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July to September Japan E-commerce Calendar 2025

Published on: June 10, 2025

Summer in Japan is a full-body experience. Festivals, fireworks, bonus payouts, and a national obsession with staying cool all collide in a 3-month blur of spending.

For brands, it’s a golden window. Obon holidays fuel travel and gifting, summer bonuses boost spending power, and shoppers are on the hunt for anything that promises relief from heat, humidity, or just the daily grind. Throw in a fondness for seasonal deals, and you’ve got a marketing calendar packed with opportunity.

Here’s what’s coming up from July to September.

Overview:

July's Marketing Highlights

Hot. Humid. Hectic.

July in Japan is what you’d get if you put a sauna in a blender and threw in a few rainstorms for fun. But that doesn’t stop people from celebrating. In fact, it’s the kickoff to one of the busiest retail seasons of the year.

Star Festival (七夕・星祭, Tanabata)

Tanabata, also known as the Star Festival, has its roots in China’s Qixi Festival, a tale of 2 star-crossed lovers separated by the Milky Way, allowed to meet just once a year. Japan borrowed the Chinese festival centuries ago, and turned it into one of the summer’s more charming traditions.

The actual date of celebration varies depending on region (some mark it on July 7, others follow the Chinese lunisolar calendar) but the spirit is the same: wishes written on strips of paper (tanzaku), tied to bamboo branches, and left to sway hopefully in the summer breeze.

Decorations pop up everywhere — colourful streamers, origami, fairy lights — adding a splash of festivity to streets, schools, and shopping centres. Many cities host events with parades, food stalls, and fireworks, though the tone stays more reflective than rowdy. It’s a celebration of hopes and dreams, quietly sentimental but highly photogenic and ideal for campaigns tied to aspirations, romance, or seasonal limited editions.

Hiratsuka's Tanabata Festival is the biggest in Japan

Summer Bonus Season

Japanese salaried employees do still get summer bonuses. Usually paid out in June or July, they can be the equivalent of 1 or 3 months’ salary. That means a lot of people suddenly have extra cash to burn just as the mercury hits 35°C.

People tend to spend these bonuses on travel, big-ticket items, or just treating themselves. It’s a brief window when the average consumer feels a little richer than usual, and that optimism often ends up in their shopping baskets.

Summer Sales

Japan’s Summer Sale season is retail’s annual pressure valve. Starting in early July, they sweep through department stores, shopping malls, and e-commerce platforms alike. Bargain-hunters are out in force, snapping up discounted fashion, gadgets, and homeware before Obon hits.

The Summer Sale isn’t just about slashing prices. It’s about offering people the chance to refresh their homes, wardrobes, or skincare shelves while escaping the heat. For businesses, it’s a strategic moment to move stock, make noise, and capture attention during one of the busiest shopping windows of the year.

Amazon Prime Day Summer Festival at Roppongi Hills in Tokyo

August's Marketing Highlights

August is the deep end of summer. It’s hot, it’s heavy, and if you’re lucky, it might just be sunny before a typhoon rolls through. In the north of Japan, the weather’s warm and bright. Central Japan? Hot. The south? Hotter. And humid. Very humid.

If July was warm-up, August is the main event.

Obon (お盆)

Obon is one of Japan’s most important cultural observances. A Buddhist tradition steeped in remembrance, it’s when families across Japan honour their ancestors. Some observe it in July, others in mid-August, but the sentiment’s the same: a time to reflect, gather, and pay respects.

Homes are cleaned and decorated. Offerings are made. Lanterns are lit and floated down rivers to guide spirits home and then back again. Family graves are visited, prayers are said, and for a few nights each summer, towns echo with the rhythm of bon odori (盆踊り), traditional dances performed outdoors in yukata and sandals.

And while Obon is deeply personal, it’s also a national movement. It marks one of the busiest travel periods of the year. Airports and highways swell as people return to their hometowns or get out of town altogether. For brands, this is prime time. Travel, leisure, food, household goods — anything tied to homecoming, reflection, or a brief escape has a moment to shine.

Obon summer holiday promotion at Smile Glico Park in Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi

Summer Holidays

Obon overlaps with Japan’s wider summer holiday season, when the country collectively exhales and heads for the coast, the mountains, or anywhere with a breeze and half-decent food.

Trains are packed, flights are full, and good luck finding a hotel without booking ahead. Restaurants fill up, festival stalls do a roaring trade, and museums and aquariums suddenly find themselves wildly popular. Sales of luggage, sunscreen, casual wear, and outdoor kit all jump.

If your product travels well, tastes like summer, or fits in a bento box, August is the time to make your move.

September's Marketing Highlights

By the time September rolls around, Japan starts to breathe again. The worst of the heat lifts, the leaves begin to hint at autumn, and you can finally walk outside without melting into the pavement. 

Disaster Prevention Day (防災の日)

September 1 is Disaster Prevention Day, and no, it’s not just a formality. Japan takes this seriously, and for good reason. Typhoon season hits its stride in September, and the risk of earthquakes is always ticking quietly in the background.

Schools run evacuation drills. Communities test emergency systems. Offices review their protocols. And families review their go-bags. It’s a collective moment of readiness.

For businesses, this is when the “just in case” category comes into its own: flashlights, portable batteries, rain gear, shelf-stable food, even pet emergency kits. It’s also an opportunity to position products as practical and dependable without overplaying the drama.

When positioned with care, it’s an opportunity to show you understand your customers’ everyday realities, not just their wishlist ones.

Iris Ohyama hosted a Rakuten livestream with a disaster expert, sharing tips and showcasing their emergency kits

Respect for the Aged Day (敬老の日)

Held on the 3rd Monday of September, Respect for the Aged Day is exactly what it sounds like, a national holiday devoted to celebrating older generations and everything they’ve contributed.

Families visit, neighbours check in, and local governments put on events to honour senior citizens in their communities. Gifts (often practical) are a big part of the tradition. So are shared meals and small gestures of appreciation.

For brands, it’s an ideal time to spotlight products and services aimed at older consumers or multi-generational households. It’s also a gentle reminder that empathy, respect, and care don’t go out of fashion.

Rakuten's Respect for the Aged Day promotion

Moon Viewing Festival (月見, Tsukimi)

Tsukimi, or moon-viewing, is Japan’s take on the Mid-Autumn Festival, an event with roots in ancient China that’s celebrated across much of East Asia in one form or another. While the name and customs vary from country to country, the theme is the same: full moons, full hearts, and a quiet moment to appreciate the changing season.

In Japan, Tsukimi typically falls in late September or early October, when families gather outside to admire the moon, snack on tsukimi dango (round rice cakes symbolising the moon), and reflect on the harvest. It’s more low-key than other Japanese festivals, but that’s part of the charm — less fanfare, more quiet beauty.

There’s also a strong commercial side. Retailers lean into the occasion with moon-themed sweets and seasonal menus. It’s a soft, reflective moment in the marketing calendar, ideal for products that trade in calm, comfort, or a bit of poetic flair.

Tsukimi "moon-viewing" food items at McDonald's and 7-Eleven in Japan

Need help with your Japan marketing strategy?

At WPIC Marketing + Technologies, we specialise in providing digital marketing services in Japan and the APAC region. If you’d like to learn more about how we can accelerate your brand’s growth in Japan, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.

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