Guide
Japan retail sale calendar
Japanese online stores follow a promotion calendar that differs from the US and Europe. Gift-giving seasons, the New Year sales and marketplace campaigns matter as much as Black Friday. This guide lists what typically happens each month.
Updated September 2026. Dates vary from year to year and from brand to brand; treat this as a planning guide, not a schedule.
Month by month
| Month | What typically happens |
|---|---|
| January | New Year sales (Hatsuuri) from January 1, often with lucky bags (Fukubukuro); winter clearance. |
| February | Valentine's Day (in Japan, mainly gifts of chocolate); winter clearance continues. |
| March | White Day (March 14); the start of the spring "new life" season as people move for school and work. |
| April | New-life season; the Japanese fiscal year starts; build-up to Golden Week. |
| May | Golden Week holidays (late April to early May); Mother's Day. |
| June | Father's Day; summer gift season (Ochugen) begins; summer bonuses at many companies. |
| July | Summer sales; Ochugen gifts; marketplace summer events. |
| August | Obon holidays in mid-August; summer clearance. |
| September | Respect for the Aged Day and Silver Week holidays; autumn ranges arrive. |
| October | Halloween; autumn and winter ranges. |
| November | Black Friday (increasingly common in Japan); year-end gift season (Oseibo) begins; lucky-bag pre-orders. |
| December | Christmas; Oseibo gifts; year-end sales; lucky-bag pre-orders ahead of the New Year. |
Things that surprise teams new to Japan
Loyalty points are a promotion in their own right
Many Japanese retailers and marketplaces run "point-up" campaigns that multiply the loyalty points a shopper earns, instead of (or on top of) cutting prices. When you benchmark discount depth in Japan, look at points and free-shipping offers too.
Gift seasons drive two peaks
Ochugen (summer gifts, around June to August) and Oseibo (year-end gifts, around November to December) are traditional gift-giving seasons. Many brands run dedicated gift campaigns, often starting weeks before the peak.
New Year is a major sales moment
The first sales of the year (Hatsuuri) start on or right after January 1, often with lucky bags (Fukubukuro): sealed bags of products sold at a fixed price. Online stores frequently announce or take pre-orders for lucky bags in November and December.
Black Friday has arrived, on a Japanese timetable
Black Friday campaigns have become common in Japan in recent years. Some brands start earlier or run them longer than in the US, and they overlap with year-end gift campaigns.
Marketplaces set a recurring rhythm
Large marketplaces such as Rakuten Ichiba and Amazon Japan run their own recurring sale events several times a year, and shops selling there often time their emails around them. Check each marketplace's announcements for exact dates.
How we built this
We subscribe to the public newsletters of Japanese online stores and brands and read every email automatically: its type (sale, coupon, points, free shipping, new arrivals and more), the discount it states, deadlines and seasonal themes. The "What we see" column summarizes emails received by our inboxes in Japan; it reflects the brands we track, not the whole market.
Want the numbers for a specific brand or category?
Our reports show send days and hours, how often a brand runs sales, and how deep the discounts go.