Kyoto in October

When to go

October is the start of autumn in Kyoto, which the city's tourism guide describes as mostly mild and sunny and a popular time to visit, with temperatures staying warm through the month and cooling in November as the maple leaves deepen in color. Two dates to check against your plans are the Jidai Matsuri festival, listed among the guide's main events for the twenty-second, and the Sports Day national holiday. The Japan Meteorological Agency's typhoon normals include October approaches to the mainland, so see the agency's forecasts nearer to your trip.

Trip facts

• The Japan Meteorological Agency's 1991–2020 climate normals for Kyoto list an average daily maximum temperature of 23.4 °C, an average daily minimum of 14.4 °C and a monthly total precipitation of 143.2 mm for October. (www.data.jma.go.jp, checked 2026-10-15)
• The Japan Meteorological Agency's typhoon normals (30-year averages for 1991–2020) list 0.9 typhoon approaches to the mainland in October, where the mainland means Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku and an approach means the typhoon's center coming within 300 km of any weather station there. (www.data.jma.go.jp, checked 2026-10-15)
• The Kyoto City Tourism Association's travel guide describes autumn in Kyoto as a season with mostly mild and sunny weather and a popular time to visit, and says temperatures stay warm through October but cool down in November, bringing the deepening colors of the autumn maple leaves. (kyoto.travel, checked 2026-10-15)
• The Kyoto City Tourism Association's events page lists the Jidai Matsuri Festival on October 22 among its main events, describing a parade of roughly 2,000 participants dressed in period garb representing over 1,000 years of Kyoto's history. (kyoto.travel, checked 2026-10-15)
• The Cabinet Office's list of Japan's national holidays for 2027 includes Sports Day on October 11. (www8.cao.go.jp, checked 2026-10-15)
• The Japan National Tourism Organization's visa page says passport holders of some countries and regions do not need a visa if their period of stay in Japan is 90 days or less and they are only engaging in tourism activities, and it tells readers to check the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs' official website for the latest information. (www.japan.travel, checked 2026-10-15)
• Kyoto City's 'Guide to the Accommodation Tax' for stays from March 1, 2026 lists the tax per person per night as 200 yen for an accommodation charge of less than 6,000 yen, 400 yen for 6,000 yen to less than 20,000 yen, 1,000 yen for 20,000 yen to less than 50,000 yen, 4,000 yen for 50,000 yen to less than 100,000 yen and 10,000 yen for 100,000 yen or more, where the accommodation charge is the price of the room and accompanying service charges and does not include meals and consumption tax, and it says to pay at your accommodations, with no payment needed there if you already paid the tax through a booking website or travel agency. (www.city.kyoto.lg.jp, checked 2026-10-15)
• The Kyoto City Transportation Department's Bus & Subway Information Guide says that on the Sightseeing Limited Express Bus routes EX100 and EX101 you get on through the front door, get off through the rear door and pay when getting on, while on other bus routes you get on through the rear door, get off through the front door and pay when getting off. (www2.city.kyoto.lg.jp, checked 2026-10-15)
• The Kyoto City Transportation Department's Bus & Subway Information Guide says the Kyoto City Subway has two lines, the Karasuma Line (north and south of the city area) and the Tozai Line (east and west), that you can transfer between them at Karasuma Oike Station, and that it generally operates from 5 o'clock to 23 o'clock, with fewer trains in the early morning and at night. (www2.city.kyoto.lg.jp, checked 2026-10-15)
• The Kyoto City Tourism Association's travel guide lists the JR Kansai Airport Limited Express Haruka from Kansai International Airport at approx. 80-100 minutes and says direct trains to Kyoto take approximately 80 minutes, and it says the trip from Osaka Station to Kyoto Station takes approximately 30 minutes with the JR Special Rapid Service. (kyoto.travel, checked 2026-10-15)