Checking the weather is a must for most people before proceeding with their daily activities. People living and traveling in Tokyo are no exception. Here is a short explanation about weather and how to read weather forecasts in the city, and people traveling or moving to Tokyo should become familiar.
Table of Contents
- Weather Forecast in Tokyo
- Tokyo weather per month
- Sites and Apps to be your guide to Tokyo weather
- Summary
Weather Forecast in Tokyo
The main agency responsible for weather forecasts is the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). They also issue earthquake, volcanic and other weather-related warnings.
How to read or understand a forecast
When you visit Tokyo or any place for that matter, it's often important to understand how to read weather forecasts because it may affect your planned activities.
Of course, apps are available in English, but here are some of the weather terms you should be familiar with in Japanese.
Let’s use a week’s prediction for Tokyo’s weather by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) as a reference. Tokyo’s weather is the very top of the chart, marked by 東京地方 (Tokyo Region) and 東京 (Tokyo). The numbers going across the top next to 日付 (hizuke - date) are of course, the dates of the week.
One week weather prediction for Tokyo (JMA)
The pictures of the weather conditions should be straightforward enough.
Under that is 降水確率 (kousui kakuritsu) or probability of precipitation.
And under that is 信頼度(shinraido) which means how reliable is this percentage. In the weekly chart, they make a prediction starting the day after next. (If you want a prediction for today and the day after, you should check the 3-day weather forecast here. You can even get a precipitation probability based on time.) On the weekly forecast, the 信頼度 is shown from an A - C scale, A being the most reliable and C being the least. C means that the weather and amount of precipitation is likely to change depending on the day prior compared to B.
And last is 最高(°C) -saikou or the high of the day and 最低(°C) - saitei or the low of the day. Again, more accurate would be the daily forecast linked above.
Also a pro-tip is to know the weather in other regions of Japan, you can toggle the dropdown menu from 東京都 (Tokyo) to other prefectures.
Tokyo temperature and precipitation
Tokyo experiences rainy season during June and July, making an umbrella an essential part of your trip. During summer, Tokyo's temperature is very hot, along with high levels of humidity as well, making things seem very wet and muggy. Typhoon season follows summer in September and October, making the umbrellas a necessity again. When winter comes, the weather ranges from cold to moderate, with very few snowy days recently if any in a year. When it comes to precipitation, the city averages 1,500 millimeters annually.
※ United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, "Greater Tokyo Region (Japan)," p.1
Writer's Pick
Tokyo weather per month
When you are planning to visit Tokyo, you may probably wonder when the perfect season or time is to go. Having knowledge of its weather will certainly bring you an idea prior to your visit. Here are the averages from 2020 to be used as reference for your future trip! Of course, things can change in the future as weather conditions fluctuate yearly.
January |
January is usually the coldest month and season in Tokyo. The daily |
February |
The daily average was 8.3°C and the highest recorded temperature |
March |
It’s still chilly this month but the average daily temperature rose to |
April |
Many people plan their trips around the end of March to early April |
May |
May is considerably warmer with the daily average reaching 19.5 in |
June |
June (and July) is the weird month where it’s warm and getting hot, |
July |
July is still the rainy season! In 2020, it saw 270.5 mm of rain in |
August |
August is usually the hottest month of the year. In 2020, the |
September |
Here comes the typhoons. In 2020, September saw 117.5 mm of rain. |
October |
October was even more rainy than September in 2020, with 205 mm |
November |
The amount of rain and the temperature steeply drops to welcome |
December |
December 2020 was very similar to January 2020, with a daily average |
※Japan Meteorological Agency, “2020 Monthly Figures”
Sites and Apps to be your guide to Tokyo weather
For a deeper understanding of the weather forecasts of Tokyo and to stay updated daily, you can search for the websites of the Japan Meteorological Agency and AccuWeather on the internet. The websites were created for your convenience to visit the city without feeling anxious about weather conditions while traveling. Apps may also give you more specific weather conditions by location if you enable location settings rather than by entire prefecture like JMA.
You can also download the Weather Japan app for more understanding of weather forecasts. It is a multilingual weather app that provides forecasts around Japan especially in Tokyo. You may also search for other locations in the app.
Summary
Prior to visiting Tokyo, it's indeed very important to know the seasons and corresponding weather conditions of the city. Weather in Japan of course varies from location to location. Having background knowledge of its weather and how to read the basic forecast in Japanese as well as having the right resources may be the biggest help to you when you get there. Traveling around Tokyo might be tricky if you don’t plan for the weather ahead of time. Thus, understanding their weather is a must when you are planning to visit the city and have the best time.