyorozu no kami, the “eight million gods”, travel to Izumo Taisha, a great shrine in what is now Shimane Prefecture, for a yearly meeting. A few stay behind.
Where the gods have left, the month is Kannazuki, “month without gods”. In Izumo, where they arrive, it is Kamiarizuki, “month with gods”. Nekko adds that the “na” can be read as “of”, and that either way both names mean an important month when the gods gather.
The agenda is human. They discuss people’s fates and connections, meaning who will marry whom, and, according to Nekko, next year’s weather, crops and sake. Nekko offers a gentle reading: when two people from far apart meet and marry, it may be the result of this meeting. That is why Izumo Taisha is also called the head shrine of matchmaking.
Why Izumo? The shrine honours Ōkuninushi no Ōkami, a god of the earth, set against Amaterasu, the sun goddess who stands for the heavens. Nekko says he sent his many children to govern lands across Japan. They came home once a year to report and consult, and other gods followed.
Nekko gives this timetable, in old-calendar dates:
- 1st: Kamiokuri, the send-off. Households offer rice cake and red-bean rice, a packed lunch for the travelling god.
- 10th: Kamimukae, the welcome, at Inasa beach, then on to the shrine.
- 11th to 17th: Kamiarisai, the gods’ festival. The council meets at the upper shrine, and 19 small shrines in the grounds serve as lodging.
- 17th: Karasade-sai, the departure rite. A second follows on the 26th.
- Month’s end: the gods return, and households offer rice cake and dumpling soup with crops.
Not every god leaves. The caretaker gods, rusu-gami, stay behind: Ebisu, Konpira, the stove god Kamado, the roadside Dōsojin. Many regions hold an Ebisu-kō, a gathering for Ebisu, in October.
Other explanations exist. Weathernews lists new rice brewed into sake, thunder going quiet, and ten being the highest number. I treat the origin as layered, not settled, and the Izumo story as the one with living rites.
Look for an Ebisu shrine near your base; it is the god who stays home.
The One That Matters Most: Plan Around the Old Calendar
Autumn in Japan has a cultural calendar as well as a leaf calendar, and the cultural one runs on the old calendar. Today’s date will mislead you. That one fact decides whether you see anything.
Three steps:
- Decide whether Izumo fits your trip. It is the place where the story is performed, and it is far from Tokyo. For a first trip with few days, I would not build the itinerary around it.
- If it fits, convert the dates: the welcome on the night of the 10th, the rites from the 11th to the 17th, the send-off on the 17th. Nekko notes that events and dates differ by region.
- If it does not fit, keep the story and move the stop. Look for an Ebisu shrine or an Ebisu-kō near your base.
Jikei’s annual-events page describes the same Izumo sequence, with the welcome rite at Inasa beach near the shrine.
Search for Izumo Taisha’s official notice of this year’s Kamiarisai dates and copy them into your notes.
Before You Go: Plan Autumn in Japan by Region
October is also when the season turns. Weathernews calls the modern October autumn in full swing, while noting that the old calendar starts winter now.
According to Donny Kimball’s guide to koyo, colour starts in September in far northern Hokkaido, moves south and downhill through October, reaches Tokyo and Kyoto in mid-to-late November, and lingers in the far south into December. Koyo (kōyō) means autumn leaves.
- Fix your dates, then pick the region turning then. Aomori and lower Hokkaido reach colour around mid-October. Kagoshima barely starts before December.
- Add altitude. Mt. Ishizuchi in Shikoku can peak at the start of October, and mountains can blaze while the city below is green.
- Check a live forecast within a week of travel. Weathernews runs a leaf-colour page titled 紅葉情報 (kōyō jōhō, autumn leaf information). It is in Japanese; use your browser’s translate button.
Peak colour at one place lasts two to three weeks, and the old averages are drifting later. If your trip is fixed to Tokyo or Kyoto in October, you will not see peak leaves.
Daytime in early autumn runs 20 to 27C. By evening it turns cool and sleeves come out. Pack one light layer and a folding umbrella, and check the clothing forecast page, titled 服装予報 (fukusō yohō, clothing forecast).
Donny Kimball calls Tofuku-ji and Eikan-do in Kyoto extremely crowded at peak and suggests a weekday morning, preferably early. I have no October crowd figures. The latest official count is August: 3,098,900 international visitors, 9.6% fewer than a year earlier. My view is that early-to-mid October sits before the November leaf rush.
Tonight, match your dates to one region from step 1 and search for lodging there.
On the Ground
Ask a person. A tourist information counter is where I would ask whether the leaves have turned. Local staff are better placed to answer than a national forecast.
Three phrases:
- “Kōyō wa mō hajimarimashita ka?” means “Have the autumn leaves started yet?”
- “Migoro wa itsu desu ka?” means “When is the best time to see them?” Migoro is the peak-viewing period.
- “Ebisu-kō wa arimasu ka?” means “Is there an Ebisu-kō?” Ask it at a shrine office or local information desk.
Listen for the answer. “Mada desu” means not yet. “Ima ga migoro desu” means now is the peak.
If a local mentions October, try: “Kamisama wa Izumo ni itte iru n desu ne.” It means “The gods have gone to Izumo, haven’t they?”
Learn the weather words that autumn in Japan has kept, too. Weathernews describes shigure as a passing rain that falls and stops and falls again, and kogarashi as a strong, cold north wind that strips the leaves. If a stranger says “Koharu-biyori desu ne,” they are remarking that today is mild and spring-like.
Say the first phrase at the first information counter you pass, and write the answer down.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Reading the name as a closing notice. Nekko says the caretaker gods stay, and that both month names mean a month when the gods gather. I found no source saying shrines shut, and in my reading the quiet is an away-day, not a closure. Check each site’s official page for hours.
Using today’s date for old-calendar events. The Izumo rites follow the old calendar, so a date copied from a modern calendar will be wrong, and Nekko says events also differ by region. Confirm with the shrine itself.
Expecting peak leaves in Tokyo or Kyoto in mid-October. Both turn in mid-to-late November. Even the classic Tokyo garden views belong to that window. Move your dates, or move north.
Closing
Pick one region for your leaves and one stop for the story, and write both at the top of your autumn in Japan notes. If the story takes you to Izumo, the welcome happens at Inasa beach, on the night of the tenth of the old-calendar month.
Tell me your dates and starting city in the comments and I will suggest a region. This guide covers the 2026 season; the timing advice needs rechecking every year.
FAQ
How do I plan around Kannazuki and autumn in Japan in October?
Pick one stop for the story and one region for the leaves. Convert the old-calendar dates before booking anything in Izumo.
Do I need cash?
The story costs nothing, but I have no verified payment details for sites on your route. Carry some yen and check each official page.
Is it difficult without speaking Japanese?
The leaf forecast page is in Japanese, but your browser’s translate button handles it. The three phrases in Tip 3 cover the main questions at a counter.
What mistakes do visitors make with autumn in Japan in October?
They read the name as a closing notice, use modern dates for old-calendar rites, and expect peak colour in Tokyo or Kyoto in mid-October.
When should I prepare for autumn in Japan in October?
Choose your region when you set your dates, and check a live forecast about a week before you leave. Look up the old-calendar dates early, because they are the easiest to get wrong.
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