Diwali 2026 falls on Sunday, November 8 in Japan and South Korea, the same calendar date as in India, part of a 5-day festival running from Dhanteras on November 6 through Bhai Dooj on November 10. Both countries host a growing Indian community concentrated in tech, engineering and finance roles, mostly in Tokyo, Osaka and Seoul.
No public holiday, so timing around the work week matters
Neither Japan nor South Korea recognises Diwali as a public holiday, so families there generally fit the home puja around a normal work schedule. Since November 8, 2026 falls on a Sunday, the actual evening itself is a non-working day for most, which helps, but the days immediately before and after (Dhanteras on the 6th and Bhai Dooj on the 10th) fall on weekdays, so those smaller observances often get compressed or shifted to the nearest weekend for working professionals.
Getting the puja timing right
Lakshmi Puja is traditionally timed to Pradosh Kaal, the period around local sunset. Tokyo, Osaka and Seoul all sit roughly 3.5 hours ahead of Indian Standard Time and do not observe daylight saving, so their November 8 sunset is a straightforward fixed local figure, but it still needs computing per city rather than assumed identical between Tokyo and Seoul, which differ in longitude.
Community and workplace considerations
Indian professional communities in Tokyo and Seoul often organise smaller, weekday-evening or weekend Diwali gatherings through employer-sponsored cultural groups, Indian associations, or informal friend networks rather than large temple-centred events, given the smaller population size compared to Singapore or the Gulf. Worth checking with your company’s ERG or local Indian association for any organised event separate from your own home puja.
Finding puja supplies in Tokyo and Seoul
Indian grocery stores in Tokyo are concentrated in the Nishi-Kasai and Shin-Okubo areas, and a few online shops deliver across Japan with 2-3 day shipping. Seoul has a smaller but growing selection around Itaewon and the Dongdaemun area. For both cities, the essentials for Lakshmi Puja, things like ghee, agarbatti, kumkum and small diyas, are generally available if you plan a week ahead. What is harder to find is fresh marigold flowers in the quantity you would use back home, and most families substitute with whatever yellow or orange flowers are available locally. A useful trick some families in Tokyo have adopted: ordering plain clay diyas in bulk from an Indian store once a year and storing them, since they are lightweight, last indefinitely, and the same small stores that carry them tend to sell out right before Diwali. For new arrivals doing their first Diwali in Japan or Korea, joining a local Indian community Facebook or LINE group a month beforehand is the fastest way to find out where everything is sourced.
Ordering supplies with enough lead time
For families without easy access to Nishi-Kasai or Itaewon, several India-based and Singapore-based stores ship puja supplies into Japan and South Korea, typically taking 5-10 days by international courier rather than the 2-3 days quoted for domestic Japan orders. Ordering by the last week of October is the safer bet, rather than waiting until early November, when courier volumes across Asia spike ahead of the festival.
Explaining Diwali to Japanese or Korean colleagues
Since Diwali isn’t a public holiday in either country, people in the diaspora often end up fielding some version of “what is this festival?” from coworkers. A short explanation that lands well: Diwali combines a new year and a festival of lights, since it marks a new year in parts of India (the Gujarati calendar begins the day after) and centers on lamps marking good outweighing difficulty, not unlike how Obon or Chuseok honor family and renewal.
Check your city’s timing
Use the muhurat page with Tokyo, Osaka or Seoul selected to see November 8’s sunset and Rahu Kaal for your local Lakshmi Puja window.