Saga or Fukuoka? When each is busy and when it is quiet

TL;DR

In 2025, Saga's busiest month was August (9.6% of its guest nights) and Fukuoka's was October (9.0%). The quietest were February (7.3%) and January (7.7%). Their two busiest months carried 18.9% and 18.0% of the year; Japan's survey is a sample, so we do not say which is more seasonal.

Saga and Fukuoka, month by month

Each chart shows what share of the place's 2025 guest nights fell in each month, on the same scale; the two busiest months are highlighted.1

Saga

JFMAMJJA9.6%SOND

Fukuoka

JFMAMJJASO9.0%ND

Share of the year, every month

Saga and Fukuoka: share of 2025 guest nights by month
MonthSagaFukuoka
January7.8%7.7%
February7.3%7.7%
March8.4%8.7%
April8.6%8.2%
May9.4%8.7%
June7.5%7.7%
July8.2%7.9%
August9.6%9.0%
September7.9%8.0%
October8.1%9.0%
November9.2%9.0%
December8.1%8.4%

The key facts side by side

Saga and Fukuoka: key facts
SagaFukuoka
Busiest monthAugust, 9.6%October, 9.0%
Quietest monthFebruary, 7.3%January, 7.7%
Two busiest months18.9% of the year18.0% of the year
Busiest vs quietest1.3 times as busy1.2 times as busy
From abroadGuests from outside Japan spent 10.7% of Saga's guest nights in 2025. Source pageGuests from outside Japan spent 33.0% of Fukuoka's guest nights in 2025. Source page
Visited from abroadRanked by nights spent by guests from outside Japan in 2025, Saga comes eighth from the bottom of Japan's 47 prefectures. Source pageRanked by nights spent by guests from outside Japan in 2025, Fukuoka comes 42nd from the bottom of Japan's 47 prefectures. Source page
Cherry blossomSomei-yoshino cherry trees usually start to bloom around 24 March and reach full bloom around 2 April. Maple leaves usually turn red around 30 November. These are 1991–2020 averages. Source pageSomei-yoshino cherry trees usually start to bloom around 22 March and reach full bloom around 31 March. Maple leaves usually turn red around 1 December. These are 1991–2020 averages. Source page
TyphoonsOver 1991–2020, an average of 3.8 typhoons a year came within 300 km of a JMA weather station in the Northern Kyushu (with Yamaguchi) region. Source pageOver 1991–2020, an average of 3.8 typhoons a year came within 300 km of a JMA weather station in the Northern Kyushu (with Yamaguchi) region. Source page

Each sentence is copied from the page it links to, where its source is cited.

Weather: Saga and Fukuoka

Averages for 1991–2020 at the weather station each page uses: Saga (佐賀) for Saga and Fukuoka (福岡) for Fukuoka.2

Average high and rain by month, Saga and Fukuoka, 1991 to 2020
MonthHigh, SagaHigh, FukuokaRain, SagaRain, Fukuoka
January10.1 °C10.2 °C54 mm74 mm
February11.8 °C11.6 °C78 mm70 mm
March15.2 °C15.0 °C121 mm104 mm
April20.7 °C19.9 °C162 mm118 mm
May25.6 °C24.4 °C183 mm134 mm
June28.0 °C27.2 °C327 mm250 mm
July31.6 °C31.2 °C367 mm299 mm
August32.9 °C32.5 °C252 mm210 mm
September29.4 °C28.6 °C169 mm175 mm
October24.3 °C23.7 °C90 mm94 mm
November18.2 °C18.2 °C89 mm91 mm
December12.4 °C12.6 °C60 mm68 mm

One station per place; weather varies within every country. Not a forecast.

What this comparison cannot tell you

  • A share of each place's own year, not a crowd count. A low share means that month was quiet for that place. It does not mean the place had fewer visitors than somewhere else, and a small country's busy month can still be far quieter than a big country's quiet one.
  • Nights, not queues. A national or prefecture total cannot show crowding at one sight, beach or old town. Day trips do not count at all, because nobody stays the night.
  • One year. These are 2025 figures. Another year can differ, for example when Easter moves between March and April.
  • Japan's figures are a sample survey. The gaps between neighbouring prefectures are often smaller than the survey's sampling error, so we do not rank prefectures against each other.
  • We have not been to these places and make no judgement about which is better to visit.

Want a different pair? Open these two in Compare and add or swap places.

Key takeaways

  • Busiest in 2025: Saga in August, Fukuoka in October.
  • Quietest: Saga in February, Fukuoka in January.
  • Two busiest months: 18.9% of Saga's year, 18.0% of Fukuoka's.
  • What we would skip: picking one over the other on these figures alone. They show when each is busy, not which you would enjoy more.

Sources

The guest-night figures come from the Japan Tourism Agency and the weather from the Japan Meteorological Agency. We copied every figure from the two places' own pages, where each source is cited in full. See how we research.

  1. Source: 「宿泊旅行統計調査」(観光庁) (Overnight Travel Statistics Survey, Japan Tourism Agency), 2025 annual figures (final), tables 2 and 8 and reference table 1, published 6 July 2026. Survey page · workbook. Accessed 17 September 2026. Licensed under the Public Data License 1.0 (PDL1.0).
  2. Weather in Japan: 出典:気象庁ホームページ(過去の気象データ検索). Japan Meteorological Agency, 1991–2020 normals for the station named for each prefecture (the same station its prefecture page uses, where the page links the station's own table): daily maximum and minimum temperature, precipitation and days with at least 1.0 mm of precipitation (降水量の階級日数). Accessed 22 September 2026. Licensed under PDL1.0. 気象庁「平年値」を加工して作成 — edited by Traveloffsy (English wording, selection and rounding).

Modified data. The monthly shares, orderings and comparisons are our own calculations from Eurostat's counts and the Japan Tourism Agency's figures (「宿泊旅行統計調査」(観光庁)を加工して作成). Percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Neither body is responsible for these calculations or for how the figures are presented here.