Over the New Year, National Government Offices Close From December 29 and Banks From December 31

The 2026–27 New Year period runs from Tuesday, December 29, 2026, to Sunday, January 3, 2027. National administrative organs are closed on these six days by law. Bank branches are closed from Thursday, December 31, to Sunday, January 3, which is two days shorter. Hospital consultation days, garbage collection days, and post office counters depend on the schedules of each facility, municipality, and Japan Post.

The dates here are those announced as of October 2026. For 2026–27 consultation days and counter hours that had not yet been announced, we give the previous year’s announcement as an example and state the year. Check the actual schedule with the guidance of the municipality where you live and the bank or hospital you use.

New Year Closures: Government Offices From December 29, Banks From December 31

Laid out day by day from December 28 to January 4, the closures fixed by law or announcement are as follows.

Date	National administrative organs	Bank branches	Yokohama City garbage and recyclables collection (fiscal 2026)	Mail delivery (Japan Post)
Dec 28 (Mon)	Not a holiday	Not a holiday	Collected on the usual weekday	Not listed in the source table
Dec 29 (Tue)	Holiday	Not a holiday	Collected on the usual weekday	Not listed in the source table
Dec 30 (Wed)	Holiday	Not a holiday	Collected on the usual weekday	Not listed in the source table
Dec 31 (Thu)	Holiday	Holiday	No collection	Not listed in the source table
Jan 1 (Fri, New Year’s Day)	Holiday	Holiday	No collection	Delivery day
Jan 2 (Sat)	Holiday	Holiday	No collection	No-delivery day
Jan 3 (Sun)	Holiday	Holiday	No collection	Delivery day
Jan 4 (Mon)	Not a holiday	Not a holiday	Collected on the usual weekday	Not listed in the source table

Government Office Closures: Set by Law for the State, by Ordinance for Municipalities

The closing days of national government offices are set by Article 1 of the Act on Holidays of Administrative Organs (行政機関の休日に関する法律).

Article 1. The following days are holidays of administrative organs, and, as a rule, administrative organs do not conduct their business on them:

Item 1. Sundays and Saturdays

Item 2. Holidays provided for in the Act on National Holidays (Act No. 178 of 1948)

Item 3. The days from December 29 through January 3 of the following year (excluding the days listed in the preceding item)

Act on Holidays of Administrative Organs, Article 1, paragraph 1 (e-Gov Laws and Regulations Search, retrieved October 2026; English rendering by the translator)

Paragraph 3 of the same article says that even on a holiday, each administrative organ is not prevented from carrying out the affairs under its jurisdiction. The Immigration Services Agency of Japan (出入国在留管理庁) likewise notes in its guidance on New Year closing days that some operations, such as immigration inspection at airports, are an exception.

The holidays of prefectures and municipalities are set not by national law but by ordinance. Article 4-2 of the Local Autonomy Act (地方自治法) provides that the holidays of local governments are to be set by ordinance (paragraph 1), and that, in addition to Sundays and Saturdays and the holidays under the Act on National Holidays, they are to include “days at the end or beginning of the year as set by ordinance” (paragraph 2). The law does not itself say December 29 to January 3; the dates are in each local government’s ordinance.

Yokohama City states that city hall is open “except national holidays, holidays, and December 29 to January 3,” and also lists the New Year period (December 29 to January 3) among the closing days of its ward offices. Osaka City likewise writes in the city hall hours notice that it is “closed on Saturdays, Sundays, national holidays, and from December 29 to January 3 of the following year.” For other municipalities, check the date in that local government’s own notice. The rules for national holidays as a whole are in our article on Japan’s national holidays.

Family Register Notifications and Certificates While Ward Offices Are Closed (Example: Yokohama)

Yokohama City says that, even on the closing days and outside the opening hours of a ward office’s Family Register Section (戸籍課), it will take in documents for notifications related to the family register, such as a marriage registration, at the “night and holiday reception desk” (夜間・休日受付) of each ward office. The day you leave the documents is recorded as the date of notification, and the documents are checked later, during the Family Register Section’s reception hours. If there is a problem with the documents you will be contacted, and you may need to visit again. Administrative service corners and city hall do not handle family register notifications (FAQ updated September 18, 2024).

The Administrative Service Corner (行政サービスコーナー) at the west exit of Tsurumi Station in Tsurumi Ward, a counter that issues certificates such as a copy of the certificate of residence, is described in the Tsurumi Ward notice as “closed on national holidays, holidays, and the New Year period” (updated December 10, 2025).

Bank Closures: Branches From December 31; ATMs and Transfers Are a Separate Matter

Article 15, paragraph 1 of the Banking Act (銀行法) provides that “the holidays of a bank are limited to Sundays and other days specified by Cabinet Order.” The Cabinet Order, Article 5, paragraph 1 of the Order for Enforcement of the Banking Act (銀行法施行令), lists the following days.

Item 1. Holidays provided for in the Act on National Holidays (Act No. 178 of 1948)

Item 2. The days from December 31 through January 3 of the following year (excluding the days listed in the preceding item)

Item 3. Saturdays

Order for Enforcement of the Banking Act, Article 5, paragraph 1 (e-Gov Laws and Regulations Search, retrieved October 2026; English rendering by the translator)

Unlike national government offices, December 29 and 30 are not holidays under this Cabinet Order. However, paragraph 2 of the same article says that a branch may also close on a day announced by the Commissioner of the Financial Services Agency as a general holiday in the branch’s location, a day approved by the Commissioner, or a day notified by the bank, and paragraph 3 requires that, when a holiday is set by approval or notification, it be posted at the branch and published on the internet. What is set here is the holiday of the branch (the counter). The operating hours of ATMs and internet banking cannot be told from the text of the provisions and depend on each bank’s notice.

ATMs May Operate Over the New Year: Examples From Previous Years’ Notices

As of October 31, 2026, neither of the following two banks had published its ATM notice for the 2026–27 New Year period. We give examples from the previous years’ notices to show where they differ.

• MUFG Bank (2024–25): Counters cannot be used from December 31, 2024, to January 5, 2025. ATMs are available “according to the ATM operating hours of each branch,” and the hours differ depending on the branch and on the financial institution that issued the card.
• Japan Post Bank (2025–26): According to its announcement of November 20, 2025, savings counters are treated as outside business hours from December 31 and cannot be used. From January 1 to 4, ATMs offering the Holiday Service (about 14,000 locations and about 18,000 machines nationwide, including small ATMs at places such as FamilyMart) are in operation. Regular ATMs (excluding small ATMs) cannot be used from 21:00 on December 31 to 7:00 on January 1, and transfers to other financial institutions cannot be made from 23:55 on December 31 to 7:00 on January 2; some transfers may be processed on the next business day or later.

This article does not judge which bank’s ATM to use or when to make a transfer. Please read the New Year notice from the bank where you hold your account. Renewing your period of stay and notifying your bank are covered in our article on bank accounts.

When Hospitals Are Closed: Holiday Emergency Clinics, On-Duty Doctors, and Emergency Phone Consultation

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) notice “Guidelines for Implementing the Emergency Medical Care Measures Project” (救急医療対策事業実施要綱; Notice No. 692 of the Medical Affairs Bureau, July 6, 1977 [Showa 52]) lists “the New Year period (December 29 to January 3)” as one of the days on which holiday medical care is provided, in its standards for building the primary emergency medical care system (holiday and night emergency patient centers and pediatric primary emergency centers). This is a definition within the standards of a project subsidized by the national government; it does not decide the closing days of any individual hospital or clinic.

A document from the MHLW (Community Healthcare Planning Division, Medical Policy Bureau) explains primary emergency care on holidays and at night through two mechanisms: the “on-duty doctor system” (在宅当番医制), in which several doctors in each district medical association take turns receiving patients, and the “holiday and night emergency patient centers” (休日夜間急患センター), which local governments set up. In an administrative notice of December 19, 2025, with the New Year holidays in view, the MHLW asked prefectures and others to confirm these two emergency medical systems and to publicize consultation services using “#7119,” “#8000,” and the emergency consultation app. Its “A Request to Everyone for the New Year Period” also says that medical care arrangements differ from usual over the New Year, and gives #7119 (emergency phone consultation) and #8000 (children’s medical consultation) as places to ask when you are unsure whether to call an ambulance.

Consultation Days Differ by Municipality: Yokohama’s Notice for the End of 2025

In the notice Yokohama City announced on December 23, 2025, the holiday emergency clinics were open on December 28 (Sun) and from December 30 (Tue) to January 4 (Sun). On December 29 (Mon) the clinics were closed, and the night emergency medical center (8 p.m. to midnight) was open every day. The holiday emergency clinics in each ward were open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., except in Aoba Ward, where they were open from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Ordinary medical institutions in the city could be looked up on the Yokohama City Medical Association web page “New Year Medical Institution Availability Information” (年末年始の医療機関応需情報), which was said to be viewable from around December 25. The 24-hour telephone consultation service is the Kanagawa Emergency Consultation Center (#7119). As of October 31, 2026, the 2026–27 notice had not been published.

#7119 does not connect everywhere in Japan; it is available only in the areas that operate it. How to use it together with #8000 is in our article on emergency calls, and what to prepare before a visit is in our article on before going to a hospital. This article does not judge whether to call an ambulance or which hospital to go to. If you think a life is at risk, call 119.

Garbage Collection Closures: Schedules Differ by Municipality and Year

Garbage collection holidays are set each year by each municipality, separately from the holidays in national law or ordinances. On a page updated October 28, 2026, Yokohama City gives its fiscal 2026 (Reiwa 8) schedule and says that collection of recyclables and garbage is suspended from Thursday, December 31, 2026, to Sunday, January 3, 2027. It covers burnable garbage, non-burnable garbage, spray cans, batteries, plastic recyclables, cans, bottles and PET bottles, and small metal items; from December 28 to 30 and from January 4 on, collection takes place on the usual weekdays. The city urges people never to put out recyclables or garbage on days when collection is suspended. Collection times may differ from usual over the New Year period.

For oversized garbage in Yokohama, telephone reception continues until Wednesday, December 30, and resumes on Monday, January 4. Applications by LINE, chat, and the internet are accepted during the period, but replies to people who apply from noon on December 30 to January 3 will come on January 4 or later. Used paper and cloth are not collected by the city of Yokohama, but may be collected by neighborhood associations and similar groups.

Even in the same New Year period, the closing days differ by municipality. The December 24, 2025 notice from Nishiyodogawa Ward, Osaka City (fiscal 2025, Reiwa 7), says that from December 25, 2025, to January 10, 2026, garbage must be put out by 8:30 a.m. on the collection day, that collection weekdays are unchanged, and that collection is suspended from Thursday, January 1, to Sunday, January 4, 2026. We could not confirm Osaka City’s 2026–27 schedule as of October 31, 2026. For the collection weekdays and sorting rules where you live, check the municipal guidance in our article on how to put out garbage.

Mail Closures: Delivery on January 1 and 3, No Delivery on January 2

On October 27, 2026, Japan Post published the delivery days for holidays and similar days in 2027. January 1 (Fri, New Year’s Day) is a delivery day, January 2 (Sat) is a no-delivery day, and January 3 (Sun) is a delivery day. Below the same table it says that mail with special handling such as express, registered mail, cash on delivery, time-slot delivery, and designated-date delivery, as well as Letter Pack, Yu-Pack, Yu-Packet (including Click Post), and Yu-Mail (special-handling items other than specified record mail), are also delivered on holidays and similar days.

For New Year cards for 2027, according to Japan Post’s announcement of August 31, 2026, acceptance begins on Sunday, December 20, moved back from the previous December 15. The guideline posting date for delivery on New Year’s Day is Sunday, December 27, moved back from the previous December 25. New Year cards are delivered on New Year’s Day and January 3 during the first three days; although January 3 is a Sunday, Japan Post delivers New Year cards and ordinary mail that day.

As of October 31, 2026, we have not been able to confirm any 2026–27 announcement of New Year counter hours at post offices. The previous year’s handling of Japan Post Bank savings counters is in the section on banks. Picking up an item after a notice of attempted delivery is covered in our article on receiving mail.

When a Notification or Application Deadline Falls Over the New Year

The Immigration Services Agency of Japan sets the closing days of regional immigration services offices over the New Year at December 29 to January 3, says that counters and similar services are in principle not open in this period, and asks visitors to confirm the date. The days of the week on that page of the Agency are those of 2023–24 (December 29 was a Friday), so it is not guidance on the days of the week for 2026–27. The application period for permission to extend the period of stay is up to the day the period of stay expires (from three months before expiry for people with a period of stay of six months or more). According to the Agency’s page, extensions can also be applied for online. We cannot judge in this article how to treat a case where the expiry date overlaps the New Year. Please confirm with the office you apply to, or with the Immigration Services Information Center for Foreign Residents (外国人在留総合インフォメーションセンター, 0570-013904). The procedures for evacuees, such as the “special period” (特例期間) that applies when an application is filed by the expiry date, are in our article on status of residence, and the closing days of consultation counters are in our article on where to ask for help.

How to count the “within 14 days” for a notification of moving in to a municipality and similar notifications is explained, with the provision quoted, in our article on residence registration. Article 4-2, paragraph 4 of the Local Autonomy Act provides as follows on the relation between local government holidays, such as the New Year period, and deadlines.

Where the deadline for an application, notification, or other act directed to an administrative authority of a local government, being a deadline fixed by a period (excluding periods fixed by the hour) prescribed by law or an order under law, falls on a holiday of the local government set by ordinance under paragraph 1, the day following the holiday of the local government is deemed to be the deadline. However, this does not apply where law or an order under law provides otherwise.

Local Autonomy Act, Article 4-2, paragraph 4 (e-Gov Laws and Regulations Search, retrieved October 2026; English rendering by the translator)

Whether your own notification falls under this provision, and up to which day the days are counted, may differ by type of notification. The decision rests with the office that actually looks at your documents. If a deadline is close to the New Year, check early with your municipal office or the immigration office.