Weather in Kyoto in November

A good month. November is a solid month to be in Kyoto. Highs average 16 °C, lows 7.7 °C, and rain falls on 12 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

November ranks 5 of 12 in Kyoto: past the worst of the year but short of May, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain on 12 days, 3 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Pack for 16 °C days and 7.7 °C nights; the spread matters more here than any single number.

What the averages hide

The averages here are honest — no hidden extremes worth planning around. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest November day reached 24.6 °C and the coldest night fell to 0.4 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 54 mm — roughly 56% of the month's rain in one day.

November is moderately variable: 34 mm in the driest year against 214 mm in the wettest, around an average of 96 mm. Roughly two Novembers in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 8 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 84%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How November sits in the year

The month is on the way down: 5.8 °C cooler than October, with December dropping another 5.9 °C. The first week and the last are not the same trip. Rain is the thing that moves: December brings 6 days more of it, so the earlier half of a flexible trip is the safer half.

Daylight in November

November sits at the dark end of Kyoto's year — 10.4 hours of daylight against 14.5 at midsummer, losing 0.8 hours across the month. Sightseeing days are genuinely shorter, and an itinerary built for summer will not fit.

An inland climate

With no coast nearby, the year swings a fair way — 30.3 °C between the warmest afternoons and the coldest nights, wider than any coastal city at this latitude would manage.

How busy it gets

Busy. Popular without being frantic; book the things you care about, improvise the rest.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

November in Kyoto versus nearby

If Kyoto is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Osaka is a better bet in November — within a degree on temperature, 4 days less rain. Hamamatsu is a better bet in November — 2 °C warmer, 3 days less rain.

So: November works, with May the better month by 11 points if the dates can move. If they cannot, nothing here should stop you booking.

Every month in Kyoto

See all twelve months in Kyoto, or where else to go in November.