Japan in March — 弥生, Yayoi.
The month the year turns, and the hardest month to price.
What is March called in the traditional Japanese calendar?
March is Yayoi — growing life — the month things start again. Its season word is Hinamatsuri, 3 March, a fixed date.
Last updated: 6 July 2026
The doll festival.
Tiered displays of court dolls set out for daughters, then packed away immediately — superstition says a late-packed set delays a marriage. Old merchant towns put family sets from the Edo period in their front rooms and open them to the street, which is a far better experience than the department-store version.
What March actually does to a file.
The first three weeks are quiet and well-priced. The last week is not: the sakura front reaches Tokyo and Kyoto around the final days of March in most years, and rates move the moment the forecast is published in early March. Late March is also the Japanese school holiday and the end of the fiscal year, so domestic demand is already high before a single foreign visitor arrives.
The March programme.
- Hinamatsuri displays in Katsuura, Konosu and the old merchant streets of Kawagoe
- Plum groves at Kairakuen and Dazaifu in the first half
- Early sakura in Kyushu and Shikoku, a full week ahead of Kyoto
- The last of the powder in Hokkaido, with spring prices
Japan in March — what agents ask.
What is March called in the traditional Japanese calendar?
March is Yayoi — growing life — the month things start again. The name comes from the old lunisolar calendar and is still used in tea, kaiseki menus and shop signage.
What is Hinamatsuri?
The doll festival, 3 March, a fixed date. Tiered displays of court dolls set out for daughters, then packed away immediately — superstition says a late-packed set delays a marriage. Old merchant towns put family sets from the Edo period in their front rooms and open them to the street, which is a far better experience than the department-store version.
Is March a good month to send clients to Japan?
March runs from deep winter to full spring in four weeks, and the cherry front decides everything about the last ten days.
What should agents watch for in March?
Never sell a specific blossom date. The forecast is published in early March and it is a forecast — sell a window, and base the client somewhere with a fallback.
The rest of the Japanese year.
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