Where should you go for hatsumode, the first shrine visit of 2027?

The 2026 to 2027 calendar

• Thursday 31 December 2026: New Year's Eve. Temples ring their bells at midnight (see our Joya no Kane guide) and the first hatsumode crowds arrive at the big shrines around midnight.

• Friday 1 January 2027: New Year's Day, the only public holiday of the three. The busiest day.

• Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 January: still the New Year period (sanganichi, the first three days). Busy, but the early mornings are calmer.

• Monday 4 January: banks reopen and most people go back to work. Shrines are still decorated and much quieter.

What closes: government offices from 29 December to 3 January under the Act on Holidays of Administrative Organs, and banks from 31 December to 3 January under the Banking Act Enforcement Order, so draw cash before the 31st. Many museums, gardens and small restaurants follow a similar pattern, while convenience stores, most chain restaurants and the transport network keep going on holiday timetables. Venue-by-venue closures are in our Japan in winter guide.

Tokyo: Meiji Jingu and Senso-ji

Meiji Jingu is Japan's busiest hatsumode shrine. GO TOKYO, the city's official tourism site, says it draws several million people between New Year's Eve and 3 January and is open all night on 31 December; the rest of the year its hours run from sunrise to sunset and vary by month. Older counts put it at about 3.2 million over the first three days of 2010, and Web Japan, a Japanese government publication, gave 3.16 million for 2014. Harajuku and Meiji-jingumae stations are each about a minute's walk from the entrance.

Expect a long, slow, orderly queue on the approach: you reach the hall, make your offering and move on. You will not get close-up photos on 1 January.

Senso-ji in Asakusa is a Buddhist temple, not a shrine, but it is Tokyo's other big hatsumode destination, with the Nakamise shopping street outside. Our Senso-ji etiquette guide covers how to behave there. For somewhere to base yourself, see where to stay in Tokyo; our Tokyo guide covers the city.

Kyoto and Osaka: Fushimi Inari, Yasaka and Sumiyoshi Taisha

Fushimi Inari Taisha, the head shrine of the Inari shrines and home of the torii-gate tunnels, is one of the biggest hatsumode sites in the Kansai region. A Government of Japan publication (Highlighting Japan, 2011) said more than 2.5 million people visit over the first three days each year. The trail above the main torii tunnels is largely unlit after dark, so do the mountain in daylight. Our Fushimi Inari visit guide covers the route and what to wear.

Yasaka Shrine at the top of Shijo-dori in Gion is the one most visitors to Kyoto pass. On New Year's Eve it holds okera mairi, when people carry home a rope lit from the shrine's sacred fire, and it stays busy from that night into the first days of January. It is close to Chion-in and Kodai-ji, so you can pair it with the temple bells. See our Kyoto guide and where to stay in Kyoto.

Sumiyoshi Taisha in southern Osaka is one of the oldest shrines in Japan, with its arched red bridge. The shrine's own English site says some two million people visit during the first three days of January. Before midnight on New Year's Eve, lines form at the first main sanctuary to toss a coin and pray; at 5am on 1 January priests draw water from a sacred well as an offering, and around sunrise they pray for the nation and for good harvests. Our Osaka guide and where to stay in Osaka cover the rest of the city.

When to go for smaller crowds

• Busiest: from about 23:00 on 31 December to the early hours of 1 January, and late morning to afternoon on 1 January.

• Calmer: early morning on 2 and 3 January. You still get the decorations, the stalls and the New Year atmosphere.

• Quietest: from 4 January. The custom is to visit within the first days of the year, and many Japanese people make their hatsumode later in the first week or at a local shrine instead.

• Trains: long-distance trains and flights are at their fullest at the end of December and around 2 to 4 January as people travel home and back. Book shinkansen seats ahead; our shinkansen and JR Pass guide explains reserving.

Wrap up: you will stand outside for an hour or more in winter temperatures. Our Japan in winter guide has the packing list.

Etiquette: praying, omamori and omikuji

Shrines welcome visitors of any faith. These are the usual steps:

• At the torii, bow lightly before entering. Walk to the side of the central path if the crowd allows.

• Purify at the water basin (temizuya) if it is open: rinse your left hand, then your right, pour a little water into your cupped hand to rinse your mouth, and never drink from the ladle or put it to your lips.

• At a shrine hall: drop a coin in the offering box, then the standard pattern is two bows, two claps, one bow. At a Buddhist temple such as Senso-ji, do not clap; put your palms together quietly.

• Omamori (amulets): bought for safe travel, health, study and so on. People return last year's to the shrine's collection point so they can be burned with respect, so do not throw old ones in the bin.

• Omikuji (paper fortunes): draw one, read it, and if it is bad, tie it at the racks the shrine provides, never on trees or fences. Good ones you can keep.

• Photos: of the grounds and stalls are fine; avoid photographing people at the moment of prayer and anything inside halls.

Shoulders and knees do not have to be covered at a shrine, but neat, warm clothes fit the occasion. See our temple and shrine dress code guide and Japan etiquette mistakes for the rest.

Frequently asked questions