Tokyo New Year’s Eve Hotels 2026/27: Where to Stay for the Shrines and Temple Bells, and the Accommodation Tax

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Tokyo has no single New Year’s Eve party to book a hotel around. The countdown at Shibuya’s scramble crossing was cancelled again last year, announced on 3 December 2025, and Shibuya City had posted nothing for this year when we looked on 26 October. What the city has instead is hatsumode, the first shrine or temple visit of the year, and the midnight bells. Last year Meiji Jingu stayed open through the turn of the year, Senso-ji rings 108 bells at midnight, and from about 29 December to 3 January many businesses close. The one organised, ticketed event already published for 2026/27 is Tokyo Skytree’s first-sunrise opening on 1 January 2027, which is sold by lottery.

This guide covers what each organiser has and has not published for 2026/27, five areas matched to the kind of night you want, 12 hotels, the Metropolitan Government’s accommodation tax and what to book first. For the rest of your trip, where to stay in Tokyo covers six neighbourhoods and 17 hotels, eight of which also appear here. The hotels are researched picks, chosen for location, what each property publishes and consistent guest feedback, and each was checked as operating in October 2026. No hotel pays to appear here.

The short answer

Not sure which area? Rank these areas for your trip: pick what matters and see the reasons.

31 December 2026 to 3 January 2027: what is published

We read each organiser’s own site on 25 and 26 October 2026. Where a page still describes last year, we say so and give it as last year’s.

The temples and shrines

• Meiji Jingu. Admission is free and the shrine has three entrances: Harajuku (south), a minute from JR Harajuku and Meiji-jingumae stations, Yoyogi (north), about five minutes from JR Yoyogi and Kitasando, and Sangubashi (west), five minutes from Odakyu Sangubashi. Its hatsumode page still describes the New Year of 2026. Last year it listed gates opening at 6:40am on 31 December and said the shrine would not close at the turn of the year, so you could worship through the night. On 1 January it listed opening hours of midnight to 6:30pm. The shrine called 10pm to 3am, and the hours after 10am on the first three days, the most crowded, and asked visitors to spread out. Cars could not enter the grounds for the first three days, and roads nearby had traffic restrictions.
• Senso-ji. The temple’s annual-events pages say the New Year service, Shushoe, runs from the evening of 31 December to 6 January. At midnight the bell on Benten-yama rings, followed by 108 strikes that take about 40 minutes. The temple lists four railways at Asakusa, the Tobu Skytree Line, the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, the Tsukuba Express and the Toei Asakusa Line, none of them JR East. Its site gives main-hall hours of 6am to 5pm, or 6.30am from October to March, and publishes nothing yet about opening overnight, so treat that as unconfirmed.
• Zojoji. Its New Year page still carries last year’s text. That year it held a ritual burning of old charms at 11pm on 31 December, then 108 bells from midnight, rung in groups of four. Bell tickets cost 2,000 yen with a keepsake and were sold from 9am on 1 December at the temple office. Last year it halved the number of ringers, so expect tickets to be few. The amulet counters were open from 10pm on 31 December to 6pm on 1 January.

The countdowns

• Shibuya. The Shibuya Countdown Committee cancelled the event at Shibuya Station last year, and the City announced it on 3 December 2025. It also fenced off the Hachiko statue from 6am on 31 December to 1am on 1 January. Since 1 October 2024 drinking in public places around Shibuya Station, including streets and parks, has been banned from 6pm to 5am every day of the year. Shibuya City’s 2026 press-release list, last updated with an item of 21 October, has no countdown notice. Last year’s came in December, so the answer may not arrive until then.
• Nishi-Shinjuku. The Metropolitan Government’s “Happy New Year Tokyo 2026” countdown was held at the Citizens’ Plaza beside the Government Building on 31 December 2025, with advance registration that opened on 12 November. We found no 2026/27 announcement on its English news pages up to 24 October.
• Tokyo Tower. We found no New Year’s Eve or New Year programme on Tokyo Tower’s own site on 26 October.

The first sunrise

Tokyo Skytree has published its first-sunrise opening for Friday 1 January 2027, a national holiday. The special opening runs from 5:30am to 7:30am, with entry from 5:30am at the Solamachi plaza, and the Skytree advises that arriving after 6am may mean missing the sunrise. A ticket covers both the 350m observation deck and the 450m gallery, and you can move between them during the opening. There are 800 places in all, and 580 of them go through the Skytree’s online lottery at 11,000 yen each with a 1,000-yen shop voucher, taking applications from noon on 5 November to 11:59pm on 26 November, with results by email on 1 December. This replaces the first-come sale of earlier years. The rest go through hotel packages, travel agents and prize draws. The Skytree’s official hotel, Tobu Hotel Levant Tokyo, and Asakusa Tobu Hotel each list a twin-room package that includes the ticket, from 75,000 and 80,000 yen for two. Both go on sale from noon on 5 November, and between them the two hotels have only five rooms on the plan.

Last year the Metropolitan Government also opened the south observatory on the 45th floor of its Nishi-Shinjuku building from 6am to 7:30am on 1 January to 600 people chosen by lottery. We found nothing for 2027.

Trains on the night

• JR East. On 22 October 2026 it announced extra trains after the last service on New Year’s Eve through New Year’s Day on six lines in the Tokyo area, including the Yamanote, the Keihin-Tohoku and Negishi lines and the Chuo-Sobu local line. The times will appear in its route search from 7 December, and holiday timetables run from 30 December to 3 January. Last year’s six lines also included the Chuo rapid, Yokosuka and Sobu main and Narita lines, and the Yamanote ran both ways from about 1am to 5am, every 10 to 25 minutes.
• Tokyo Metro and Toei. Neither had posted a 2026/27 notice on 26 October. Last year both published theirs on 28 November. Tokyo Metro said it would run Saturday and holiday timetables from 30 December to 3 January, with no overnight service and no later last trains. Toei said the same for its subway lines from 30 December to 4 January.
• What shuts. Japan’s national tourism organisation says the New Year holidays generally run from about 29 December to 3 January, with schools, offices and many businesses closed for at least part of it. Some restaurants and department stores now stay open, so check each place before you plan a meal around it.

The rules that decide where you sleep

• Walk or JR. If last year’s pattern holds, the Metro and Toei will not run overnight, so the JR lines are the only trains you can rely on, and the Yamanote links Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku, Tokyo and Hamamatsucho. Asakusa is not on a JR line, so staying there means walking to and from the temple, or waiting for first trains.
• Free shrines, a lottery for the sunrise. Hatsumode at Meiji Jingu, Senso-ji and Zojoji costs nothing and needs no ticket. The Skytree opening does, and its application window closes on 26 November.
• Crowds peak after 10pm. Meiji Jingu calls 10pm to 3am its busiest time, so allow extra time to cross the area after midnight.
• Hotel dinners. Many restaurants are shut, so several hotels sell New Year dinners and packages, and some of them are the only organised events of the night. Read whether you are buying a room or a table.
• Late entry. If you plan to be out until the early hours, ask each hotel how it admits guests after midnight. The sequence MIYASHITA PARK entrance on the park side, for example, is closed from 11pm to 8am.

Asakusa: Senso-ji and the Skytree

Senso-ji is the one temple here with a hotel package attached: Asakusa Tobu Hotel sells a stay built around the Skytree sunrise. The Skytree is across the Sumida river in Sumida; we have not timed the journey, and the trains before 5:30am on 1 January are the thing to check. Our Asakusa guide covers the streets.

Where to stay in Asakusa

How the hotel links work: a hotel’s name goes to its own website. “Check rates” opens it on Booking.com through our partner Stay22, which pays us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you.

• Asakusa Tobu Hotel, comfortable. At 1-1-15 Asakusa, with room types that include a Hello Kitty room. For New Year it sells a stay plan tied to the Skytree sunrise: a twin room with breakfast from 80,000 yen for two, tax and service included, which the hotel marks as planned, with a voucher for the special-opening ticket and 1,000 yen of Skytree shop credit each. Sales start at noon on 5 November on its own booking site. It also sells dinner-buffet plans for 31 December and 1 January, in two sittings, 5:30pm to 7pm and 7:15pm to 8:45pm. Choose it for a sunrise at the Skytree with a bed to come back to. Watch out: the price is the hotel’s planned figure, the plan is for one date only, and only five rooms are shared with Tobu Hotel Levant Tokyo. Check rates on Booking.com →
• OMO3 Asakusa by Hoshino Resorts, good value. At 1-15-5 Hanakawado, with 98 rooms, a minute’s walk to Senso-ji by the hotel’s count and about four minutes from Asakusa Station Exit 7. It has a 13th-floor lounge looking at Senso-ji and the Skytree, and neighbourhood tours led by staff called OMO Rangers, many of them free. Choose it for the shortest walk to the temple at a middle price. Watch out: its page publishes no New Year terms, so ask whether the lounge and the tours run on 31 December. Check rates on Booking.com →
• Nui. HOSTEL & BAR LOUNGE, budget. At 2-14-13 Kuramae, in a warehouse district the hostel says it opened in September 2012, with dormitories and private rooms. Choose it to spend the money on the night itself. Watch out: it is in Kuramae rather than Asakusa, and the walk back from Senso-ji after midnight is longer than from the hotels above; we have not timed it. Check rates on Booking.com →

Harajuku and Shibuya: Meiji Jingu

Meiji Jingu is the one shrine here with a published all-night pattern, and the crowd at the turn of the year is the reason to sleep nearby. In Shibuya, the ward bans drinking in public places around the station from 6pm to 5am every day, and last year it said it would add security around the station on 31 December. We have no 2026/27 notice yet.

Where to stay in Harajuku and Shibuya

• TRUNK(HOTEL) CAT STREET, splurge. At 5-31 Jingumae on Cat Street, with rooms from 20 square metres to 140 square metres plus terrace, according to its page. Choose it for design, and a base between Harajuku and Shibuya. Watch out: its page publishes no New Year events or minimum stay. Check rates on Booking.com →
• sequence MIYASHITA PARK, good value. At 6-20-10 Jingumae in the north building of Miyashita Park, three minutes from the Tokyo Metro Shibuya Station B1 exit, and eight from Exit 7 at Meiji-jingumae station by the hotel’s count. It has a rooftop bar, SOAK, on the 18th floor. Choose it for a mid-price base within reach of the shrine. Watch out: its notice says the restaurant is closed for renovation from 1 November to December, Bar helmsdale from 15 October and the park-side entrance from 11pm to 8am, and that rooms are cleaned every two days. Check rates on Booking.com →
• SHIBUYA STREAM HOTEL, comfortable. At 3-21-3 Shibuya, directly connected to the New South Exit of JR Shibuya Station on the Yamanote Line. Choose it to be at the station that the overnight Yamanote will serve, if last year’s pattern holds. Watch out: it is a tower beside the station, not a street, and its page publishes no New Year terms. Check rates on Booking.com →

Shiba and Hamamatsucho: Zojoji and Tokyo Tower

Zojoji and Tokyo Tower stand beside Shiba Park. Zojoji’s bell ringing was ticketed last year, so check in early December whether it is again, and Tokyo Tower has published nothing for the night. Hamamatsucho is a Yamanote station, so the area suits a night when only JR runs.

Where to stay in Shiba and Hamamatsucho

• The Prince Park Tower Tokyo, splurge. At 4-8-1 Shibakoen, at the base of Tokyo Tower, with 263 Tower View rooms and a natural hot spring bath. Its page lists Zojoji as a nearby attraction. Choose it to wake with the tower outside the window. Watch out: the promotions we read, such as room-only offers for three nights or more, list no New Year terms. Check rates on Booking.com →
• Shiba Park Hotel, comfortable. At 1-5-10 Shibakoen, next to Shiba Park and Zojoji with Tokyo Tower close, and 198 rooms. The Japanese page describes a library lounge with about 2,000 books chosen by Ginza Tsutaya Books and free coffee. Hamamatsucho, Daimon and Onarimon stations are all within walking distance, the hotel says. Choose it for the nearest bed to the bell. Watch out: its pages list no New Year terms or minimum stay. Check rates on Booking.com →

Tokyo Station and Marunouchi: a calm base

Marunouchi and Yaesu are business districts rather than shrine neighbourhoods, which is the point if you want sleep. Tokyo Station is on the Yamanote, so Meiji Jingu and Zojoji are on the same line; Asakusa is not.

Where to stay near Tokyo Station

• The Tokyo Station Hotel, splurge, heritage. Inside the station building, with 150 rooms, open since 1915 and reopened in 2012 as an Important Cultural Property, according to its site. Choose it for a landmark bed with the station beneath you. Watch out: its special-offers page lists no New Year plan, so ask what it sells for 31 December. Check rates on Booking.com →
• Hotel Ryumeikan Tokyo, comfortable, Japanese in feel. At 1-3-22 Yaesu, three minutes from Tokyo Station, and a hotel with a dedicated New Year page. Its 2027 page lists free New Year’s Eve soba for staying guests from 8:30pm to 10pm on 31 December, an in-room osechi breakfast plan for 31 December to 1 January, a plan with a shuin book for the Nihonbashi Seven Lucky Gods walk, valid 31 December to 6 January, and wooden prayer plaques to hang in the 15th-floor lobby from 1 to 3 January. Choose it to have the Japanese New Year arranged for you. Watch out: these are plans, so compare their price with the room-only rate. Check rates on Booking.com →

Shinjuku: trains and a hotel countdown

Shinjuku is where you stay if you want the least friction on the night. It is on the Yamanote, JR East’s announcement covers the lines that serve it, and last year the Metropolitan Government held its countdown in Nishi-Shinjuku. Our Shinjuku guide goes block by block.

Where to stay in Shinjuku

• Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo, comfortable. At 2-2-1 Nishi-Shinjuku. Its New Year 2027 page lists accommodation plans of one to three nights between 31 December and 3 January, a countdown concert by NHK Symphony alumni in its Entertainment Square on the night of 31 December, New Year’s Eve soba, an osechi breakfast on 1 January and dinner buffets on 31 December and 1 January. Choose it for a New Year inside one building. Watch out: the plans are packages with meals, and the page’s example prices start at 594,000 yen, so check what a plain room costs. Check rates on Booking.com →
• JR Kyushu Hotel Blossom Shinjuku, comfortable. At 2-6-2 Yoyogi, three minutes’ walk from the JR Shinjuku Station South Exit and the Expressway Bus Terminal, and about two minutes from the Toei Oedo and Shinjuku lines station, the hotel says. Choose it to be close to the JR overnight trains. Watch out: its page publishes no New Year terms, so ask about the minimum stay. Check rates on Booking.com →

Tokyo’s accommodation tax

Tokyo charges a per-person, per-night tax on hotel and ryokan stays, set by the Metropolitan Government. For a stay over New Year 2026/27, the rates are the old ones. A new scheme starts on 1 April 2027.

The new rule also covers simple lodgings and private minpaku stays from 1 April 2027. As our arithmetic, a room at 40,000 yen a night for two is 20,000 yen per person, so 200 yen each, 400 yen a night and 800 yen for the two nights of 31 December and 1 January. The tax is often collected at the front desk, separately from the room rate. The 2027 change does not touch a trip that ends in early January.

How to book New Year in Tokyo

• Lottery and sale dates first. The Skytree lottery runs from 5 to 26 November, and its hotel plans go on sale at noon on 5 November.
• Check the minimum stay. Keio Plaza’s plans run from one to three nights, Ryumeikan’s plans start on 31 December, and Asakusa Tobu’s sunrise plan is for one date only. Most other hotels here publish no New Year minimum, so ask.
• Read what is a stay and what is a dinner. Keio Plaza, Asakusa Tobu and Ryumeikan sell New Year meals with their plans. Read whether you are buying a room or a table.
• Keep free cancellation. The Metro, Toei and Shibuya notices came in late November and December last year, so keep free cancellation until they are out.
• Compare totals. Our hotel booking sites compared goes through where to book, and hotel taxes around the world shows how other cities charge theirs.

All 12 at a glance

Before you go

• Before you fly, sort out mobile data (the best eSIM for Japan) and cover (travel insurance for Japan). Get a transit card sorted too, with our Suica and Pasmo guide, and see the Japan tickets worth booking in advance.
• On arrival, our airport guide compares every train and bus into the city, and where to stay in Tokyo covers the rest of your trip.

Frequently asked questions

Sources & further reading

• Meiji Jingu: New Year visit (hatsumode) page, with last year’s hours
• Meiji Jingu: how to visit and opening hours and Q&A
• Senso-ji: New Year service (Shushoe) and New Year’s Eve bell
• Senso-ji: official site, with hours and access
• Zojoji: New Year events
• Shibuya City: countdown cancellation and New Year safety measures, 3 December 2025
• Shibuya City: press releases for 2026
• Shibuya City: street-drinking ordinance
• Tokyo Metropolitan Government: New Year Countdown 2026
• Tokyo Metropolitan Government: Nighttime Project announcement, 19 November 2025
• Tokyo Skytree: first sunrise 2027 opening and tickets
• Tokyo Tower: official site
• JR East: winter extra trains, 22 October 2026
• JR East: overnight trains on New Year’s Eve 2025
• Tokyo Metro: year-end and New Year operation, 28 November 2025 (archived copy)
• Toei Transportation: year-end and New Year operation, 28 November 2025 (archived copy)
• Tokyo Metropolitan Government Bureau of Taxation: accommodation tax
• Japan National Tourism Organization: New Year’s in Japan
• Asakusa Tobu Hotel: Skytree first-sunrise plan and year-end and New Year plans
• Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo: New Year 2027
• Hotel Ryumeikan Tokyo: New Year 2027 and stay plans
• Official websites of each hotel named above, checked in October 2026

Dates, rules, prices and hotel terms change, and several 2026/27 notices were not yet published when we checked; where we describe last year’s arrangements we say so. Every hotel detail here was checked in October 2026; confirm minimum stays, rates and cancellation terms with the hotel before booking. These are researched picks, not reviews. This article contains affiliate links: hotel rates on Booking.com and other booking sites through Stay22, and tours, transfers and eSIMs through our partners; if you book through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. No hotel pays to be included.

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