6 best art festivals in Japan you should not miss in 2022

When: Ongoing until November 6 2022 

Where: Naoshima, Teshima and several other neighbouring islands in the Seto Inland Sea 

Why go: Japan’s art islands are worth visiting even outside of festival season, but the additional exhibitions held during the months of the Setouchi Triennale make them all the more exciting. On top of the permanent installations and art initiatives scattered around the islands like the 'I Love Yu' bathhouse and Yayoi Kusama's giant red pumpkin by the port of Naoshima, every three years a host of renowned local and international artists are invited to participate in exhibitions to coincide with the Triennale.

This year, the list of participating artists from overseas includes names like Azerbaijani artist Faig Ahmed, known for his surreal artworks of reimagined carpets, and sculptor Sopheap Pich, who uses natural materials like rattan gathered from his home country of Cambodia to create abstract 3D figures.

Among the featured creatives from Japan are the likes of Akari Yamashita, Rio Toyofuku and Yoshitaka Nanjo. You can rent bicycles on the islands and pedal between the installations as you take in the mesmerising ocean views.  

Tickets: 3-Season Passports are available online, with prices for 16- to 18-year-olds set at ¥3,000 and adults at ¥5,000. Visitors aged 15 and below will be able to view the installations for free. 

When: November 3-6 2022 

Where: Exhibitions in multiple districts across Tokyo, including Ginza, Roppongi, Shibuya, Shinjuku and Toranomon. 

Why go: Hosted in collaboration with Art Basel, this four-day festival connects over 50 of Tokyo's leading museums and galleries through a series of coordinated art events and programmes. During the festival, you can download an app that will get you discounted exhibition passes, access to the AWT pop-up bar in the Emergence Aoyama Complex, and free rides on the AWT Bus to hop between events and exhibitions. The buses will take six different routes around the city, with an interval of 15 minutes.

Participating venues include the Artizon Museum, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum and The National Art Center, all of which are offering special admission rates for the duration of the festival. 

Tickets: Admission fees vary according to each venue, but you can get a discount for certain museum tickets with the free AWT app. Note that many of the participating museums and galleries are monitoring visitor capacity for health and safety reasons. It’s recommended that you reserve a time slot for your visit online a few days in advance.

When: Ongoing until November 13 2022. 

Where: Various venues across Niigata prefecture 

Why go: Held every three years in various locations across rural Niigata, Echigo-Tsumari Art Field is Japan’s largest open-air art festival. In the 22 years since its inaugural event, the festival has seen dozens of permanent artworks installed at its venues by artists ranging from Yayoi Kusama to James Turrell. With an eclectic mix of exhibitions and events to see from now through November – in addition to some 200 permanent installations – there’s never been a better time to catch a train to Niigata.

Tickets: Early bird passports – which grant multi-access to a list of pre-determined venues – can be purchased online until July 29. They cost ¥3,500 (normal price ¥4,500) for adults and ¥2,500 (normally ¥3,500) for university and high school students. Passports are free for junior high school students or younger. 

When: Ongoing until November 20 2022 

Where: Multiple towns within Kyoto prefecture, including Fukuchiyama, Miyazu, Amanohashidate and Muko

Why go: This contemporary art festival aims to highlight the beauty of Kyoto prefecture’s lesser known areas by collaborating with innovative young artists from both Japan and overseas. Many of the featured creatives incorporate digital technology in their pieces to create an interesting juxtaposition with Kyoto’s reputation for tradition and antiquity. 

For this year’s edition of Alternative Kyoto, the festival has been assigned the theme of ‘light’. The lineup includes art collective Think And Sense as well as Intercity-Express, who have collaborated to create their zen-inspired immersive piece titled 'Stillness'. Montreal digital art studio Irregular are exhibiting their 4m by 4m LED cube titled ‘Control No Control’ in Japan for the first time at the Motoise Kono Shrine in Miyazu City. 

Tickets: All free – what more could you ask for?

When: October 8 to November 27 

Where: Omi-Hachiman and Hikone in Shiga prefecture 

Why go: A festival that combines the old with the new, Biwako Biennale takes advantage of the historical parts of Shiga’s Omi-Hachiman and Hikone areas by transforming dilapidated structures into gallery spaces for contemporary art. This year, the festival will take place across 24 different venues, including the former Kyu-Hachiman post office and the Yama no Yu bathhouse. Among the participating artists are Rui Sasaki, Makoto Egashira, and duo Ken and Julia Yonetani, whose conceptual sculptures were selected to tie in with this year’s theme of ‘origin’.

Tickets: Early bird all-access passports priced at ￥4,000 for adults, ￥3,000 for students, and free for elementary school children. 

When: Ongoing until February 26 2023 

Where: Dogo Onsen area in Matsuyama, Ehime

Why go: A stone’s throw away from Ehime’s Matsuyama Castle – one of Japan's few remaining Edo-period (1603-1867) castles – is the natural hot spring town of Dogo Onsen.  The area’s main attraction, Dogo Onsen Honkan is thought to be one of Japan’s oldest bathhouses. It attracts an influx of tourists every year for its connection to Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning film ‘Spirited Away’.

This art festival, which opened in April, is yet another reason to visit the onsen town, where contemporary art pieces are featured alongside or within historical bathhouses. Large, visually striking installations include Shinro Ohtake's marquee mural 'Energy Scape' and Mika Ninagawa's outdoor garden installation; both are site-specific works which span entire venues. Meanwhile, exhibits like Etsuko Ichihara’s 'Portal of Fortune' and the after-dark ‘Slow, Slow Slow Poem’ piece by Kyota Takahashi and Oblaat make for subtle yet equally memorable highlights. 

Tickets: Most of the art installations are free for public viewing. However, some venues may charge an admission fee.