Free things to do in Tokyo this week

The Tori no Ichi festival at Hanazono Shrine is one of the biggest in the Kanto region. It’s held on two days on November 12 and 24 with some smaller 'warm-up' festivals taking place the night before the main events. For the occasion, the grounds are decorated with 950 LED lanterns towering over the shrine buildings. On the grounds, you will find stalls selling decorative kumade bamboo rakes, plus plenty of other vendors offering food and festival knick-knacks. The event takes place from 12 noon to 12 midnight on both days, and the smaller pre-festivals take place on the day before the main event, from 3pm until 12 midnight. Find more Tori no Ichi celebrations here.

The 400m-long Keyakizaka Street next to the Roppongi Hills shopping centre is lighting up with 930,000 sparkling white and blue LEDs until Christmas Day. From the pedestrian bridge near the Roppongi Hills Arena, you'll get a stunning view of the trees covered in shimmering lights, with Tokyo Tower in the background, from 5pm to 11pm daily. 

Enjoy the perfectly shaped, sunset-yellow ginkgo trees that form a 300m-long boulevard between Gaienmae and Aoyama-Itchome stations. This is Tokyo’s quintessential autumn scenery, which has graced countless Instagram accounts. The best time to visit is between November 22 and November 30, when the yellow leaves are lit up in the evening. The light up takes place daily between 4.30pm and 7.30pm.

This is one of the most popular spots in the whole of Tokyo for autumn leaves. Stretching for 4km from Hachioji's Oiwakecho to the foot of Mt Takao (near north exit of Takao Station), this road is flanked by over 700 ginkgo trees (known as icho in Japanese), and they look stunningly yellow around this time of year. The autumn colours provide the perfect backdrop for a range of activities at the annual Hachioji Ginkgo Festival on November 15 and 16. There will be a classic car parade on November 16 from 12noon to 1pm, as well as yosakoi dance and wadaiko drum performances, a stamp rally and more. The abundance of kid-friendly attractions makes it a good option if you're looking for something to do with the family, and naturally there will be plenty of food stalls to keep everybody well sated. The festival starts at 9am and ends at 4.30pm on Saturday and 4pm on Sunday.

Mt Takao is one of the most picturesque destinations in Tokyo to see autumn leaves. And one of the best ways to do that is by taking the scenic cable car ride, which brings you closer to the mountain’s Yakuoin temple. Here you can sample shojin ryori, a traditional Japanese Buddhist vegetarian meal. To secure a lunchtime seat, be sure to book a reservation for two or more people at least two days in advance via phone. The best time to see the autumn leaves for 2025 is mid to late November, when the foliage around the cable car tracks turns deep orange and red. Throughout the duration of the festival, you can also look forward to a host of free events at Kiyotaki Station, the cable car stop at the base of Mt Takao, including musical and dance performances by local university students. While details are yet to be announced for 2025, check the event's English website for the latest updates. As is the case every year, the base of Mt Takao will be crowded in autumn, so it’s best to arrive via public transport.

Enoshima’s annual illumination is widely touted as one of the three biggest and most impressive light-up events in Greater Tokyo, alongside the ones at Ashikaga Flower Park and Sagamiko. There are about 10 illumination spots scattered across the hilly island – including the Enoshima Shrine, Ryuren Bell of Love on Lover's Hill and Nakatsumiya Square – so put on some comfortable shoes as you’ll be trekking a lot. Don’t miss the main attraction located at the island’s iconic Enoshima Sea Candle lighthouse, which is decked out in 70m-long strings of lights stretching from the tip of the tower to the ground, creating a formation similar to the silhouette of Mt Fuji. The Samuel Cocking Garden, where the Sea Candle is located, is transformed into the dreamy Hoseki (bejewelled) Forest, where everything from the ground and the grass to the trees are covered in purple lights. Keep an eye out for the Shonan Chandelier tunnel, all decked out with luxurious crystal beads and LED lights. New for 2025, the Samuel Cocking Garden will also feature a dazzling sea urchin-inspired installation created by MirrorBowler. Most attractions are open from 5pm to 8pm (until 9pm on weekends and holidays). You can see some of the light-ups on Enoshima for free, but you will need a ticket (¥500, children ¥250) to enter the Samuel Cocking Garden, which hosts the largest illuminations. If you're on the island early during daylight hours, head over to Enoshima Iwaya (¥500, children ¥200), as the island's...

Tori no Ichi is said to have originated at Asakusa's Otori Shrine and the nearby Juzaisan Chokokuji temple, so you can expect a major spectacle here. This is the biggest Tori no Ichi festival in Tokyo with 800 to 900 booths selling kumade, souvenirs and plenty of food. The event attracts 700,000 visitors every year and gets very crowded in the evening, so go during the day if you have the chance and snack on some old-school kiri-zansho candy. The festival is held for 24 hours on November 12 and 24, starting with the first taiko drum sound at 12 midnight (the night of November 11 and 23).

The 1.2-kilometre-long Marunouchi Naka-dori street, always one of the most popular Tokyo illumination spots, will have around 250 trees lit up with about 775,000 low-energy, champagne-coloured LEDs this year, making for an environmentally friendly and stylish display. If you’d rather stay cosy while admiring the lights, visit the renovated Marunouchi House, where the seventh-floor terrace will feature festive illuminations for a limited time. The terrace has plenty of seats surrounded by outdoor heaters. Closer to Christmas, Gyoko-dori between the Imperial Palace and Tokyo Station will have more illuminations between November 28 and December 25, bringing the total to around 810,000 LEDs.

This annual wintertime display at Yebisu Garden Place incorporates a Baccarat chandelier that's 5m tall and 3m wide, making it one of the largest in the world. Made of 250 light bulbs and 8,500 crystals, the chandelier emits a warm and elegant light. That’s not all, though. There are smaller illumination displays in the Entrance Pavilion, Clock Plaza, Promenade and Chateau Square. In total, the event uses roughly 100,000 champagne-coloured light bulbs.  While you're there, check out the European-inspired Christmas Marche at Chateau Square and Clock Plaza. Here you'll find holiday trinkets and hearty soups as well as mulled wine and hot chocolate to warm you up on a cold evening. The Christmas Marche is held daily from 5pm to 8pm (12noon-8pm on weekends and hols) until December 25. Christmas Marche at Chateau Square opens on November 28.

Taking place at Otori Shrine inside the Okunitama shrine complex, this festival is one of the three most important Tori no Ichi festivals in Tokyo (the other two being Asakusa and Shinjuku's Hanazono). Worshippers and visitors crowd the area in Fuchu throughout the two days, shopping for kumade rakes and praying for good fortune and success for the coming year. The event takes place from 6.30am to 10pm on both days.