Yakushima in December: weather, what to wear and what's on

Averages for 1991–2020 at the JMA's Yakushima station (37 m above sea level).

High

16.8°C (62°F)

Low

11.0°C (52°F)

Precipitation

281.8 mm

Wet days

14.6 days

Sunshine

79 hours

• Highs fall 4.4°C from November and drop another 2.1°C into January.
• That is 6.1°C below Yakushima's yearly average high of 22.9°C.
• Of our 34 places with temperature records, Yakushima is the 4th warmest in December: 4.7°C cooler than Naha and 1.5°C warmer than Kagoshima.
• December is Yakushima's 2nd driest month (281.8 mm).
• Of our 35 places, Yakushima has the 3rd highest precipitation in December: 1.0 mm less than Shirakawa-go and 0.2 mm more than Toyama.
• Rain of 1 mm or more falls on 14.6 days, and 10 mm or more on 7.5 days.
• Rain of 30 mm or more in one day falls on 2.7 days, and 50 mm or more on 1.4 days.
• The sun is out for 40% or more of the possible hours on 9.0 days, and 6.7 days have under 0.1 hours of sunshine.

Average temperature

13.9°C (57°F)

Humidity

69%

Early, mid and late December

By the last ten days of December the average high in Yakushima is 2.1°C lower than in the first ten.

By ten-day totals, 1–10 December is the wettest (106.7 mm) and 21–31 December the driest (86.4 mm).

Is Yakushima cold in December?

Not really: it is cool. Yakushima averages 16.8°C (62°F) by day and 11.0°C (52°F) at night in December. It gets colder still: 21–31 January has highs of 14.3°C.

Cool: highs around 16.8°C

• Long sleeves with a light jacket or sweater.
• An umbrella: rain falls on 14.6 days.

Pack

• Umbrella

• Our clothing rules

There are no national holidays in December 2026.

In December 2025, hotels and inns across Kagoshima Prefecture were 52.5% full on average (5th busiest of 12 months). Foreign guests spent 78,300 nights there that month (Japan Tourism Agency). That compares with 59.4% in November and 47.9% in January.

• Japan in December: visitor numbers and busy travel days
• Holidays in December
• Year-end and New Year holidays