Pack for three climates, not one. A Japan itinerary that touches Hokkaido, the main-island ports and Okinawa in the same week spans a January high of 0.9°C (34°F) at Hakodate and 19.8°C (68°F) at Naha. In August the gap closes: every port in this table except Hakodate sits at a daily high of 31 to 33°C (88 to 91°F) with nights that never drop below 22°C (72°F). The month decides the bag. The tables below are the Japan Meteorological Agency’s 1991–2020 climate normals for the city weather station at each of ten cruise ports; nothing here is a forecast, and the advice under each season is ours.
The numbers: mean daily high / low, °C
Monthly mean of the daily maximum and daily minimum temperature, JMA 1991–2020 normals. To convert, °F = °C × 1.8 + 32.
| Port | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hakodate | 0.9 / −6.0 | 1.8 / −5.7 | 5.8 / −2.2 | 12.0 / 2.8 | 17.0 / 8.0 | 20.4 / 12.6 | 24.1 / 17.3 | 25.9 / 18.9 | 23.2 / 14.6 | 17.1 / 7.8 | 10.0 / 1.8 | 3.2 / −3.6 |
| Kanazawa | 7.1 / 1.2 | 7.8 / 1.0 | 11.6 / 3.4 | 17.3 / 8.2 | 22.3 / 13.6 | 25.6 / 18.4 | 29.5 / 22.9 | 31.3 / 24.1 | 27.2 / 19.9 | 21.8 / 13.9 | 15.9 / 8.1 | 10.2 / 3.5 |
| Tokyo | 9.8 / 1.2 | 10.9 / 2.1 | 14.2 / 5.0 | 19.4 / 9.8 | 23.6 / 14.6 | 26.1 / 18.5 | 29.9 / 22.4 | 31.3 / 23.5 | 27.5 / 20.3 | 22.0 / 14.8 | 16.7 / 8.8 | 12.0 / 3.8 |
| Yokohama | 10.2 / 2.7 | 10.8 / 3.1 | 14.0 / 6.0 | 18.9 / 10.7 | 23.1 / 15.5 | 25.5 / 19.1 | 29.4 / 22.9 | 31.0 / 24.3 | 27.3 / 21.0 | 22.0 / 15.7 | 17.1 / 10.1 | 12.5 / 5.2 |
| Kobe | 9.4 / 3.1 | 10.1 / 3.4 | 13.5 / 6.3 | 18.9 / 11.4 | 23.6 / 16.5 | 26.7 / 20.6 | 30.4 / 24.7 | 32.2 / 26.1 | 28.8 / 22.6 | 23.2 / 16.7 | 17.5 / 10.9 | 12.0 / 5.7 |
| Hiroshima | 9.9 / 2.0 | 10.9 / 2.4 | 14.5 / 5.1 | 19.8 / 10.1 | 24.4 / 15.1 | 27.2 / 19.8 | 30.9 / 24.1 | 32.8 / 25.1 | 29.1 / 21.1 | 23.7 / 14.9 | 17.7 / 8.9 | 12.1 / 4.0 |
| Fukuoka | 10.2 / 3.9 | 11.6 / 4.4 | 15.0 / 7.2 | 19.9 / 11.5 | 24.4 / 16.1 | 27.2 / 20.3 | 31.2 / 24.6 | 32.5 / 25.4 | 28.6 / 21.6 | 23.7 / 16.0 | 18.2 / 10.6 | 12.6 / 5.8 |
| Nagasaki | 10.7 / 4.0 | 12.0 / 4.5 | 15.3 / 7.5 | 19.9 / 11.7 | 23.9 / 16.1 | 26.5 / 20.2 | 30.3 / 24.5 | 31.9 / 25.3 | 28.9 / 21.9 | 24.1 / 16.5 | 18.5 / 11.0 | 13.1 / 6.0 |
| Kagoshima | 13.1 / 4.9 | 14.6 / 5.8 | 17.5 / 8.7 | 21.8 / 12.9 | 25.5 / 17.3 | 27.5 / 21.3 | 31.9 / 25.3 | 32.7 / 26.0 | 30.2 / 23.2 | 25.8 / 18.0 | 20.6 / 12.2 | 15.3 / 6.9 |
| Naha | 19.8 / 14.9 | 20.2 / 15.1 | 21.9 / 16.7 | 24.3 / 19.1 | 27.0 / 22.1 | 29.8 / 25.2 | 31.9 / 27.0 | 31.8 / 26.8 | 30.6 / 25.8 | 28.1 / 23.5 | 25.0 / 20.4 | 21.5 / 16.8 |
The rain: monthly precipitation, mm
Same stations, same normals. JMA’s normals page gives totals, not a count of rainy days, so this table shows how much falls, not how often; 100 mm is about 4 inches.
| Port | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hakodate | 77 | 65 | 64 | 72 | 89 | 80 | 124 | 157 | 151 | 106 | 111 | 95 |
| Kanazawa | 256 | 163 | 157 | 144 | 138 | 170 | 233 | 179 | 232 | 177 | 251 | 301 |
| Tokyo | 60 | 57 | 116 | 134 | 140 | 168 | 156 | 155 | 225 | 235 | 96 | 58 |
| Yokohama | 65 | 65 | 140 | 143 | 153 | 189 | 183 | 139 | 242 | 240 | 108 | 66 |
| Kobe | 38 | 56 | 94 | 101 | 135 | 177 | 188 | 103 | 157 | 118 | 62 | 49 |
| Hiroshima | 46 | 64 | 118 | 141 | 170 | 227 | 280 | 131 | 163 | 109 | 69 | 54 |
| Fukuoka | 74 | 70 | 104 | 118 | 134 | 250 | 299 | 210 | 175 | 95 | 91 | 68 |
| Nagasaki | 63 | 84 | 123 | 153 | 161 | 336 | 293 | 218 | 187 | 102 | 101 | 75 |
| Kagoshima | 78 | 113 | 161 | 195 | 205 | 570 | 365 | 224 | 223 | 105 | 103 | 93 |
| Naha | 102 | 115 | 143 | 161 | 245 | 284 | 188 | 240 | 275 | 179 | 119 | 110 |
Rounded to the nearest millimetre; the source pages carry one decimal.
When is the rainy season?
JMA’s 1991–2020 normals for the start and end of the rainy season (tsuyu): Okinawa about 10 May to 21 June; northern Kyushu (Fukuoka, Nagasaki) 4 June to 19 July; Kinki (Kobe) 6 June to 19 July; Kanto-Koshin (Tokyo, Yokohama) 7 June to 19 July; Hokuriku (Kanazawa) 11 June to 23 July. JMA notes that the change in and out of the season is gradual, about five days either side. Kagoshima’s June total of 570 mm is the single wettest month at any port in the table.
What to wear, season by season
December to February: a coat everywhere, a winter coat in the north
Hakodate’s January normal is a high below freezing and a low of −6°C (21°F): insulated coat, hat, gloves and shoes with grip. Kanazawa is wetter than it is cold (256 mm in January, 301 mm in December, the wettest winter in the table), so waterproof shoes matter more than a heavy coat. The mainland belt from Tokyo to Nagasaki has January highs of 9 to 11°C (48 to 52°F) and lows of 1 to 4°C: a mid-weight coat, a scarf, and a sweater you can take off indoors. Kagoshima runs about three degrees warmer. Naha is a different season altogether at 20°C by day and 15°C at night: long sleeves and a light jacket for the evening, nothing more. If your winter cruise touches both Hokkaido and Okinawa, see which ports actually work in winter.
March to May: layers, and a coat still for Hokkaido
March highs from Tokyo to Nagasaki are 13 to 15°C (55 to 59°F) with lows of 5 to 7°C, so a jacket over a long-sleeved layer is right. By April the highs reach 19 to 22°C and by May 23 to 25°C with lows of 15 to 17°C: a light layer in the morning, short sleeves by lunch. May is drier than June and July at every mainland port in the table, which makes it the easiest warm month to pack for. Hakodate lags by about six weeks: an April high of 12°C and a low of 2.8°C still needs a proper coat, and even May (17°C / 8°C) wants a jacket. Naha in May is already 27°C by day, and its rainy season has begun.
June to September: heat, humidity and an umbrella
From June the lows stay above 18°C at every mainland port and from July above 22°C, so there is no cool part of the day to dress for. Highs of 30 to 33°C with nights of 24 to 26°C at Kobe, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Nagasaki and Kagoshima in July and August call for the lightest clothing you own, a hat, and a second shirt in the bag for the afternoon. Rain is the other half: June is the wettest month at Nagasaki (336 mm) and Kagoshima (570 mm), July at Hiroshima (280 mm) and Fukuoka (299 mm). Tokyo and Yokohama save their wettest months for September and October (225 to 242 mm), which is also the heart of typhoon season; our typhoon guide covers what that means for a call. Hakodate is the exception: an August high of 25.9°C and a low of 18.9°C is pleasant, and its rain peaks in August and September at around 150 mm.
October and November: the easy months
October highs of 22 to 26°C with lows of 15 to 18°C from Tokyo to Kagoshima are shirt-sleeve weather with a light layer for the evening. The one caution is the rain at Tokyo and Yokohama, where October is the wettest month of the year. November drops to highs of 16 to 21°C and lows of 8 to 12°C on the mainland: a jacket again, a sweater after dark. Hakodate in November (10°C / 1.8°C) is back in coat territory, and Kanazawa’s 251 mm make it a month for the umbrella. Naha stays at 25 to 28°C by day.
How to use this with your schedule
Look up your ship’s calls on the cruise calendar, note the month for each port, and read the row. Where a port falls inside its rainy-season window, every guide on this site has a rain-day route. For how long you will actually be ashore in that weather, the plan lengths and getting around pages use the published arrival and departure times.
Sources
All accessed 28 October 2026.
- Japan Meteorological Agency, 1991–2020 climate normals (monthly values), station pages: Yokohama, Tokyo, Kobe, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Naha, Hakodate, Kanazawa.
- Japan Meteorological Agency, rainy-season start and end dates with the 1991–2020 normal: Okinawa, northern Kyushu, Kinki, Kanto-Koshin, Hokuriku.
Guided days at the ports in this article
Shared cars with a guide first; each page says who should skip it. Booked through Viator; there is no tour desk at the pier.
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