- Bank counters close Dec 31 to Jan 3; the last counter day is Wed Dec 30, 2026.
- Post office and 7-Eleven ATMs keep working for foreign cards over New Year.
- Mon Jan 4, 2027 is a normal Monday, so Monday-closed sights stay shut a day longer.
- Department-store opening days vary: in 2026 some opened Jan 2, some not until Jan 3.
- Konbini stay open 24 hours; small family-run restaurants often close for days.
- The Skytree first-sunrise lottery closes on Nov 26, 2026. Enter early.
“Many businesses close for several days.” That is how JNTO, Japan’s national tourism organisation, sums up New Year on its business-hours page. It is true. It is also too vague to plan a week around.
Here is the specific answer for this winter. Bank counters, government offices, many small restaurants and a long list of sights close somewhere between Dec 28 and Jan 4, while konbini, some chain restaurants, post office ATMs and 7-Eleven ATMs keep going.
The date that catches people is Mon Jan 4, 2027. It is not a holiday, so offices and banks reopen, but gardens and museums that always close on Mondays stay shut until Tue Jan 5.
This guide covers Sat Dec 26, 2026 to Tue Jan 5, 2027, built from each operator’s own page in October 2026. If you only want to know what winter weather and snow are like, read our Japan in Winter guide instead.
- Bank counters
- Closed Dec 31 to Jan 3
- Last bank day
- Wed Dec 30, 2026
- Tricky day
- Mon Jan 4, 2027 (Monday closures)
- Cash backup
- Post office and 7-Eleven ATMs
- Food backup
- Konbini, open 24 hours
- Dates checked
- October 2026
Hours, dates and fees checked in October 2026; confirm on the official site before you go.
- You are in Japan at some point between Dec 28 and Jan 5
- You plan to change money or top up cash after Dec 30
- A garden, palace or museum is on your list for Jan 4
- You hoped to shop department-store sales on Jan 1 or 2
- Your New Year dinner plan is one small family-run place
- You expect trains to run all night on Dec 31
- You plan a Shinkansen trip on the Jan 9 to 11 weekend
Ticked two or more? The sections below follow the same order, one problem at a time.
The 2026–27 Calendar: Why Monday, January 4 Catches People
New Year’s Day 2027 falls on a Friday. That puts the core holiday on Fri Jan 1, Sat Jan 2 and Sun Jan 3, and then the week starts again on Mon Jan 4.
Offices and banks treat Jan 4 as a normal working day. Many sights treat it as a normal Monday, and a normal Monday is their weekly day off. Add Mon Dec 28 at the other end, and some places are shut for eight days in a row.
We put each official page on one 2026–27 calendar. Here is the result.
← Swipe to see the full table →
| Place | Closed (2026–27) | First day back |
|---|---|---|
| Bank counters | Dec 31 to Jan 3, plus weekends | Mon Jan 4 (last day Wed Dec 30) |
| Shinjuku Gyoen, Tokyo | Mon Dec 28 to Mon Jan 4 | Tue Jan 5 |
| East Gardens, Tokyo | Mon Dec 28 to Mon Jan 4 | Tue Jan 5 |
| Kyoto Imperial Palace | Mon Dec 28 to Mon Jan 4 | Tue Jan 5 |
| Tokyo National Museum | Dec 26 to 31; Mondays closed, so expect Jan 4 shut | Fri Jan 1, from 12:00 |
| Kyoto National Museum | Dec 28 to Jan 1, again Mon Jan 4 | Sat Jan 2 |
| Nijo Castle grounds, Kyoto | Dec 29 to 31 | Fri Jan 1 |
| Nijo Castle Ninomaru Palace | Dec 26 to Jan 3, again Tue Jan 5 | Mon Jan 4 |
| Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum | Dec 30 to 31 only | Fri Jan 1 |
| Post office ATMs (foreign cards) | Not closed: 7:00 to 21:00 Dec 31 to Jan 3 | — |
| 7-Eleven (Seven Bank) ATMs | Not closed: 00:00 to 24:00, maintenance possible | — |
Plan your trip: the tools we use
Our pick: for a Tokyo garden or the Kyoto Imperial Palace, go on Sun Dec 27 or wait for Tue Jan 5; on Jan 1 to 3, use Nijo Castle’s grounds or the Hiroshima museum instead.
1. Assuming everything reopens on January 4
Shinjuku Gyoen lists two separate rules: closed every Monday (the next weekday if Monday is a holiday), and closed Dec 29 to Jan 3. On this calendar, those two rules join up into Dec 28 to Jan 4.
The East Gardens of the Imperial Palace close Dec 28 to Jan 3 and also every Monday and Friday. Jan 4 is a Monday, so the gardens stay closed. The Kyoto Imperial Palace does not make you work it out: its page states Dec 28 to Jan 4 directly.
Museums follow the same logic. The Kyoto National Museum reopens on Jan 2 and 3, then shuts again on Monday Jan 4. The Tokyo National Museum closes on non-holiday Mondays, so expect Jan 4 to be closed and check its calendar.
So what do you do with Jan 4?
Use it for things that run every day: konbini, city walks, a temple you have confirmed is open, or a train day. Save Shinjuku Gyoen for Tue Jan 5. Its winter hours are listed as 9:00 to 16:30 and adult entry was about ¥500 as of October 2026.
2. Treating “closed Dec 29 to Jan 3” as a rule for every sight
Dec 29 to Jan 3 is the legal holiday period for Japan’s government offices. That is why the dates appear in so many guides. In 2026–27, the last office day is Mon Dec 28 and offices are back on Mon Jan 4.
Museums, castles and gardens set their own dates, though, and they do not agree with each other:
- Kyoto Imperial Palace: Dec 28 to Jan 4
- Kyoto National Museum: Dec 28 to Jan 1
- Tokyo National Museum: Dec 26 to 31, open Jan 1 from 12:00 to 20:00
- Nijo Castle grounds: Dec 29 to 31 only
- Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum: Dec 30 to 31 only
The Nijo Castle case is the one to read twice. The grounds reopen on Jan 1, but the Ninomaru Palace inside stays shut from Dec 26 to Jan 3, opens on Jan 4, and closes again on Tue Jan 5 because it closes every Tuesday in January.
The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is the opposite story. It closes for just two days and lists December to February hours of 7:30 to 18:00, with adult entry about ¥200 as of October 2026.
The Dec 29 to Jan 3 dates come from the holiday law for government offices. Museums and gardens are free to pick different ones.
Cash Over New Year: Banks Shut Dec 31 to Jan 3, These ATMs Keep Working
Japan’s banking rules make Dec 31 to Jan 3 bank holidays, on top of every Saturday, Sunday and national holiday. Bank counters are closed on all of those days.
Cash is still easy to get. You just need to know which machines to use, when, and how much each one will give you.
3. Planning to change money at a bank after Dec 30
On the 2026–27 calendar, Dec 31 is a Thursday and Jan 1 to 3 run Friday to Sunday. The last day a bank counter is open is Wed Dec 30, 2026, and the next is Mon Jan 4, 2027.
If you want to change foreign notes at a bank, do it by Dec 30. After that, plan on ATMs with your own card. Our guide to how much cash to bring to Japan helps you size the amount before the long weekend starts.
Do the sum before Dec 30.
4. Relying on a post office ATM late at night
Japan Post Bank ATMs for international cards take VISA, PLUS, Mastercard, Maestro, Cirrus, JCB, China UnionPay and Discover. On a normal Monday to Saturday they run from 7:00 to 23:00.
On Sundays, holidays, Dec 31 and Jan 1 to 3, the listed hours are 7:00 to 21:00, and hours vary by location. A late arrival on New Year’s Eve can miss the post office window. Japan Post Bank also lists a fee of about ¥220 per use for certain foreign cards; check its page for yours.
Seven Bank ATMs for overseas cards, the ones inside 7-Eleven, are listed as 00:00 to 24:00. Seven Bank adds that machines may be unavailable during system maintenance, so carry a second card in case one fails.
Reader
Yuki5. Not knowing your per-withdrawal limit
Each network caps a single withdrawal, which matters if you planned one big top-up before the holiday:
- Seven Bank, cards issued overseas: ¥100,000 per withdrawal
- Seven Bank, magnetic-stripe card transactions: ¥30,000
- Japan Post Bank, international cards: ¥50,000 per transaction
Your home bank may set its own daily limit on top of these, and it may count each withdrawal separately for fees. Check your card’s daily withdrawal limit before you fly.
Shopping on January 1, 2 and 3: Department Store Opening Days Differ
Department-store lucky bags, called fukubukuro, are one of the best-known New Year sights in Japan. Many visitors plan a Jan 1 or Jan 2 shopping morning around them.
That plan is less safe than it used to be.
6. Saving department-store shopping for January 1 or 2
Older advice says department stores reopen on Jan 1 or 2. In 2026, opening days varied by store: some opened on Jan 2, and some stayed closed on both Jan 1 and Jan 2 and opened on Jan 3.
Daimaru Matsuzakaya’s own notice for its Shimonoseki store is one example: closed Jan 1 and 2, open from Jan 3. Dates differed by chain and by branch, so check the store’s own notice in December.
If shopping is a priority, put it on Jan 3 or later, or buy what you need before Dec 31. For gifts and snacks on Jan 1 and 2, JNTO notes that some discount stores, like konbini, run 24 hours even on national holidays.
- Before Dec 31: department stores, souvenir shops, pharmacies you rely on
- Jan 1 to 2: konbini, 24-hour discount stores, station shops you have checked
- Jan 3 onward: department stores, once each store has posted its dates
7. Assuming the 2026 dates repeat in 2027
As of Oct 31, 2026, none of the big department-store chains had posted their 2027 New Year dates on their official sites. We will not guess them for you.
Notices can arrive late: the Daimaru one for 2026 was updated on Dec 22, 2025. Check each store’s own site in December, and look at the exact branch: the Daimaru notice above covered one store, and opening days can differ from branch to branch.
One screenshot per store saves a lot of searching later. Keep it on your phone with the address, so you can show it to hotel staff if you need directions.
Planning your visit?
Eating Out When Small Restaurants Close for the Holidays
JNTO’s New Year guide puts it plainly: most Japanese companies close for the year-end and the first three days of the new year, and many restaurants and facilities shut. Those still open may shorten their hours.
You will not go hungry. You may, though, eat somewhere other than the place you had planned.
8. Counting on the small local restaurant you found on a map
The family-run ramen counter or izakaya you saved is exactly the kind of place that takes a few days off. The hours a map app shows are a shop’s usual hours and may not include a New Year break.
Pick a backup for every meal from Dec 31 to Jan 3. JNTO notes that some chain restaurants run 24 hours even on national holidays. Hotel restaurants and the restaurant floors of big stations are also worth checking on each operator’s page.
- Check the shop’s own website or social page for a New Year notice
- Ask your hotel front desk which nearby places are open on Jan 1
- Book any special New Year dinner well ahead, and confirm the date
If a restaurant matters to you, ask your hotel to call it for you a few days before. A short phone call settles what a map cannot.
9. Forgetting the konbini as your safety net
JNTO lists 7-Eleven, FamilyMart and Lawson among the convenience stores that run 24 hours a day, even on national holidays. That makes the konbini your breakfast, late dinner and snack stop on Jan 1.
Hot food, rice balls, sandwiches and drinks are all there. Our Japan convenience store food guide shows what to buy and how the hot counter works.
A 7-Eleven also has the Seven Bank ATM inside.
Trains from Dec 25 to Jan 11: The Dec 31 Night and the Second Busy Weekend
Trains in Japan run over New Year. The two questions that matter are whether they run through the night of Dec 31, and which days are hardest to get a seat.
10. Assuming trains run all night on December 31
As of Oct 31, 2026, the 2026–27 New Year’s Eve plans had not been announced. Do not plan your countdown on all-night trains until your operator confirms them.
Last year gives an idea of what to look for. On Dec 17, 2025, JR East announced all-night running on six Tokyo-area lines for 2025–26, with the Yamanote Line running roughly every 10 to 25 minutes between about 1:00 and 5:00.
Last year’s plan came out on Dec 17, so start checking in mid-December. Look at JR East’s news page for Tokyo, or the operator in the city where you will be on Dec 31. If nothing is announced for your line, plan to be back at your hotel before the usual last train.
11. Forgetting the January 9 to 11 long weekend
Coming of Age Day falls on Mon Jan 11, 2027, which makes Jan 9 to 11 a three-day weekend. It sits outside most New Year articles, but JR Central treats it as a peak.
JR Central’s notice makes every Nozomi reserved-seat only from Dec 25, 2026 to Jan 5, 2027 and again from Jan 9 to 11, 2027; Hikari and Kodama keep their non-reserved cars. The full seat rules are in our Shinkansen tickets guide.
Book Tokaido Shinkansen seats on smart EX, which has an English site, as soon as your dates are fixed. If you are weighing a rail pass on Klook or the official Japan Rail Pass site, whether the pass pays off depends on your route, so add up the individual fares first.
Two peak windows, not one.
3 Things to Sort Out Before You Fly
Most New Year problems are fixed at home, weeks before the flight. These three take a few minutes each and are hard to fix once you land.
12. Missing the Tokyo Skytree first-sunrise lottery
Tokyo Skytree runs a special first-sunrise opening on Jan 1, 2027, scheduled for 5:30 to 7:30. Tickets are sold by lottery on Skytree’s first-sunrise page, not on the day.
- Registration: Nov 5, 2026 at 12:00 to Nov 26, 2026 at 23:59
- Results: Dec 1, 2026
- Price: about ¥11,000 including a ¥1,000 shop voucher, as of October 2026
Not drawn? Skytree lists regular hours of 8:00 to 22:00 (last entry 21:00) on Jan 1 and 2, an hour earlier than its usual 9:00 opening. A later visit on Jan 1 still works.
13. Leaving hotels and Shinkansen seats to the last week
JNTO notes that most Japanese companies close over the same days, so you are planning around the same week as many people who live in Japan. We have no official figure for hotel prices that week, so we will not quote one.
What we can say is simple. Book the room first, with free cancellation, then the seats. Compare a few rooms on Booking.com, Agoda and Rakuten Travel, and choose a hotel near a major station so a closed local restaurant is never a problem.
Day tours on Klook and GetYourGuide can be a good fit for Jan 1 to 3 when sights are patchy, but check that the tour actually runs on your date. The operator’s own calendar has the final word.
Partner link.
14. Not saving a help number before everything shuts
Government offices close from Dec 29 to Jan 3. The Japan Visitor Hotline does not: JNTO lists it as open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in English, Chinese and Korean.
- From inside Japan: 050-3816-2787
- From overseas: +81-50-3816-2787
Save it in your phone now. An eSIM from Airalo or Ubigi keeps you online to check each sight’s page on the day. If you plan to send bags ahead with Yamato or another service, check the provider’s New Year notice first; our luggage forwarding guide covers how it works.
What Works vs What Backfires Between Dec 28 and Jan 5
Most New Year trouble comes from one habit: planning with general advice and then meeting a specific calendar. Here are the swaps that fix it, in one place.
What most first-timers do
- Plan a garden or palace visit for Mon Jan 4
- Leave money changing until Dec 31
- Save department-store sales for Jan 1 or 2
- Rely on one small restaurant for Jan 1 dinner
- Count on all-night trains before they are announced
What actually works
- Move Monday-closed sights to Tue Jan 5
- Change money by Wed Dec 30, then use ATMs
- Shop before Dec 31 or from Jan 3
- Keep a konbini or chain backup for every meal
- Check your operator’s Dec 31 plan in December
None of these costs money. They only cost a few minutes of reading each official page instead of one general list.
The trade-off is flexibility. A tight plan with fixed sights on Jan 4 breaks easily, while a plan that keeps Jan 1 to 4 for walking, konbini meals and open-every-day sights rarely does.
Want the stress-free version? Leave Jan 4 loose.
If you are arriving on Dec 31, the right column matters even more. Land with some yen already in your wallet, know where the nearest 7-Eleven is, and keep your first two days free of anything that needs a counter or a booking office.
One Habit That Beats Every Closure List: Read Each Sight’s Own Calendar
Lists of “what closes at New Year”, this one included, go out of date. Each place publishes its own rules, and the rules often sit on two different lines of the same page.
Shinjuku Gyoen is a good example. Its information page lists the New Year closure as Dec 29 to Jan 3, and separately lists every Monday as a closed day. Neither line mentions Jan 4. You only find it by putting both rules on a 2026–27 calendar.
That is the whole method.
Step 1: Fix your dates in each city first
Write down which city you are in on each day from Dec 26 to Jan 5. Closures only matter where you actually are.
Step 2: Open each sight’s official page
Find two things: the New Year closure dates and the weekly closed day, plus the rule for when that day is a holiday.
Step 3: Put both rules on the 2026–27 calendar
Mark Mon Dec 28 and Mon Jan 4, and Tuesdays in January for Nijo Castle’s Ninomaru Palace. Move any sight that lands on a closed day.
Step 4: Recheck everything in December
Department stores, Dec 31 train plans and many shops post their dates late. A five-minute check in mid-December catches the changes.
Expect the December check to change something. Stores and train operators publish their holiday dates late, and a single change on Jan 1 or Jan 4 can move a whole day of your plan. Keep the screenshots in one album on your phone so you can find them at a ticket gate or a shop door.
New Year in Japan: 4 Quick Questions
Is anything open on January 1?
Yes. Konbini and some chain restaurants run 24 hours, post office ATMs run 7:00 to 21:00, and Seven Bank ATMs list 00:00 to 24:00. The Tokyo National Museum opens from 12:00 to 20:00, and Nijo Castle’s grounds and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum are open.
Can I withdraw cash on January 1?
Yes, at Japan Post Bank and Seven Bank ATMs with an international card. Bank counters are closed from Dec 31 to Jan 3, so change foreign notes by Wed Dec 30.
When do department stores open in 2027?
Not announced as of Oct 31, 2026. In 2026, opening days varied by store: some opened on Jan 2, while some, such as Daimaru Shimonoseki, did not open until Jan 3. Check each store’s own site in December before planning a Jan 1 or 2 visit.
Is the Japan Visitor Hotline open over New Year?
Yes. JNTO lists it as open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in English, Chinese and Korean, on 050-3816-2787 (+81-50-3816-2787 from overseas).
Planning around a week when half the country takes time off can feel like a puzzle with missing pieces.
You do not need to read every list again; fix the cash, the Jan 4 sights and the train seats now, and leave the rest for one quick check in December.
Keep planning
- ① Install and test your eSIM before take-offAiralo and Ubigi eSIMs activate on arrival, but the install itself needs Wi-Fi. Do it at home and confirm the profile shows up in your phone settings.
- ② Save your first hotel’s address in JapaneseTaxi drivers and station staff read Japanese addresses far faster than romanised ones. Copy it from the booking confirmation into your notes app.
- ③ Set aside cash for day oneMany small restaurants, temples and rural buses are still cash-only. Airport ATMs at 7-Eleven and the post office accept most foreign cards.
Skip these and your first hour in Japan goes on finding Wi-Fi at the station instead of getting to your hotel.
🔍 How to sanity-check any price you read online
Blogs (including this one) go out of date. The official page always wins over a screenshot from two years ago.
Cover Photo: 日本国郵政省, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
