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Asia · air quality report · 207 cities

Japan air quality today The AQI right now, city by city

Right now the 207 cities Airleaf measures in Japan average AQI 36 (good). The worst air is in Tsukuba, at AQI 69, and the cleanest in Kakegawa, at AQI 8.

At ground stations alone, which measure rather than estimate, the average is AQI 38 across 191 cities. None of the 207 measured cities is over AQI 100 today, and 88% have Good air.

Average right now

AQI 36

Good

US EPA index, across 207 cities
cities measured
207
worst air: Tsukuba
69
cleanest air: Kakegawa
8
average tree cover
16.4%

Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.

Japan · average AQI 36

Air quality right now in the 8 largest cities in Japan

Tokyo

2 km around 2 Chome-8 Nishishinjuku

Moderate

Air quality now

AQI 53

12.7%
tree cover

53.8K more trees would reach 30% tree cover

Satellite image Jul 25, 2026

Yokohama

2 km around Myokojidai

Good

Air quality now

AQI 50

17.9%
tree cover

31.7K more trees would reach 30% tree cover

Satellite image Aug 24, 2026

Osaka

2 km around 1 Chome-3 Nakanoshima

Moderate

Air quality now

AQI 55

2.7%
tree cover

72.0K more trees would reach 30% tree cover

Satellite image Aug 25, 2026

Nagoya

2 km around 3 Chome-1 Sannomaru

Good

Air quality now

AQI 28

9.0%
tree cover

61.8K more trees would reach 30% tree cover

Satellite image Aug 24, 2026

Sapporo

2 km around 4 Chome Kita 5 Jonishi

Good

Air quality now

AQI 33

10.1%
tree cover

62.2K more trees would reach 30% tree cover

Satellite image Sep 8, 2026

Fukuoka

2 km around 2 Chome-4 Chiyo

Good

Air quality now

AQI 50

5.0%
tree cover

73.5K more trees would reach 30% tree cover

Satellite image Aug 23, 2026

Kawasaki

2 km around 3 Chome-13 Oshima

Good

Air quality now

AQI 50

3.4%
tree cover

80.3K more trees would reach 30% tree cover

Satellite image Aug 24, 2026

Kobe

2 km around 5 Chome-10 Shimoyamatedori

Good

Air quality now

AQI 28

27.7%
tree cover

6.5K more trees would reach 30% tree cover

Satellite image Aug 25, 2026

Across the country

How clean is the air across Japan today?

None of the 207 measured cities is over AQI 100 today, and 88% have Good air. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

207 measured cities

  • Good183 (88%)
  • Moderate24 (12%)

Every measured city, including model estimates where no ground station is near.

In aggregate

Japan in numbers

Every figure below is read the same way over the same 2 km area per city, so they add up and compare like for like. Averaged across the 207 of 207 cities measured so far in Japan.

Average air quality
AQI 36Mean of the latest reading per city
Average tree cover
16.4%169 of 207 below their target
Trees counted
10.2MAcross every measured area
More trees needed
9.6MTo bring each area to its target

Worst air quality right now

  1. 1Tsukuba1h ago69
  2. 2Tsuchiura1h ago69
  3. 3Kumamoto1h ago68
  4. 4Asahikawa1h ago63
  5. 5Saga1h ago60
  6. 6Kurume1h ago59
  7. 7Niiza1h ago56
  8. 8Koga1h ago56
  9. 9Kakogawachō-honmachi1h ago56
  10. 10Higashiosaka1h ago56

Cleanest air right now

  1. 1Kakegawa1h ago8
  2. 2Numazu1h ago10
  3. 3Kushiro1h ago11
  4. 4Nagahama1h ago11
  5. 5Kisarazu1h ago14
  6. 6Fujinomiya1h ago17
  7. 7Hakodate1h ago17
  8. 8Ise1h ago17
  9. 9Utsunomiya1h ago19
  10. 10Hitachi1h ago22

Greenest cities in Japan

  1. 1Ōme74.7%
  2. 2Yamagata66.9%
  3. 3Kure60.8%
  4. 4Tsuyama60.3%
  5. 5Kitakyushu58.9%
  6. 6Yamaguchi55.3%
  7. 7Tajimi54.0%
  8. 8Ikoma47.3%
  9. 9Ichinoseki47.0%
  10. 10Inzai45.5%

Least tree cover in Japan

Excludes barren and desert sites

  1. 1Higashiosaka1.6%
  2. 2Sakai2.0%
  3. 3Komatsu2.2%
  4. 4Nagahama2.4%
  5. 5Takasaki2.4%
  6. 6Kishiwada2.6%
  7. 7Aomori2.7%
  8. 8Ichinomiya2.7%
  9. 9Osaka2.7%
  10. 10Matsutō2.8%

Against everywhere else

How does Japan compare with other countries?

Right now the cities of Japan average cleaner air than 76% of the 171 countries Airleaf has enough cities to average, and more tree cover than 34%.

Cleaner air than…

Japan
Beats 76%

More tree cover than…

Japan
Beats 34%

See the most polluted and cleanest air rankings for every country.

Deforestation · 2001–2025

How much forest has Japan lost?

Since 2001, Japan has lost about 1.02 million hectares of forest (about 10,000 km²): 3.9% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it was lost to logging, so much of it can grow back. About 108,000 hectares (11%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns.

Forest lost since 2001
1.02 million haabout 10,000 km²
Share of its forest
3.9%of what there was in 2000
Cleared for good
108,000 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Forest lost each year in Japan, 2001–2025

Hectares of forest lost each year

Forest lost each year in Japan, 2001–2025. Use the left and right arrow keys to read each year.54.8K

Show the figures as a table
Forest lost each year in Japan, 2001–2025
YearCleared for goodCan grow backTotal
20014,200 ha19,500 ha23,700 ha
20023,590 ha22,300 ha25,900 ha
20032,460 ha17,100 ha19,600 ha
20045,060 ha31,900 ha36,900 ha
20054,030 ha32,100 ha36,200 ha
20064,480 ha34,200 ha38,700 ha
20074,900 ha40,300 ha45,200 ha
20085,180 ha35,400 ha40,600 ha
20094,870 ha35,800 ha40,700 ha
20103,850 ha31,700 ha35,600 ha
20113,820 ha31,800 ha35,600 ha
20125,690 ha39,700 ha45,400 ha
20132,550 ha20,600 ha23,100 ha
20143,450 ha24,600 ha28,000 ha
20153,630 ha27,400 ha31,100 ha
20166,650 ha48,200 ha54,800 ha
20175,840 ha41,600 ha47,400 ha
20185,630 ha44,700 ha50,300 ha
20195,570 ha45,700 ha51,200 ha
20204,610 ha43,300 ha47,900 ha
20213,840 ha44,500 ha48,400 ha
20223,530 ha50,100 ha53,700 ha
20233,340 ha47,000 ha50,400 ha
20243,330 ha50,300 ha53,600 ha
20253,620 ha49,700 ha53,300 ha

Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 51,900 hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 50,400 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2016, when about 54,800 hectares of forest were lost.

What is causing deforestation in Japan?

  • Loggingcan grow back87% · 881,000 ha
  • Towns and roadscleared for good6.5% · 66,400 ha
  • Mining and energycleared for good2.4% · 24,000 ha

Also: farms, pasture and plantations, storms, floods and other natural causes, wildfires, shifting farming, unknown causes.

Causes for 2025 are estimates, based on what caused forest loss in the same places up to 2024.

Japan's full deforestation report

Source: Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA, Global Forest Change (GFC-2025-v1.13); causes: WRI/Google DeepMind drivers of forest loss; both CC BY 4.0, summed by Airleaf for each area. How it's measured

Japan as a whole

68.3% of Japan was forested as of 2024, against a 30% benchmark. That already clears the benchmark — the city reports above show where cover is still thin locally. Source: World Bank (FAO).

Browse by prefecture

Full directory

Every city we track in Japan

207 cities, A–Z

Clean-air buying guides

Cleaner air at home in Japan

Picked by tested clean-air delivery rate (CADR), noise and running cost, from independent test labels. No brand pays to be listed.

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Frequently asked

Air quality in Japan: your questions answered

What is the air quality in Japan today?

Right now the 207 cities Airleaf measures in Japan average AQI 36 (good). The worst air is in Tsukuba, at AQI 69, and the cleanest in Kakegawa, at AQI 8. At ground stations alone, which measure rather than estimate, the average is AQI 38 across 191 cities. None of the 207 measured cities is over AQI 100 today, and 88% have Good air.

Which city in Japan has the worst air right now?

Tsukuba, at AQI 69 (Moderate) on the US EPA index. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.

Which city in Japan has the cleanest air right now?

Kakegawa, at AQI 8 (Good). Both lists rank current readings, from ground stations wherever Japan has at least three cities with one.

Is the air in Japan safe to breathe today?

It depends on the city. 183 cities are Good, 24 cities are Moderate. At the national average of AQI 36: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

How much forest has Japan lost since 2001?

About 1.02 million ha from 2001 to 2025, 4% of the forest it had in 2000, from the University of Maryland's yearly satellite maps of forest loss. 108,000 ha of it was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.

Which city in Japan has the most trees?

Ōme, with 74.7% tree cover within 2 km of its center, measured from Sentinel-2 satellite images.

How does Airleaf measure air quality in Japan?

Each city's reading is the US EPA air quality index, from ground monitoring stations where one has reported recently nearby, and from the CAMS atmospheric model elsewhere; each city's report says which. Tree cover is measured over the same 2 km radius in every city, so the cities compare like for like.

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