Weekly Japan Forecast – A Mixed Week as Temps Fluctuate
Written Thursday morning, 18th December (Japan Standard Time)
The 2025-2026 snow season is now underway in Japan. After a fairly average preseason, the Japow machine has been chugging away the last couple of weeks with a decent base now becoming established, and more and more resorts and terrain are springing open.
Starting on the heels of fresh snowfall, the next few days will see mercury levels rise ahead of rain on Sunday. However, as is usually the case in the land of some of the lightest powder on the planet, temperatures will come tumbling back down as a cold change from the north spreads over Hokkaido later on Sunday and Honshu on Monday, with a fresh top-up expected.
We’ll be watching a repeat mid-next week, with warm rain expected Wednesday ahead of the next cold change and more snow over the following days.
Thursday 18th & Friday 19th December
On Thursday, remaining snowfall gradually clears the country as high pressure moves onto central Honshu, causing cold northwesters to back off.
It’ll remain dry through Friday, with nice, sunny skies for much of Honshu. The high-pressure cell drifts out to the east, allowing winds out of the south-to-southwest to spread up the country. Temperatures will rapidly rise, reaching double digits in Central Honshu.
Saturday 20th & Sunday 21st December
Warm winds out of the south-to-southwest will keep mercury levels high across much of the weekend. The winds will be strong over Northern Honshu and Hokkaido while a narrow rain band passes over the area on Saturday.
On Sunday, rain gradually spreads over the country ahead of a cold change from the north. It’ll be ugly for resorts on Honshu, who’ll likely cop heavy rainfall. However, up on Hokkaido, rain will eventually turn snow as the cold change creeps down over the area for a nice top-up of around 10-20cm.
Monday 22nd to Wednesday 24th December
The cold change pushes down over Honshu early Monday with a wee top of fresh snow. Resorts closest to the coast of central Honshu are picked to score the biggest totals, with Myoko likely to top the charts with 15-25cms. Conditions will then dry up and turn sunny for Tuesday as high-pressure drifts across the north.
On Wednesday, warm southerlies will once again return as the next low-pressure system from the west brings another bout of rainfall to the country ahead of a cold change and fresh snow the following days (Thursday & Friday).
That’s all from me today, folks. Have a great week, and I’ll see you here next Thursday for another weekly rundown of Japan’s highlights and snowlights.
Grasshopper
