KYOTO Winter Guide 2025 - 2026 What You Need to Know before coming by a Local

Believe it or not, winter is a magic season to see Kyoto at its most beautiful. There are fewer clouds, the air is crisp and clear, and the food is amazing. Even as a Japanese local living in Kyoto, winter is actually my favorite time of year. To make a winter trip to Kyoto the best it can be, there are a few key things you need to know. First, let's talk about the weather. It does snow in Kyoto, but please don't get your hopes up too high. If you come expecting the snow-covered Kyoto you see on social media or in guidebooks, you might be disappointed. Actually, it only snows enough to stick to the ground about 5 days out of the whole year. While snow might fall on 20 to 30 days in an average year, it usually just white flurries that melt right away, so the scenery looks exactly the same. If you're lucky enough to see heavy snow, that is super lucky, so please enjoy the view. However, keep in mind that when it snows, certain spots get even more cloudy than usual. Since snow piles up so rarely, both locals and tourists rush out to see it. When it snows, clouds go up to Ginkaku-shi and Kibune Shrine. It's breathtaking, so I definitely recommend you to go and just be prepared for the clouds. If you come to Kyoto in winter, be careful about your shoes. Because sightseeing in Kyoto involves constantly taking your shoes off and putting them back on. If you wear lace-up boots thinking about the snow, you will get caught up with this culture very quickly. You generally have to take your shoes off to enter temple halls and shrines, and even some traditional Japanese restaurants require you to take off your shoes to sit on tatami mats. If you visit multiple temples in a day, this small task becomes a huge stress. Cold protection is important, but I recommend avoiding shoes that are hard to take off. Related to that, I recommend bringing warm socks. Temples and shrines are open-air structures, so they are basically outside. The floor are wooden and very cold, so thick socks are lifesavers. If you plan on doing activities like sutra copying or zazen meditation that take time, or if you are attached to the cold, buying two warmer is a great idea. You can get them at a convenience store. There is actually a word known all over Japan to describe Kyoto's cold, soko pie, which means bottom chill or getting cold from the ground up. Because Kyoto is in a basin surrounded by mountains, the cold air settles at your feet. Keeping your feet warm is a trick to enjoying Kyoto. Please be careful at the bamboo forest. I know many of you want to visit there. Imagine those tall thick bamboos growing densely together. They block out the sunlight completely. This is great in summer, but in winter, the temperature doesn't rise even during the day, so accept it to be as cold as the lowest temperature of that day. This is a slightly different topic, but recently in Japan, bears have been in the news. You might have heard about bears coming in the towns or attacking people, and unfortunately, Kyoto is no exception. Luckily, I haven't heard of any incident yet, but there have been bears sighting in the northern area I mentioned and even near tourist spots close to mountains like Arashiyama and Kinkakuji. To stay safe, just keep some basics in mind. Don't go near the foot of mountains early in the morning and carry a bear bell if you go hiking. Avoid exploring areas near mountains where there are no people. The city center is safe for now, so you don't need to worry there. Just keep it in the back of your mind if you cross the mountains. By the way, you'll see deer more often than bears in Kyoto. You might think, wait, aren't deer in Nara? But if you walk half an hour along the Kamo River, you might spot them. Here is a deer I saw walking along the river at night. They look cute, but unlike the deer in Nara, they are wild and not used to humans, so please do not get close. A friend of mine actually got injured by one. Let's get back on track. Venting a kimono in winter is really cold, so be prepared. Cheap rental shops or budget plans often use thin fabric, making it feel even colder. The key is to wear a thin but warm inner layer. If you buy one in Japan, Uniqlo's heel stick is the best. You can get one for around 10,000 yen. Also, renting a haori usually costs extra, but if you visit between December and February, you should definitely rent one. But remember, a haori is just cloth, not down material, so it's still cold. Buy heat packs at a convenience store. Also, when it's cold, you need to use the bathroom more often, but it's hard to go when wearing a kimono. Make sure to go before you get dressed. It's also smart to look up how to use the toilet in a kimono without messing it up beforehand. Next, let's talk about clothes and how to handle them. First off, if you're coming in January or February, you made an excellent choice. As you can see in this chart, January and February have the fewest tourists. You won't have to let multiple buses pass because they are full. Summer also has fewer tourists, but the heat is unbearable. In winter, even the locals are kinder because the over-tourism season has passed, and they feel more at peace. However, if you're coming in December or the third week of February, you need to be careful. December actually has about the same volume of tourists as spring or autumn, so it gets crowded. For major spots, go early in the morning. Start moving around 7 or 8 a.m. Traffic will be heavy, too. There's some good news for December visitors, though. As you might know, due to recent tensions in Japan-China relations, there have been trip cancellations and fewer flights. In 2024, Chinese tourists made up 20% of foreign guests in Kyoto. I'll be refraining from sharing political opinions on whether this is good or bad, but the fact is, tourist numbers are lower than usual. From the perspective of tourists visiting right now, this could be seen as a positive thing. For those coming in February, watch out for the Kyoto Marathon. In 2026, it will be held on February 15th, and traffic will be restricted across a wide area of the city. On this day, taking a trip to Nara or Shiga is a great alternative. Now let's talk about food for you lucky people visiting in winter. Everyone knows sushi, but there is a type of sushi you can only eat in Kyoto's winter. It's called musuzushi. It's a traditional winter dish. It doesn't look like the sushi you imagine. It's a historic dish from 200 or 300 years ago served warm in a bowl. It's usually only available from December to March. Please try this authentic traditional dish. Related to sushi, sabazushi is also a Kyoto tradition. It uses salted mackerels. Since it is in season during autumn and winter, please try this too. Winter is also the season for shinshu. It's the best time to enjoy fresh, newly pressed sake. You can drink at a restaurant or visit a brewery for tasting. The Fushimi area, famous for Fushimi Inari Shrine, is a sake hotspot, so you can combine sightseeing with tasting. Sake has a relatively smooth taste, but if you want to check if you like it before going to a bar, buy a bottle of Mio at a convenience store or supermarket. It costs about 500 yen, has low alcohol content, and is sparkling, so it's very beginner-friendly. It's a cheap way to see what sake is like. Also, you must eat ramen in Kyoto. You must wonder why ramen in Kyoto, but Kyoto is actually a ramen city with fierce competition. In fact, according to the Japanese government's household survey, there are years where Kyoto citizens spend the most in the entire country on eating ramen out. A hot bowl of ramen in winter tastes better than in any other season. Kyoto is known for delicate Japanese food, but the local ramen is actually quite rich and heavy, so go with an empty stomach. Locals love the Ichijoji area, the ultimate ramen hotspot. It's about 30 minutes from the city center, but if you want truly local ramen, go there. I'll put a link to the ramen ticket that includes transport in the description. If you want a popular local spot that is easy to access, Shinpuku Saikan Main Store near Kyoto Station is great. You'll wait about 30 minutes, but it's huge with locals and very delicious. Next, a unique winter activity. Do you think Japan is only about cherry blossom and autumn leaves? Actually, plum blossoms are wonderful too. They might be less famous, but the scenery is very authentically Japanese, and you can enjoy them starting in February. Check the Ume Diary page in the description. The most famous spot is Kitano Tenmangu Shrine. You can enter the plum garden from late January. There is a plum blossom festival in late February, and sometimes they have light-up events at night for magical view. When I went this year, less than 10% of the visitors were foreign tourists, so I highly recommend it for local bike. Just have Google Translate ready on your phone since it's a local-focused spot. If it doesn't snow, the trees will be there, and the scenery might look a bit lonelier than you imagine. But if you have the mindset of enjoying wabi-sabi, it will look beautiful. Wabi-sabi is a Japanese concept of finding beauty in imperfection, emptiness, and the passage of time. You might know the book with that title. Whether you see the leafless winter scenery as lonely and empty or as wabi-sabi changes everything, please enjoy it as a unique flavor of the season. I really love the winter scenery here. Add watching cute birds to your list. If you come to Kyoto, you will likely visit the Kamo River. In winter, the river is lovely with water birds. Various ducks travel thousands of kilometers from Russia around November, spend the winter relaxing in Kyoto, and live around March. Enjoy this breathing moment, it's also part of wabi-sabi. Finally, let's talk about the New Year holidays. I'm referring roughly to December 27th through January 4th. This is the biggest holiday event in Japan. Most people are off work, and areas with many temples like Kyoto are very popular destinations. The most important thing, check if restaurants and tourist spots are open. Compared to Tokyo, Kyoto has many family-run businesses, so they are more likely to be closed. Especially from December 30th to January 3rd, many places are closed or have short hours. Google Maps and Tabelog are okay, but try to check the shops or sell Instagram or website for the most accurate info. To avoid getting stranded with nowhere to eat, make reservations. Ideally, book by mid-December. Even if shops are open, everywhere is packed because Japanese people are also on holidays. We have Bonenkai, where families and co-workers gather. So if you're visiting in late December, booking in advance is crucial. Tabelog is the most famous restaurant site in Japan. Be careful about visiting Fushimi Inari Shrine during this time. From January 1st to 4th, it attracts the most visitors in Japan for Hatsumode. It's not just tourists. Locals go there to play. If you want to avoid the crash, go before the end of the year. I recommend Heian Zingu Shrine for Hatsumode instead. It's iconic but has about one-fifth of the visitors of Fushimi Inari, and there are many food stalls. So it's fun. I listed the warnings first, but feeling the New Year atmosphere is actually really fun. Kyoto values Japanese culture deeply, so enjoy the festival vibe and maybe buy some doggy goods to take home. So that was my guide to enjoying Kyoto's winter to the fullest. My channel is just getting started, but I plan to post many more videos about Japan and Kyoto. If you found this video helpful, please consider liking and subscribing. See you in the next video.