Where to go in May? Quieter places in Europe and Japan

TL;DR

Of the 35 European countries we cover, May carried the smallest share of the year's 2025 tourist nights in Bulgaria (5.3%), Austria (5.7%) and Croatia (6.2%). It was not the quietest month in any of them. In Japan, it was the quietest in none of 47 prefectures. It was the busiest month in two Japanese prefectures.

How we picked the quieter places

For each country and prefecture, we took its 2025 nights at tourist accommodation and worked out what share fell in May. If a place's visitors were spread evenly, each month would carry 8.3% of its year. A share below that means May was quieter than that place's average month; above it, busier.12

This compares each place with itself, not places with each other: a low share is a quiet month for that place. For how each year looks in full, open the country or prefecture page.

Europe in May: all 35 countries, quietest share first

In 14 of the 35 countries, May carried less than an average month's share (8.3%) of 2025's tourist nights.1

European countries by share of 2025 tourist nights in May
CountryShare of 2025 nights in MayCompared with an average monthBusiest monthQuietest month
Bulgaria
5.3%
BelowAugustNovember
Austria
5.7%
BelowAugustNovember
Croatia
6.2%
BelowAugustJanuary
Iceland
6.6%
BelowJulyDecember
Albania
6.9%
BelowAugustFebruary
Finland
6.9%
BelowJulyApril
Switzerland
7.3%
BelowJulyNovember
Liechtenstein
7.4%
BelowAugustNovember
Romania
7.6%
BelowAugustMarch
Lithuania
7.9%
BelowJulyJanuary
Italy
8.0%
BelowAugustNovember
Slovenia
8.0%
BelowAugustNovember
Estonia
8.2%
BelowJulyJanuary
Norway
8.2%
BelowJulyJanuary
Slovakia
8.3%
Same, once roundedAugustMarch
Hungary
8.4%
AboveAugustJanuary
Poland
8.4%
AboveAugustJanuary
Sweden
8.5%
AboveJulyJanuary
France
8.6%
AboveAugustNovember
Latvia
8.6%
AboveJulyFebruary
Türkiye
8.7%
AboveAugustFebruary
Malta
8.8%
AboveAugustJanuary
Czechia
9.0%
AboveAugustJanuary
Spain
9.2%
AboveAugustJanuary
Netherlands
9.3%
AboveAugustFebruary
Portugal
9.3%
AboveAugustJanuary
Serbia
9.3%
AboveAugustFebruary
Belgium
9.4%
AboveJulyJanuary
Denmark
9.4%
AboveJulyJanuary
Germany
9.6%
AboveAugustJanuary
Montenegro
9.6%
AboveAugustJanuary
Ireland
9.7%
AboveAugustJanuary
Greece
9.9%
AboveAugustJanuary
Cyprus
10.2%
AboveAugustJanuary
Luxembourg
10.6%
AboveJulyJanuary

Where was May the quietest month of the year?

In 2025, May was not the quietest month in any of our 35 European countries or 47 Japanese prefectures.12

Where was May the busiest month?

In 2025, May was the busiest month in two Japanese prefectures, and in none of our 35 European countries.12

  • Nara (Japan): 10.4% of the year's nights
  • Kyoto (Japan): 9.5% of the year's nights

Japan in May: every prefecture

Japan's figures come from a sample survey, and the gaps between prefectures are often smaller than its sampling error, so we list the prefectures alphabetically rather than ranking them.3

Show all 47 prefectures' share of 2025 guest nights in May
Japanese prefectures, share of 2025 guest nights in May
PrefectureShare in MayBusiest monthQuietest month
Aichi8.5%AugustFebruary
Akita9.2%AugustFebruary
Aomori8.7%AugustJanuary
Chiba8.2%AugustJune
Ehime8.5%AugustJune
Fukui8.4%AugustJanuary
Fukuoka8.7%OctoberJanuary
Fukushima8.1%AugustJanuary
Gifu8.3%AugustJune
Gunma8.2%AugustApril
Hiroshima9.2%AugustJanuary
Hokkaido7.5%AugustApril
Hyogo8.4%AugustFebruary
Ibaraki8.2%AugustJanuary
Ishikawa9.0%NovemberJanuary
Iwate8.3%AugustDecember
Kagawa8.7%AugustFebruary
Kagoshima8.6%NovemberJune
Kanagawa7.6%AugustFebruary
Kochi9.0%AugustJanuary
Kumamoto8.7%OctoberJune
Kyoto9.5%MayFebruary
Mie9.1%AugustFebruary
Miyagi8.2%AugustJanuary
Miyazaki8.8%AugustJune
Nagano7.8%AugustApril
Nagasaki9.0%AugustJanuary
Nara10.4%MayJanuary
Niigata7.5%AugustApril
Oita8.6%MarchJune
Okayama8.9%AugustJanuary
Okinawa7.7%AugustJanuary
Osaka9.1%AugustFebruary
Saga9.4%AugustFebruary
Saitama8.6%AugustFebruary
Shiga9.2%AugustFebruary
Shimane8.4%AugustFebruary
Shizuoka8.2%AugustJune
Tochigi8.7%AugustFebruary
Tokushima9.0%AugustJanuary
Tokyo8.6%DecemberFebruary
Tottori8.4%AugustFebruary
Toyama9.2%AugustJanuary
Wakayama9.3%AugustFebruary
Yamagata8.6%AugustApril
Yamaguchi8.6%AugustJanuary
Yamanashi8.2%AugustFebruary

What is the weather like in May?

Of the 28 European capitals we have weather for, Nicosia has the highest average high in May (29.8 °C) and Reykjavik the lowest (10.1 °C), averaged over 1991–2020.4 We do not yet publish weather for Albania, Greece, Denmark, Portugal, Switzerland, Lithuania and Malta.

Average weather in May at one station per European country, 1991 to 2020, warmest first
Station city (country)Average highAverage lowRainRainy days
Nicosia (Cyprus)29.8 °C15.3 °C26 mm9.4 days
Podgorica (Montenegro)25.8 °C14.5 °C98 mm7.8 days
Bucharest (Romania)24.1 °C9.7 °C70 mm8.4 days
Belgrade (Serbia)23.6 °C13.2 °C72 mm9.4 days
Madrid (Spain)23.5 °C11.9 °C48 mm6.8 days
Rome (Italy)23.3 °C12.6 °C57 mm5.5 days
Budapest (Hungary)23.1 °C12.8 °C57 mm8.0 days
Ankara (Türkiye)22.8 °C10.5 °C51 mm7.2 days
Zagreb (Croatia)22.4 °C11.0 °C76 mm9.3 days
Ljubljana (Slovenia)21.8 °C10.6 °C114 mm10.7 days
Sofia (Bulgaria)21.4 °C9.8 °C73 mm10.0 days
Bratislava (Slovakia)21.2 °C10.9 °C68 mm8.9 days
Vienna (Austria)20.7 °C10.7 °C79 mm9.4 days
Paris (France)20.2 °C11.1 °C69 mm9.2 days
Prague (Czechia)20.1 °C8.9 °C67 mm9.4 days
Vaduz (Liechtenstein)20.1 °C9.7 °C100 mm12.0 days
Warsaw (Poland)19.8 °C8.8 °C56 mm9.1 days
Berlin (Germany)19.7 °C8.6 °C54 mm13.0 days
Luxembourg (Luxembourg)18.4 °C8.7 °C73 mm10.0 days
Brussels (Belgium)18.4 °C9.2 °C60 mm10.0 days
Riga (Latvia)17.8 °C8.2 °C48 mm8.0 days
Amsterdam (Netherlands)17.8 °C8.6 °C54 mm8.9 days
Oslo (Norway)16.7 °C6.8 °C60 mm9.0 days
Stockholm (Sweden)16.5 °C7.1 °C34 mm6.5 days
Tallinn (Estonia)15.4 °C5.2 °C37 mm7.3 days
Dublin (Ireland)14.8 °C6.6 °C57 mm10.5 days
Helsinki (Finland)14.6 °C6.4 °C38 mm6.8 days
Reykjavik (Iceland)10.1 °C4.0 °C53 mm10.8 days
Show May weather for all 47 Japanese prefectures
Average weather in May at one station per Japanese prefecture, 1991 to 2020, warmest first
Prefecture (station)Average highAverage lowRainRainy days
Okinawa (Naha (那覇))27.0 °C22.1 °C245 mm11.4 days
Kumamoto (Kumamoto (熊本))26.0 °C15.6 °C161 mm9.2 days
Saga (Saga (佐賀))25.6 °C15.2 °C183 mm8.5 days
Kagoshima (Kagoshima (鹿児島))25.5 °C17.3 °C205 mm9.4 days
Yamanashi (Kofu (甲府))25.3 °C13.7 °C85 mm7.8 days
Kyoto (Kyoto (京都))25.1 °C14.5 °C151 mm9.7 days
Nara (Nara (奈良))24.9 °C13.9 °C138 mm10.0 days
Yamaguchi (Yamaguchi (山口))24.9 °C13.3 °C197 mm9.2 days
Osaka (Osaka (大阪))24.9 °C16.0 °C136 mm9.5 days
Kochi (Kochi (高知))24.8 °C15.5 °C280 mm9.9 days
Kagawa (Takamatsu (高松))24.8 °C15.1 °C101 mm8.1 days
Okayama (Okayama (岡山))24.8 °C14.8 °C113 mm8.4 days
Gifu (Gifu (岐阜))24.7 °C14.6 °C193 mm10.1 days
Miyazaki (Miyazaki (宮崎))24.6 °C16.3 °C228 mm10.5 days
Aichi (Nagoya (名古屋))24.6 °C14.9 °C150 mm9.7 days
Hiroshima (Hiroshima (広島))24.4 °C15.1 °C170 mm8.6 days
Fukuoka (Fukuoka (福岡))24.4 °C16.1 °C134 mm8.6 days
Wakayama (Wakayama (和歌山))24.3 °C15.6 °C147 mm9.1 days
Gunma (Maebashi (前橋))24.2 °C13.6 °C99 mm9.5 days
Ehime (Matsuyama (松山))24.2 °C15.0 °C130 mm8.7 days
Oita (Oita (大分))24.1 °C15.0 °C134 mm8.6 days
Tokushima (Tokushima (徳島))24.0 °C15.6 °C147 mm8.4 days
Nagasaki (Nagasaki (長崎))23.9 °C16.1 °C161 mm9.1 days
Tottori (Tottori (鳥取))23.8 °C12.9 °C123 mm10.1 days
Saitama (Saitama (さいたま))23.8 °C13.9 °C121 mm10.0 days
Shiga (Otsu (大津))23.7 °C13.3 °C157 mm10.3 days
Hyogo (Kobe (神戸))23.6 °C16.5 °C135 mm9.1 days
Tokyo (Tokyo (東京))23.6 °C14.6 °C140 mm10.1 days
Shizuoka (Shizuoka (静岡))23.5 °C15.1 °C215 mm10.0 days
Fukui (Fukui (福井))23.3 °C13.4 °C139 mm10.7 days
Tochigi (Utsunomiya (宇都宮))23.3 °C13.0 °C149 mm11.3 days
Nagano (Nagano (長野))23.2 °C10.9 °C69 mm8.3 days
Shimane (Matsue (松江))23.2 °C13.5 °C130 mm9.4 days
Mie (Tsu (津))23.1 °C15.4 °C167 mm9.9 days
Fukushima (Fukushima (福島))23.1 °C12.1 °C88 mm8.2 days
Kanagawa (Yokohama (横浜))23.1 °C15.5 °C153 mm9.8 days
Chiba (Chiba (千葉))23.0 °C15.4 °C122 mm10.1 days
Toyama (Toyama (富山))22.7 °C12.9 °C123 mm10.7 days
Yamagata (Yamagata (山形))22.6 °C10.7 °C74 mm8.7 days
Ishikawa (Kanazawa (金沢))22.3 °C13.6 °C138 mm10.4 days
Ibaraki (Mito (水戸))22.0 °C12.5 °C144 mm11.1 days
Niigata (Niigata (新潟))21.3 °C12.7 °C94 mm10.1 days
Iwate (Morioka (盛岡))20.3 °C9.1 °C106 mm10.5 days
Miyagi (Sendai (仙台))20.2 °C11.7 °C110 mm8.8 days
Akita (Akita (秋田))19.6 °C11.1 °C125 mm11.0 days
Aomori (Aomori (青森))18.8 °C9.4 °C77 mm9.6 days
Hokkaido (Sapporo (札幌))17.9 °C9.0 °C56 mm8.5 days

Thirty-year averages from one weather station per country or prefecture: the same station its page uses. They describe a typical year at that station, not a forecast, and weather varies within every country. A rainy day is one with at least 1 mm of rain.

How warm is the sea in May?

Average sea surface temperature in May, 1991–2020, at the open-sea point nearest each weather station, where there is one within 30 km: 8 European capitals and 29 Japanese prefectures. It is open sea, not a beach reading.9 Every month, and how we chose the points.

Average sea surface temperature in May near European capitals, 1991 to 2020, warmest first
Station city (country)Sea, May
Nicosia (Cyprus)20.8 °C
Rome (Italy)18.4 °C
Amsterdam (Netherlands)11.6 °C
Dublin (Ireland)10.6 °C
Riga (Latvia)8.6 °C
Reykjavik (Iceland)7.2 °C
Tallinn (Estonia)6.4 °C
Helsinki (Finland)6.2 °C
Show May sea temperatures for 29 Japanese prefectures
Average sea surface temperature in May near Japanese prefecture stations, 1991 to 2020, warmest first
Station city (prefecture)Sea, May
Naha (Okinawa)24.7 °C
Miyazaki (Miyazaki)21.9 °C
Kagoshima (Kagoshima)21.4 °C
Kochi (Kochi)20.8 °C
Nagasaki (Nagasaki)19.6 °C
Shizuoka (Shizuoka)19.1 °C
Kumamoto (Kumamoto)18.9 °C
Saga (Saga)18.9 °C
Tsu (Mie)18.5 °C
Wakayama (Wakayama)18.5 °C
Yokohama (Kanagawa)18.2 °C
Oita (Oita)18.0 °C
Chiba (Chiba)17.9 °C
Fukuoka (Fukuoka)17.9 °C
Tokushima (Tokushima)17.9 °C
Tokyo (Tokyo)17.9 °C
Kobe (Hyogo)17.8 °C
Osaka (Osaka)17.8 °C
Matsuyama (Ehime)17.2 °C
Mito (Ibaraki)16.9 °C
Matsue (Shimane)16.9 °C
Tottori (Tottori)16.6 °C
Fukui (Fukui)16.1 °C
Kanazawa (Ishikawa)15.8 °C
Toyama (Toyama)15.2 °C
Niigata (Niigata)14.5 °C
Akita (Akita)13.6 °C
Sendai (Miyagi)13.5 °C
Aomori (Aomori)10.8 °C

Which public holidays fall in May 2026 and 2027?

These are the national holiday lists we publish for 33 European countries and Japan, copied from each country's page. Regional holidays, such as those of Germany's states or Spain's regions, are on the country pages. Spain's 2027 list and some 2027 dates elsewhere are not published yet. What each list covers differs; see the notes for each country.56

May 2026

Public holidays in May 2026
DateHolidayWhere
Fri 1 May1 MayFrance, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Norway, Portugal, Romania
Fri 1 MayFiesta del TrabajoSpain
Fri 1 MayInternational Labour DayLithuania
Fri 1 MayInternational Workers' DayAlbania
Fri 1 MayLabour DayBelgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia
Fri 1 MayLabour and Solidarity DayTürkiye
Fri 1 MayMay DayFinland, Sweden
Fri 1 MayNational holiday (1 May)Austria
Fri 1 MaySpring DayEstonia
Fri 1 MayWorkers' DayMalta
Sat 2 MayLabour DaySlovenia
Sat 2 MayLabour Day (second day)Montenegro, Serbia
Sun 3 MayConstitution DayPoland
Sun 3 MayConstitution Memorial DayJapan
Sun 3 MayMother's DayLithuania
Mon 4 MayGreenery DayJapan
Mon 4 MayMay bank holidayIreland
Mon 4 MayRestoration of Independence DayLatvia
Tue 5 MayChildren's DayJapan
Tue 5 MayLiberation DayNetherlands
Wed 6 MayPublic holiday (Constitution Memorial Day fell on a Sunday)Japan
Wed 6 MaySt George's Day, Day of Valour and the Bulgarian ArmyBulgaria
Fri 8 May8 MayFrance
Fri 8 MayVictory DayCzechia
Sat 9 MayEurope DayLuxembourg
Sun 10 MayMother's DayLatvia
Thu 14 MayAscension DayAustria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden
Sun 17 May17 MayNorway
Tue 19 MayCommemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports DayTürkiye
Thu 21 MayIndependence DayMontenegro
Fri 22 MayIndependence Day (second day)Montenegro
Sun 24 MayDay of Saints Cyril and Methodius, the Bulgarian alphabet, education and cultureBulgaria
Sun 24 MayWhit SundayDenmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden
Mon 25 MayWhit MondayAustria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway
Wed 27 MayEid al-Adha (Kurban Bajram)Albania
Sat 30 MayStatehood DayCroatia
Sun 31 MayWhit Sunday (Orthodox)Romania

May 2027

Public holidays in May 2027
DateHolidayWhere
Sat 1 May1 MayFrance, Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Norway, Portugal, Romania
Sat 1 MayHoly Saturday (Orthodox)Bulgaria, Serbia
Sat 1 MayInternational Labour DayLithuania
Sat 1 MayLabour DayBelgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia
Sat 1 MayLabour and Solidarity DayTürkiye
Sat 1 MayMay DayFinland, Sweden
Sat 1 MayNational holiday (1 May)Austria
Sat 1 MaySpring DayEstonia
Sat 1 MayWorkers' DayMalta
Sun 2 MayEaster Sunday (Orthodox)Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia
Sun 2 MayLabour DaySlovenia
Sun 2 MayLabour Day (second day)Montenegro, Serbia
Sun 2 MayMother's DayLithuania
Mon 3 MayConstitution DayPoland
Mon 3 MayConstitution Memorial DayJapan
Mon 3 MayEaster Monday (Orthodox)Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Serbia
Mon 3 MayMay bank holidayIreland
Tue 4 MayGreenery DayJapan
Tue 4 MayRestoration of Independence DayLatvia
Wed 5 MayChildren's DayJapan
Wed 5 MayLiberation DayNetherlands
Thu 6 MayAscension DayAustria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden
Thu 6 MaySt George's Day, Day of Valour and the Bulgarian ArmyBulgaria
Sat 8 May8 MayFrance
Sat 8 MayVictory DayCzechia
Sat 8 MayVictory over Fascism DaySlovakia
Sun 9 MayEurope DayLuxembourg
Sun 9 MayMother's DayLatvia
Sun 16 MayWhit SundayDenmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden
Mon 17 May17 MayNorway
Mon 17 MayWhit MondayAustria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway
Wed 19 MayCommemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports DayTürkiye
Fri 21 MayIndependence DayMontenegro
Sat 22 MayIndependence Day (second day)Montenegro
Mon 24 MayDay of Saints Cyril and Methodius, the Bulgarian alphabet, education and cultureBulgaria
Thu 27 MayCorpus ChristiAustria, Croatia, Liechtenstein, Poland, Portugal
Sun 30 MayStatehood DayCroatia

See every month in the holiday calendar, with school holidays too.

Blossom, autumn leaves and typhoons in Japan in May

Cherry trees usually start to bloom in May at the JMA stations for one prefecture: Hokkaido (around 1 May).7

They usually reach full bloom in May in one prefecture: Hokkaido (around 6 May).7

Over 1991–2020, an average of 0.7 typhoons came within 300 km of a JMA weather station somewhere in Japan in May.8 Typhoons by region and month.

These are the Japan Meteorological Agency's 1991–2020 averages at one station per prefecture; each year's dates differ. See cherry blossom dates and autumn leaf dates for every prefecture.

What these figures cannot tell you

  • A share of each place's own year, not a crowd count. A low share means that month was quiet for that place. It does not mean the place had fewer visitors than somewhere else, and a small country's busy month can still be far quieter than a big country's quiet one.
  • Nights, not queues. A national or prefecture total cannot show crowding at one sight, beach or old town. Day trips do not count at all, because nobody stays the night.
  • One year. These are 2025 figures. Another year can differ, for example when Easter moves between March and April.
  • Japan's figures are a sample survey. The gaps between neighbouring prefectures are often smaller than the survey's sampling error, so we do not rank prefectures against each other.
  • No causes. Weather and holidays sit next to the tourism figures here, but the figures do not show that either makes a month busier or quieter, so we do not say they do.
  • We have not been to these places and make no judgement about which is better to visit.

Other months: January · February · March · April · June · July · August · September · October · November · December. Or open May in Explore.

Key takeaways

  • Lowest share of 2025 tourist nights in May, in Europe: Bulgaria (5.3%), Austria (5.7%) and Croatia (6.2%).
  • May was not the quietest month anywhere we cover.
  • May was the busiest month in two of them.
  • What we would skip: reading a low share as a promise of empty streets. It says May was quiet for that country or prefecture as a whole, not at any one sight.

Sources

The tourism figures come from Eurostat and the Japan Tourism Agency; the weather from the World Meteorological Organization's normals (via NOAA), MeteoSwiss and the Japan Meteorological Agency; blossom and typhoon averages from the Japan Meteorological Agency; and holidays from each country's law or official list. We copied every figure from the country and prefecture pages linked here. See how we research.

  1. Source: Eurostat, Nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments – monthly data, doi:10.2908/TOUR_OCC_NIM, accessed 25 September 2026. Dataset last updated by Eurostat on 22 September 2026. Extract: number of nights, NACE codes I55.1–I55.3, all guests and split by guests resident in the country and abroad, January–December 2025.
  2. Source: 「宿泊旅行統計調査」(観光庁) (Overnight Travel Statistics Survey, Japan Tourism Agency), 2025 annual figures (final), tables 2 and 8 and reference table 1, published 6 July 2026. Survey page · workbook. Accessed 17 September 2026. Licensed under the Public Data License 1.0 (PDL1.0).
  3. Japan Tourism Agency, survey outline (調査の概要), glossary (用語の解説) and standard error rates (参考1), on coverage, sampling, the definition of a foreign guest and the January 2026 change of method. Read them. Checked 17 September 2026.
  4. Weather: WMO Member Nations (2023). WMO Climatological Standard Normals for 1991-2020 (NCEI Accession 0253808), the station named for each country in the table (the same station its country page uses), mean daily maximum and minimum temperature, precipitation and number of days with at least 1 mm of precipitation, normals computed from at least 24 years. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. doi:10.25921/800j-vn07. Accessed 22 September 2026. Released by NOAA under CC0. Weather in Japan: 出典:気象庁ホームページ(過去の気象データ検索). Japan Meteorological Agency, 1991–2020 normals for the station named for each prefecture (the same station its prefecture page uses, where the page links the station's own table): daily maximum and minimum temperature, precipitation and days with at least 1.0 mm of precipitation (降水量の階級日数). Accessed 22 September 2026. Licensed under PDL1.0. 気象庁「平年値」を加工して作成 — edited by Gallivanting Gadabout (English wording, selection and rounding). Liechtenstein: Source: MeteoSwiss. Climate normals 1991–2020, station Vaduz: mean maximum and minimum temperature, precipitation total, days with at least 1 mm of precipitation and sunshine duration. Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss, open data (opendata.swiss: Klimanormwerte). Accessed 23 September 2026. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. MeteoSwiss does not endorse this site or how the data is used here.
  5. Public holidays in Europe: each country's own law or official list, cited in full on its page: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye. We copied the dates from those pages.
  6. Holidays: 出典:「国民の祝日について」(内閣府)(https://www8.cao.go.jp/chosei/shukujitsu/gaiyou.html), with the holiday list 「昭和30年(1955年)から令和9年(2027年)国民の祝日」 (CSV). Cabinet Office, Government of Japan: national holidays and public holidays, 2025–2027. Accessed 22 September 2026. Licensed under the Public Data License 1.0 (PDL1.0). 「国民の祝日について」(内閣府)を加工して作成 — edited by Gallivanting Gadabout (English wording, weekdays and selection). Holiday names: 出典:日本法令外国語訳データベースシステム(法務省)(https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4846/tb). Ministry of Justice, Japan, Japanese Law Translation, Act on National Holidays (Act No. 178 of 1948, last version Act No. 57 of 2018), articles 2 and 3, English translation. Accessed 22 September 2026. Licensed under PDL1.0. The translation is not an official text; only the Japanese original has legal effect.
  7. Cherry blossom and autumn leaves: 出典:気象庁ホームページ(生物季節観測の情報): さくらの開花日・満開日 and 生物季節観測累年値ファイル (さくらの開花, さくらの満開, かえでの紅葉), 平年値 1991–2020. Japan Meteorological Agency. Accessed 22 September 2026. Licensed under PDL1.0. 「生物季節観測の情報」(気象庁)を加工して作成 — edited by Gallivanting Gadabout (English wording, date format and selection).
  8. Typhoons: 出典:気象庁ホームページ(台風の平年値), with the regions in 「気象庁が天気予報等で用いる予報用語」(地域名). Japan Meteorological Agency, typhoon approach and landfall normals, 1991–2020. Accessed 22 September 2026. Licensed under PDL1.0. 「台風の平年値」(気象庁)を加工して作成 — edited by Gallivanting Gadabout (English wording and selection).
  9. Sea temperature: NOAA Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature (OISST) v2.1, 0.25° grid, monthly long-term mean 1991–2020 (file sst.mon.ltm.1991-2020.nc). Data provided by the NOAA/OAR/PSL, Boulder, Colorado, USA, from their Web site at https://psl.noaa.gov/. Huang, B., C. Liu, V. Banzon, E. Freeman, G. Graham, B. Hankins, T. Smith and H.-M. Zhang (2021), Improvements of the Daily Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature (DOISST) Version 2.1, Journal of Climate 34, 2923–2939, doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0166.1. Dataset page. Accessed 24 September 2026. Public domain (NOAA PSL disclaimer). The choice of grid cell and the rounding are ours; these are not official NOAA figures, and NOAA does not endorse this site.

Modified data. The monthly shares, orderings and comparisons are our own calculations from Eurostat's counts and the Japan Tourism Agency's figures (「宿泊旅行統計調査」(観光庁)を加工して作成). Percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Neither body is responsible for these calculations or for how the figures are presented here.