Roppongi Art Night 2012

Roppongi's annual all-night celebration of artsiness was cancelled last year in the wake of March 11, but many of the participating artists are due to return for the 2012 edition, including headliner Yayoi Kusama. Their mission: to lift the nation's spirits through art. The main action starts at sundown on March 24 and continues until dawn the following day, and the area's major museums and galleries will stay open through the night, with assorted performances, art happenings and a giant kokeshi doll lending some added spice to the proceedings. As with previous years, many of the attractions are free, and they're likely to be very well attended indeed – some 70,000 people turned up in 2010. Kusama's distinctive polka dotted installations – including a 10m balloon figure called Yayoi-chan – promise to provide one of the highlights, as does Antenna's 'Legend of Roppongi 2012', in which the Kyoto duo playfully appropriate traditional Japanese matsuri rituals.