April 2026 events in Tokyo

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government No 1 Building in Shinjuku serves as the backdrop for a jaw-dropping and record-breaking projection mapping show. Covering an area of a whopping 13,905sqm, the after-dark spectacle has been certified by Guinness World Records as the largest permanent display of its kind in the world.

The nightly showcase features a range of visual wonders created by a mix of local and international artists. Some shows are inspired by Tokyo’s rich history, while others draw on themes like the lunar cycle. 

Currently, on weeknights, you can catch striking visuals synchronised to ‘800’ and 'Zankyosanka' by hit Japanese pop singer and lyricist Aimer as well as ‘Pac-Man eats Tokyo’, ‘Lunar Cycle’, ‘Synergy’, ‘Tokyo Resonance’ and ‘Evolution’. On weekends, you can look forward to the aforementioned ‘Zankyosanka (Aimer)’, as well as ‘Godzilla: Attack on Tokyo’ and ‘TYO337’, a display featuring motifs of traditional Japanese performing arts such as Kabuki paired with electronic beats. 

From March 20, Pokémon Trading Card Game ‘Tokyo Luminous Night’, a brand-new projection-mapping show featuring Pokémon cards on a massive scale, has been running on weekends and holidays from 6.30pm, 7.30pm and 9pm. Be sure to check the event website for more details.

Shows take place every night at fifteen-minute intervals from 6pm (Mar from 6.30pm, 7pm from Apr, 7.30pm from May to Aug) to 9.45pm. For more details and to check the full programme of daily projection mapping shows, visit here.

This expansive exhibition is the largest in the Doraemon franchise’s 56-year history, bringing together manga panels, animation, sculptures, limited-edition merch and a themed food menu all starring the world’s favourite blue robot cat and his friends. It launched in Hong Kong in July 2024, attracting over five million visitors during its month-long run. Since then, it has continued to captivate fans across Asia, making its way through several cities including Shanghai, Guangzhou, Bangkok, and Kaohsiung in Taiwan.

The exhibition space contains over 100 distinct Doraemon figures, each with its own expression and costume. In addition to showcasing the content from the previous cities, the Tokyo exhibition also features Japan-exclusive works. Here you can see Doraemon transformed into a shiba inu, a sumo wrestler and a few other forms inspired by Japanese culture, as well as view two original animations not seen elsewhere.

‘100% Doraemon & Friends’ runs until September 30 and is open from 10am to 6pm daily (last entry 5.30pm). Tickets start from ¥2,400 for adults, ¥1,800 for primary and secondary school students and ¥1,600 for children four years old and below – purchase yours here. As an added bonus, upon arrival exhibition visitors receive one of nine Doraemon-themed acrylic pins and one of four promotional cards (both chosen at random).

Brace yourselves – things are about to get intensely kawaii. From April 9 to June 21, the Mori Arts Center Gallery in Roppongi hosts the final and most expansive edition of a pink-hued exhibition that has toured Japan since 2021. Marking more than 60 years since the founding of cute character empire Sanrio, the show returns to Tokyo in an enriched version that looks back not only at the company’s history, but also at the birth and global rise of kawaii as a cultural language.

Before Hello Kitty’s debut in 1974 (!), Sanrio was already exploring new forms of visual softness, warmth and emotional connection. The exhibition traces this formative period, revealing how kawaii emerged as a distinct value through early designs, products and ideas. Subsequent sections delve into the creation of the company’s multifarious characters, the enduring appeal of Kitty-chan and Sanrio’s unique philosophy of growing characters together with their fans. Central to this story is Ichigo Shinbun, the fan mag that fostered a participatory culture long before the age of social media.

The exhibition culminates in a spectacular gathering of characters: over 200 appear on display, the largest number in Sanrio exhibition history, alongside a vast array of nostalgic merchandise. More than a celebration of cuteness, ‘The Beginning of Kawaii’ offers a thoughtful portrait of how Sanrio shaped, and continues to shape, a global cultural phenomenon.

When at the exhibition, be sure to also check out the collab café right next to the museum.

Focusing on the astonishing survival abilities found across the natural world, the National Museum of Nature and Science’s matter-of-factly named ‘Super Dangerous Creatures’ exhibition dissects the ‘killer techniques’ that allow predators, venomous species and even seemingly harmless animals to dominate their respective ecosystems.

Presented as an exploration of a secret research laboratory, the exhibition reveals the raw power, hidden mechanisms and evolutionary ingenuity behind nature’s most formidable creatures. Through rare specimens, high-precision computer graphics, large-scale models and immersive video displays, visitors can encounter the science behind traits such as crushing strength, razor-sharp fangs, lethal toxins, electric shocks and ‘mass-attack’ behaviour.

The exhibition is divided into two major zones. ‘Area A: Physical Attack Specialists’ introduces giants like the African elephant and anaconda, apex biters such as tigers and great white sharks, and species equipped with horns, claws, stingers or even biological ‘hammers’ and ‘saws’. ‘Area B: Special Attack Specialists’ spotlights venomous animals, chemical-weapon users, electric predators like the electric eel, and blood-feeding species whose danger extends to the diseases they transmit.

Designed to ignite scientific curiosity and reveal the astonishing depth of life on Earth, the exhibition offers a rare opportunity to confront the true power of the natural world up close – safely and through the lens of science, of course.