April 2019 events in Tokyo
Unless you have serious cedar pollen allergy, April is one of the nicest months in Tokyo: the weather is usually very agreeable, tasty festivals and other outdoor events abound, and there may even be a few cherry blossoms left on the trees here and there. April is also the time for highlights like Tokyo Rainbow Week, Earth Day and Zushi's Beach Film Festival, all centred around the first half of the Golden Week holiday at the end of the month. Make sure you don't miss out with our guide to the top events going on in Tokyo this April.
Our April highlights
Midtown Blossom
Celebrate the arrival of spring with the Midtown Blossom 2019 event at Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi. The centrepiece of this annual event, currently in its 12th year, will be the 200m-long cherry blossom-lined avenue through the Garden Area of Tokyo Midtown. It’s especially magical at night when it’s all lit up. You’ll want to make a beeline for the transparent tents parked under the cherry trees...
Rikugien Cherry Blossom Lightup
Rikugien's annual spring celebration will be back again for 2019, which means that both the park's huge cherry trees and the rest of the beautiful Japanese garden will be lit up in the evening, creating a magical atmosphere for sakura flower viewing. The park stays open until 9pm for the duration of the event, making after-work hanami parties possible even on weekdays...
Hibiya Festival
The Hibiya area is putting together a spectacular (and free) musical theatre and opera festival, running for a few weeks around Golden Week. This year’s opening show is produced by Amon Miyazaki, one of Japan’s most acclaimed theatre talents, whose original musical ‘I Got Merman’ has won numerous awards since its debut in 2001...
The 5.6.7.8’s vs. Jackie & The Cedrics
The punk and rock event series Back From the Grave – who proudly claim to be the 'premiere purveyor of Nipponese sleaze and raw raunchy rock' – are putting on a battle of the bands with two titans of the punk scene. On one side, the garage rock trio immortalised in 'Kill Bill: Volume 1', the 5.6.7.8's...
Tokyo Art Book Fair: Ginza Edition at Ginza Sony Park
Before Art Book Fair makes a big comeback for its 10th edition in July, it's starting off with a month-long fringe event in Ginza's Sony Park, starting from March 8. While the former fair is known for bringing together publishers, artists and galleries from all around the world, this Ginza edition will connect you, the audience, directly with the exhibitors...
Le Corbusier and the Age of Purism
For its 60th birthday, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo is hosting a grand exhibition dedicated to Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known by his pseudonym Le Corbusier (1887-1965), the architect who designed this very building. Jeanneret is widely regarded as one of the three greatest masters of modern architecture, along with Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies van der Rohe...
Craft Sake Week at Roppongi Hills
Looking to get into sake? Join Craft Sake Week at Roppongi Hills and discover a whole new world of Japan's national drink. Featuring a total of 110 breweries over the entire week, each day is set to showcase a different variety of sake from these breweries...
Bone Music Exhibition
Providing a poignant look at bootleg tunes from behind the Iron Curtain, the Bone Music Project, which held its first exhibition in London in 2014, now presents its inaugural Asian show. While all culture in the USSR was placed under the surveillance and control of the state during the Cold War, some music was banned outright – notably American jazz and rock 'n' roll, along with certain kinds of Russian music...
Nippon Craft Beer Festival in Sumida
Always offering a convenient way to sample a wide variety of domestic craft brews in one sitting, the Nippon Craft Beer Festival is happening again in Asakusa. More than 20 breweries, including a few guests from overseas, will be showing off over 40 kinds of beer at Sumida Riverside Hall...
The Lighting Art of Kabuki
The acclaimed kabuki company Shochiku is trying something completely new in their latest performance: an exhibition that blends kabuki with digital media. The story being performed in the exhibition is a classic kabuki play called ‘Yoshitsune Senbonzakura’ or ‘Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees'. To bring this story to life, the show is combining three elements: kabuki, hanami (cherry-blossom viewing) and music...
Free events in April
Tokyo Coffee Festival
Find Japan’s largest selection of coffee shops and roasters in one place at the Tokyo Coffee Festival. The 11th iteration of Japan’s biggest coffee event will feature 60 stalls selling coffee, snacks and accessories related to coffee. This free event will also include 20 shops specialising in imported coffee from around the world. You can go around tasting the coffee on offer using an original mug from the festival. Also, keep an eye out for the array of coffee-themed original accessories on sale. The Tokyo Coffee Festival will be held simultaneously with the weekend farmers’ market, so don’t forget to stock up on fresh groceries while sipping on some of the best coffee from Japan and the world. Your weekend of ‘cafe-hopping’ sorted.
Tokyo Art Book Fair: Ginza Edition at Ginza Sony Park
Before Art Book Fair makes a big comeback for its 10th edition in July, it's starting off with a month-long fringe event in Ginza's Sony Park, starting from March 8. While the former fair is known for bringing together publishers, artists and galleries from all around the world, this Ginza edition will connect you, the audience, directly with the exhibitors.The exhibitor list changes every week save for two constant vendors who will be featured throughout the one-month period. If you’re looking for art-related books, the weekday ‘Art Book Vending Machine’ offers more than 1,000 publications for you to choose from. Zine’s Mate Shop, on the other hand, doesn't only sell art books but also offer workshops on how to create them.
Tennoz Art Festival 2019
Just across the river from the tiny Tennoz Isle, Terrada Warehouse is a massive, multi-use complex with a designated art space. The Terrada Art Complex – as the space is called – will be organising an art festival that leverages the entire island of Tennoz Isle as its exhibition space. The focus of the festival is large-scale public art and murals – the kind that can be found on the sides of the island’s waterfront buildings, plastered all over the Shinagawa Pier waiting room and decorating other public spaces around Tennoz Isle. Participating artists include Yusuke Asai, whose massive, beautiful artworks not only take up entire walls but often occupy entire rooms, with his paintings stretching across wall edges and crawling out across floors. Another name to look out for is the street artist Aryz, whose exploding internet following is rapidly making the mysterious Spanish painter a household name. The core exhibition is open until April 7, but many of the works are expected to be on display until Spring 2020. To help you get started on your art exploration, here's where you can see the artworks: Fureai bridge, Toyoko INN parking lot wall, Sanshin warehouse wall, Terrada Warehouse T33 wall, Higashi-Shinagawa Pier waiting area, Bond Street interior concrete wall, and the Tokyo Monorail Tennoz Isle Station ticket gates.
Jesús Rafael Soto: Pénétrable BBL Bleu
Head to Espace Louis Vuitton for their latest exhibition featuring work by the late Venezuelan artist Jesús Rafael Soto. Best known for his kinetic sculptures and large-scale installations, Tokyo will see one of his impressive installations set up at the Louis Vuitton gallery space over the next few months. This installation is quite unique as it encourages guests to interact with it by walking through the space and immersing themselves in both kinetic and optical ways.
Kurayami Matsuri
The ancient Okunitama Shrine out in Fuchu is said to have been founded in the year 111, and the annual Kurayami Matsuri is its most notable event. Translating as 'darkness festival', the festivities go on for a week, with float parades, performances and plenty of family-friendly fun taking place on each day. The highlight comes on the evening of May 5, when eight mikoshi shrines are carried through the grounds to the beat of huge taiko drums. From 10.30pm you can also see a spectacular yabusame (horseback archery) demonstration. Check the full programme details (in Japanese) on their website.
Vegan Gourmet Festival
Held in Nagoya, Kyoto and Tokyo, this fully vegan festival is just the ticket for Japan's herbivorous residents. It may be a bit out of the way, but your efforts will be rewarded with a strong line-up of the best vegan restaurants, vegan goodies and more. Each food stall will list the ingredients used (in Japanese), so you can be 100% sure that no animal was harmed in the process.
Midtown Blossom
Celebrate the arrival of spring at Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi. The centrepiece of this annual event, currently in its 12th year, will be the 200m-long cherry blossom-lined avenue through the Garden Area of Tokyo Midtown. It’s especially magical at night when it’s all lit up. You’ll want to make a beeline for the transparent tents parked under the cherry trees – we reckon these will be the hottest seats in Tokyo as they are just perfect for a spot of hanami (picnicking under the cherry blossoms). That’s not all: look forward to special spring-themed sweets created by the skilled chefs of the Ritz-Carlton, as well as sparkling wine tasting at the outdoor Chandon Blossom Lounge. You could even enjoy street performances by young artists competing for the ‘Tokyo Midtown Awards’. For more cherry blossom events, visit here.
Tokyo Opera City – Lunchtime Concerts
Head over to Tokyo Opera City's concert hall and enjoy their monthly lunchtime performance entirely free of charge. This 45-minute recital, which is part of the ‘Visual Organ Concert’ series, usually consists of four pieces. Expect stellar acoustics from the 3,826-pipe organ, which holds pride of place in the pyramid-like space that's all decked out in a stunning oak wood finish. Since no reservations are required, you can simply arrive around 11:30am and grab a seat in the giant concert hall. Check the calendar on the official website for further details.