Kansai by month · 5–10°C
Crisp skies, New Year rituals and steaming hot pots
January opens with Japan's biggest holiday. The first three days are all shrine visits, family meals and quiet streets, then the country goes back to work and Kansai settles into cold, bright, mostly dry winter days. The light is low and clear, which makes temples and old wooden streets look their best.
It's a great month for onsen lovers, food-focused trips and anyone who likes sightseeing without the crowds after the first week. The trade-offs: it's cold indoors as well as out in older buildings, days are short, and some small shops and restaurants close for a few days around 1 January.
Sumiyoshi Taisha
One of the busiest New Year shrines in Japan. Over two million people come in the first three days of the year to pray for luck, and cross its steep red arched bridge.
Getting there · 15 min from Namba on the Nankai line
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Imamiya Ebisu Shrine
Shop owners buy bamboo branches hung with gold charms for a good business year. Stalls, drums and crowds late into the night.
Getting there · 10 min walk from Tsutenkaku
Open in Google Maps ↗Once New Year is over, trains, temples and prices all calm down until spring.
One of Japan's oldest hot spring towns, with rust-colored 'gold' water and clear 'silver' water. An easy day trip that feels perfect on a cold day.
Kobe Arima Onsen, north of Kobe
Department stores and malls open their New Year sales in the first days of January, including lucky bags (fukubukuro) with mystery contents.
Osaka Umeda and Shinsaibashi department stores
On an evening in late January the grass on Mt Wakakusa is set alight after fireworks, glowing over Nara Park.
Nara Mt Wakakusa, Nara Park
If snow falls overnight, head to Kinkaku-ji early. A white-roofed Golden Pavilion is one of Kyoto's most wished-for sights.
Kyoto Kinkaku-ji
In recent years this memorial light festival has been held in late January around the old foreigners' settlement. Check the year's dates before you go.
Kobe Former Foreign Settlement and Higashi Yuenchi Park