Timetable · Annual Schedule
奈良県 · Calendar 2026
Seasonal windows and dated events, month by month. Entry pages are in Traditional Chinese; event names appear in their original Japanese.
January
12 itemsJanuary is Nara's quiet, cold stretch — busy only around the Kashihara Jingu New Year visits and the Wakakusa Yamayaki hillside burn, calm otherwise. Good for temple-hopping at places like Shoryakuji, with Kobaien's winter ink-making workshop and Asuka strawberries as indoor fallbacks.
February
15 itemsFebruary pivots on two fixed dates and one season: the Kasuga Taisha Setsubun lantern lighting, the Kigensai rite at Kashihara Jingu, and late-month plum at Anō and Tsukigase — both groves are rural, so budget half a day.
March
25 itemsMarch is a handover month: plum at Tsukigase and Anō early, the first weeping cherries at Mataemon-zakura and Onoji late. Yakushiji's Hanae-shiki and the Kinpusenji Zao Gongen opening fall at month's end; the Nara loop bus and old-road hikes restart.
April
48 itemsApril is Nara's most crowded month and Yoshinoyama is the reason — cherries bloom in stages up the slope, so ride the bus up and walk down, and book beds early. Late April swaps them for Hasedera peonies and Murouji rhododendron.
May
41 itemsMay is the best outdoor window: azaleas on Katsuragi Kogen (ropeway up), peonies at Hasedera, and the Omine climbing season opening. Odaigahara, Yoshino River rafting and lake canoeing are all running, and crowds thin noticeably once Golden Week ends.
June
37 itemsJune is the rainy month, but Nara's hydrangea temples — Yatadera, Kumedera — and Mitarai Gorge actually read better wet. The Ganjin statue at Toshodaiji opens only briefly early in the month, so date it precisely; mountain trails get slick.
July
39 itemsJuly is genuinely hot in the Nara basin, so flip the day: the Nara Park summer light-up runs nightly and suits a yukata, while daytime is better spent on water or at altitude — Mitarai Gorge, Yoshino River rafting, Ikehara Lake, Odaigahara.
August
43 itemsAugust is Nara's densest run of night events — the Tokae candles, the Kasuga Taisha Chugen lanterns, the Gojo fireworks — with the goldfish-scooping championship in Yamatokoriyama by day. The cost is heat and tight lodging: book central beds early.
September
36 itemsThe first half of September is still hot and inside typhoon season, so keep mountain plans flexible. The second half cools and autumn starts: cosmos at Hannyaji, pampas grass on Soni Kogen. The park light-up and the Omine season both close out here.
October
48 itemsOctober is one of Nara's best months and its tightest: the Shosoin Exhibition opens late, the deer antler-cutting runs in the first half, and both squeeze city lodging — book ahead. Autumn colour starts high at Odaigahara; Soni's pampas peaks; persimmon season begins.
November
47 itemsNovember is the autumn-colour peak and the hardest month to find a room: Hasedera, Murouji, Tanzan Jinja and the Kasuga Taisha grounds turn in sequence, with the Shosoin Exhibition still running early on. Akishinodera is the quieter alternative.
December
15 itemsEarly December still catches the last colour at Shoryakuji, Tanzan Jinja and Hasedera; after mid-month Nara goes quiet and cold. Watch for road closures on Nara Marathon day. Food shifts to Asuka-nabe, Yamato-mana, Soni soba and the first Asuka strawberries.