What's on in Kagoshima, Japan through the year

Busy — Winter break (fuyuyasumi) in Japan, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Cranes winter at Izumi (1 Nov – 25 Mar (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Cranes winter at Izumi (1 Nov – 25 Mar (usually))

Peak crowds — Kagoshima Marathon, Spring break (haruyasumi) in Japan

• Festival

  Kagoshima Marathon

  1–10 Mar · usuallySporting eventCrowded

  A city marathon on an early-March Sunday with Sakurajima in view for much of the course. Streetcar and road diversions run through the morning and the hotels near Tenmonkan fill the night before. Source ↗

• Nature

  Cherry blossom

  20 Mar – 5 Apr · usually

  One of the first cities in Japan the front reaches, usually in the third week of March. Yoshino Park above the city is where Kagoshima goes for it.

Still on: Cranes winter at Izumi (1 Nov – 25 Mar (usually))

Peak crowds — Golden Week, Spring break (haruyasumi) in Japan

• Holiday

  Golden Week

  29 Apr – 6 MayCrowdedBook early

  A run of public holidays from 29 April to 5 May when much of Japan travels at once: trains, flights and hotels fill, rates peak and popular sights are crowded. Book well ahead or come the week after. Source ↗

Still on: Cherry blossom (20 Mar – 5 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Golden Week, Golden Week in Japan

• Hazard

  Sakurajima ashfall

  15 May – 30 Sep · usuallyDust season

  The volcano across the bay erupts most weeks of the year, but it is in summer that the wind carries the ash over the city. Umbrellas go up on a clear day and the council hands out yellow ash bags. Source ↗

• Season

  Tsuyu, the rain season

  30 May – 20 Jul · usuallyMonsoonRisk

  Southern Kyushu takes the heaviest rainy season in Japan. The warnings that close roads here are about the hillsides rather than the rivers, and they come several times a June.

Still on: Golden Week (29 Apr – 6 May)

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Sakurajima ashfall (15 May – 30 Sep (usually)), Tsuyu, the rain season (30 May – 20 Jul (usually))

Busy — Summer break (natsuyasumi) in Japan, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Hazard

  Typhoon season

  15 Jul – 30 Sep · usuallyClosures

  More systems make landfall around here than anywhere else in the country. The Sakurajima ferry and the boats to Yakushima stop a day before the storm arrives. Source ↗

Still on: Sakurajima ashfall (15 May – 30 Sep (usually)), Tsuyu, the rain season (30 May – 20 Jul (usually))

Peak crowds — Kinko Bay Summer Night Fireworks, Summer break (natsuyasumi) in Japan

• Festival

  Kinko Bay Summer Night Fireworks

  29 AugLights & fireCrowded

  One of Kyushu's largest displays, fired over the port with the volcano behind it on a late-summer Saturday. Paid seats go on sale in June; a typhoon can postpone it at short notice. Source ↗

Still on: Sakurajima ashfall (15 May – 30 Sep (usually)), Typhoon season (15 Jul – 30 Sep (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Sakurajima ashfall (15 May – 30 Sep (usually)), Typhoon season (15 Jul – 30 Sep (usually))

Busy — Myoenji Mairi, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Myoenji Mairi

  24–25 OctMajor festivalCrowded

  On the fourth weekend of October thousands walk twenty kilometres from Terukuni Shrine to Tokushige Shrine in Hioki, many in samurai armour, remembering the Satsuma retreat at Sekigahara. It goes ahead in rain. Source ↗

Busy — Ohara Festival

• Nature

  Cranes winter at Izumi

  1 Nov – 25 Mar · usuallyWildlife season

  Well over ten thousand cranes from Siberia winter on the Izumi plain in the north of the prefecture, about an hour by shinkansen. The observation centre opens for the season; dawn is when they lift off together. Source ↗

• Festival

  Ohara Festival

  2–3 NovMajor festivalCrowded

  Twenty thousand dancers work down Tenmonkan over the two days around Culture Day. It is the biggest thing southern Kyushu does and the trams reroute for it. Source ↗

Busy — Winter break (fuyuyasumi) in Japan, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Cranes winter at Izumi (1 Nov – 25 Mar (usually))