When Is Tōji 2026? | Tuesday, December 22nd — Japan’s Winter Solstice, Yuzu Baths and Pumpkin

In 2026, Tōji, the winter solstice in Japan, falls on Tuesday, December 22nd. According to the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, the sun reaches the solstice point at around 5:50 a.m. Japan time that morning.

Tōji is the day with the shortest daylight and the longest night of the year. In Japan, people mark it by soaking in a bath with floating yuzu citrus and eating simmered pumpkin.

But why yuzu? Why pumpkin? And why is the darkest day of the year also thought of as a lucky one? Here is a gentle walk through Japan’s winter solstice.

What this article covers

• What Tōji is, and when it falls in 2026
• Ichiyō raifuku — the solstice’s other, hopeful name
• Why Japanese people take a yuzu bath (wordplay, and warmth)
• Pumpkin, and the luck of foods with an “n” sound
• How a visitor can join in, quietly

What is Tōji?

Tōji (冬至, literally “winter’s arrival at its peak”) is one of the 24 sekki, the old seasonal markers that divide the Japanese year into 24 parts. The sun sits at its southernmost point, and in the Northern Hemisphere the midday sun is at its lowest, the day is shortest and the night is longest.

The date shifts slightly from year to year, usually landing around December 22nd. In 2026 it is Tuesday, December 22nd.

In the traditional lunisolar calendars of China and Japan, the winter solstice was also the starting point for calculating the calendar — a quietly important day. For the finer turns of the Japanese seasons, see our article on the 72 microseasons.

The darkest day, where the light begins to return

Another name for the solstice is ichiyō raifuku (一陽来復). It means something like “the dark reaches its limit, and one measure of light comes back.”

From this day on, the sun climbs a little higher and the days slowly grow longer. So the darkest day was also seen as the first day of things getting better. Today the phrase is also used more broadly: after a run of bad luck, the tide finally turns.

Japan is far from alone in this feeling. Encyclopedias note that many cultures around the world have seen the winter solstice as the sun’s birthday, or the day the sun is reborn, often marked with bonfires and festivals.

At Ana Hachimangū, a shrine in Waseda, Tokyo, an ichiyō raifuku charm is offered each year only between the winter solstice and Setsubun in early February — and people come from far away to receive it.

Why a yuzu bath?

On the solstice, many people take a yuzu-yu: a hot bath with whole yuzu fruits floating in it. Public bathhouses (sentō) still prepare them, and the whole room fills with a bright citrus scent.

The reason most often given is Japanese wordplay:

• Tōji (冬至, winter solstice) sounds the same as tōji (湯治), meaning to heal the body by bathing in hot water
• Yuzu echoes yūzū (融通), “flexibility” — some say it carries a wish for one’s finances to run smoothly through the busy year’s end

Beyond the puns, there is a practical side. People have long said that a yuzu bath keeps colds away and soothes chapped, cracked skin, and it is regarded as a kind of kusuri-yu, a medicinal bath. Just as the real cold arrives, it is a simple way to warm up all the way through.

Pumpkin, and foods with an “n”

Many families also eat pumpkin (kabocha) on the solstice. An old saying holds that eating it on this day protects you from strokes and colds, and the custom is thought to have spread during the Edo period (1603–1868). Pumpkins harvested in summer keep well, so they were a welcome source of nourishment in winter, when fresh vegetables were scarce.

In western Japan, pumpkin is also called nankin. This links to another folk belief: eating foods with an “n” (ん) sound on the solstice brings good luck — un (運) means “luck” in Japanese.

• nankin (pumpkin)
• ninjin (carrot)
• kinkan (kumquat)
• udon (thick noodles)

Some regions eat konnyaku or rice porridge with red azuki beans as well. All of them are foods that warm the body and restore strength in the coldest season.

If you’d like to join in, quietly

You don’t need anything special.

• In December, yuzu appear in Japanese supermarkets and greengrocers. Float one or two in your bath (if your skin is sensitive, put them in a cloth bag or keep the soak short)
• Have simmered pumpkin, or a bowl of udon, for dinner
• If you’re traveling, peek into a neighborhood sentō — some prepare yuzu baths on the solstice

And at dusk, as the sky darkens earlier than usual, try thinking: “from tomorrow, the days get a little longer.” That alone makes the solstice feel a bit brighter.

In closing

The shortest day. The longest night.

Tōji is the day Japan quietly celebrates at the very bottom of the dark — the moment the light starts coming back. With the scent of yuzu in the steam and something warm in the bowl.

In 2026, the winter solstice is Tuesday, December 22nd. Why not wait for the returning light, gently, through a little cloud of steam?

References

• National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, “Calendar Data for 2026 (Reiwa 8): 24 Sekki”
• Kotobank, “Tōji” (Nipponica, Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, Mypedia, Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, and others)
• Kotobank, “Yuzu-yu” (Heibonsha World Encyclopedia)
• imidas, Annual Events: “Tōji”
• Waseda University, “In search of the Ichiyō Raifuku charm at Ana Hachimangū”