Planning Orders from Japan for Spring and Summer 2027: The Calendar, Worked Backwards

Short answer: If you want Japanese-made goods on your shelves for spring or summer 2027, the dates to plan around are the New Year break (Japanese government offices close from 29 December 2026 to 3 January 2027), Lunar New Year on 6 February 2027 if any material passes through China, Golden Week (29 April and 3 to 5 May 2027) and Obon (typically 13 to 16 August). The rule that saves the most time: get your sample approved before a break, not during it. As of October 2026, a brief sent now still has time to get quotes back before the year-end break.

I explained in general terms how Japan’s holidays slow production in Japan’s manufacturing calendar, and what each step from brief to export involves in samples, setup costs and lead times. This post puts actual 2026–27 dates on that, and gives you a way to work backwards from your own launch date.

The 2026–27 dates

Date	Day	What it is	Source
23 November 2026	Mon	Labour Thanksgiving Day (national holiday)	Cabinet Office
29 Dec 2026 – 3 Jan 2027	Tue – Sun	Year-end and New Year closure of government offices, set by law	e-Gov
1 January 2027	Fri	New Year’s Day	Cabinet Office
11 January 2027	Mon	Coming of Age Day	Cabinet Office
6 February 2027	Sat	Lunar New Year’s Day (Hong Kong general holiday; 8 and 9 February also holidays there)	GovHK
11 and 23 February 2027	Thu, Tue	National Foundation Day, Emperor’s Birthday	Cabinet Office
21–22 March 2027	Sun, Mon	Vernal Equinox Day, and a substitute holiday on the Monday	Cabinet Office
29 April 2027	Thu	Showa Day	Cabinet Office
3–5 May 2027	Mon – Wed	Constitution Day, Greenery Day, Children’s Day	Cabinet Office
19 July 2027	Mon	Marine Day	Cabinet Office
11 August 2027	Wed	Mountain Day	Cabinet Office
13–16 August 2027	Fri – Mon	Obon, the summer holiday period, “typically between August 13 and 16” per the national tourism organisation	JNTO

A few things to read carefully in that table.

The New Year dates are for government offices. The law fixes 29 December to 3 January as holidays for administrative bodies. Private makers set their own breaks; many close for a similar period, some for longer. Ask each maker.

Golden Week 2027 is split. Showa Day falls on a Thursday, and the three May holidays run Monday to Wednesday. Friday 30 April is not a holiday. Whether a given workshop opens that Friday is its own decision, so treat the whole stretch from 29 April to 5 May as uncertain until the maker tells you.

Obon is not a national holiday. It does not appear on the Cabinet Office’s list; the only national holiday in August 2027 is Mountain Day on the 11th. But JNTO describes early to mid-August as one of the busiest and most expensive times to travel in Japan. Whether a maker closes, and for how long, is up to the maker; ask.

Lunar New Year matters only if China is in your supply chain. Some products made in Japan use materials, parts or packaging that come from elsewhere, and those can be delayed by the Lunar New Year holiday. The date, 6 February 2027, comes from the Hong Kong government’s gazetted holidays. I could not confirm mainland China’s official 2027 closing days from a primary source; check the State Council’s site (gov.cn) before relying on them. If you do not know whether anything in your product comes from China, ask the maker when you get the quote.

Japan Post’s year-end notice. I could not find Japan Post’s 2026–27 year-end counter hours when writing this. Check post.japanpost.jp in December if your goods or samples ship around New Year.

Working backwards from your launch

I do not put typical durations on production steps, because they depend on the trade and the maker. Use this table as a worksheet: fill in the right-hand column from the written quote, then count backwards from the date you need the goods.

Step	Who	Time (from the maker’s quote)	Avoid having it fall on
Goods arrive with you	Carrier, your customs	Your carrier’s estimate	Your own holidays
Export and transit	Me, carrier	By post, courier or freight	Late December, early January
Inspection before export	Me		Breaks, when goods sit waiting
Production	Maker		Golden Week, Obon, New Year
Pre-production sample approved in writing	You	Your own turnaround	Any break
Changes and re-samples	Maker, you	Per round
First sample	Maker
Written quotes	Makers, via me
Your brief	You

Two practical rules come out of this.

1. Put a break between steps, not inside one. If sample approval lands on 28 December, production starts in the new year with a clean slot. If it lands on 30 December, the sample waits on a desk for a week, and the production slot may move.
2. Count your own response time. Each round of sample changes includes the time you take to reply. Over the holidays in your country, that can be the slowest step of all.

Two example targets

Goods for a spring 2027 launch. Work back from your launch date through shipping and production, using the maker’s figures, and see where sample approval lands. If it lands between 29 December and 3 January, move it before the break, which usually means sending the brief earlier. A brief sent in mid-December may not get its quotes back until January.

Goods for summer 2027. Here Golden Week is the obstacle. If production would run across 29 April to 5 May, ask the maker whether the dates in the quote already allow for it. For a mid-August arrival, remember that Obon falls just as the goods would be leaving.

Planners, calendars and diaries dated 2028 run on their own schedule; see custom planners.

What this means if you order through me

• I ask every maker for their own closing days with the quote, and write them next to the lead time so you can compare quotes on the same basis.
• I put dates, not durations, on the timeline I send you: when the sample is due, when you need to approve it, and when the goods should leave Japan.
• I schedule inspection before a break, so finished goods do not sit in a carton over New Year or Golden Week. How inspection works is in quality inspection before export.
• If any step slips into a break, I tell you as soon as the maker tells me, and what the new dates are.

Shipping options and their limits are in shipping small lots from Japan; fees and the full process are on How it works.

Send me a brief with the date you need the goods, and I will come back with written quotes and a dated plan.