12 best things to do in Osaka over the 2026 New Year: January 1–4

Beach outings may be a summertime activity in Japan, but Sennan Long Park is proving that this coastal stretch across the water from the Kansai International Airport has plenty of appeal in winter, too. Come sundown, a total of 75,000 lights will illuminate the park, transforming the shoreline into a magical winter nightscape. 

Now in its sixth year, the Sennan Park Light-up features glowing corridors and sculptural light installations shaped like hearts, snowflakes and more, turning this entire waterfront into one giant photo spot.

Closed January 1, opens January 2

Step into the world of Gustav Klimt, the celebrated Austrian symbolist painter and a key figure in both the Vienna Secession and the Art Nouveau movements. The ‘Klimt Alive’ exhibition offers a breathtaking and immersive journey through Klimt’s iconic masterpieces, where projection mapping and classical music bring his vibrant works to life.

Experience the stunning beauty of The Kiss, one of the art world’s most renowned paintings, as it’s projected onto the walls and floor to create a 360-degree multisensory environment. At this cutting-edge exhibition, you’ll be literally stepping inside his art. Additionally, the exhibition also features captivating photo spots and exclusive merchandise.

Closed January 1, opens January 2

Held at the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka until March 8, this ambitious exhibition reconsiders surrealism as a far-reaching cultural force that has reshaped both art and everyday life.

Defined by André Breton in 1924 as a practice grounded in the ‘omnipotence of dreams’ and the pursuit of a ‘superior reality’, surrealism drew deeply on Freudian psychoanalysis to unlock the subconscious. While its dreamlike imagery and unsettling juxtapositions are widely recognised in painting and photography, the exhibition reveals how surrealist thinking extended far beyond the gallery, infiltrating advertising, fashion and interior design.

Organised into six thematic sections, the show traces the movement’s expansion across media, examining how techniques such as automatism, collage and dépaysement (‘disorientation’) transformed both visual culture and lived environments.

Masterpieces by leading figures of the genre, including Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, René Magritte, Man Ray and Giorgio de Chirico, are shown alongside rare objects, posters, photographs and design works. Highlights include Magritte’s ‘The Museum of the King’, Elsa Schiaparelli’s iconic fashion designs, and striking examples of surrealist advertising and interiors. Drawing on major collections throughout Japan, the exhibition offers a timely reappraisal of surrealism’s enduring power to unsettle reality – and reimagine it.