The best events, festivals and things to do in Tokyo in May 2026

This popular fireworks festival along the banks of the Arakawa River is back this year for another spectacle. The history of this annual affair goes back to 1924, and this year 13,000 fireworks will be set off during the hour-long event on Saturday May 30.

Being pushed forward to early summer to lower the risk of heatstroke and cancellations due to severe weather, the event lets you enjoy the fireworks from either the Nishi-Arai or Senju side of the Arakawa between Nishi-Arai and Senjushinbashi bridges. There are several parks along the banks, where you can set up a picnic to watch the show, including the Arakawa Nishiarai Bridge Green Space.

While the event is free, there are ticketed seats available (now sold out, second release on May 2). 

The event was cancelled in 2025 and 2024 due to inclement weather. Keep an eye on the website for the latest information before visiting.

Shinbashi Enbujo's most prominent show has been part of the programme here since the theatre first opened in 1925. Always happening around the time when spring gives way to early summer, it sees the venue transformed into an extra-large version of a traditional ryotei restaurant, with guests invited to munch on uber-fancy bento treats (provided by nearby ryotei) while being entertained by geisha. Eight performances take place over four days, with two shows happening daily. The closest you'll get to the geisha is during intermission, when the performers are free to mingle, chat and snap selfies with the audience. If you're even the least interested in the traditional arts, you owe it to yourself to see this one.

Tickets are available from March 31 through E-Tix. Check the official website for more details.

The iconic Tsukiji Hongwanji temple is hosting a one-day music and food fiesta organised by local volunteers. Pair delicious festival grub with smooth jazz this spring as over 15 stalls highlighting Tsukiji’s culinary traditions will set up shop next to an outdoor jazz stage. Seven groups of artists will be strutting their stuff, including the Tokyo x Seoul Band, drummer Shun Ishiwaka's Answer to Remember and Lisa Ono and Masaki Hayashi duo. Be sure to check the event Instagram for more details.

While the event is free to enter, reservations are required. Tickets are available now via Ticketpia.

Tokyo is indisputably home to some of the world’s most breathtaking architecture, from iconic buildings that define past eras to boundary-pushing creations by today’s starchitects. The third annual Tokyo Architecture Festival, held over a week in May, offers an opportunity to glimpse architectural wonders usually hidden from view and get the lowdown on many other key structures. Seventy buildings will be specially opened to the public (free entry, no reservation required), while experts in the field will lead participants on some 120 guided architectural tours.

Buildings accessible to the public include the Kyu Iwasaki-tei House in Yushima, built in 1896 for the son of the founder of the Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi and designed by British architect Josiah Conder. Across the pond in Ueno, Tokyo University of the Arts Red Brick Building No. 1, believed to be the oldest surviving brick building in Tokyo, will open its second floor to visitors, revealing the original roof trusses and scars left by past earthquakes.

The festival’s guided tours explore an assortment of architecturally rich districts, with an emphasis on the urban. Areas covered include Marunouchi, Shinagawa, Shibuya, Roppongi and Ginza, with one of the must-see tours being Mon Takanawa: The Museum of Narratives, which opened in March 2026 as part of Takanawa Gateway City. The tour offers a look inside the new cultural hub designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates, including its vast 100-tatami room, showcasing an experimental space that blends traditional Japanese spatial design with future-facing creative programmes.

With the motto ‘Save the Beach, Save the Ocean’, this outdoor party at Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse celebrates beach and surf culture, with an emphasis on protecting the shrinking number of beaches and coastal environments in Japan.

This surf-themed art-and-music jamboree has been a mainstay of the city’s spring event calendar since 2005 and offers a leisurely introduction to the summer music festival season, with film screenings, exhibitions and projection mapping shows adding to the relaxed vibe.

Greenroom is known for hosting a variety of established Japanese and international musicians and visual artists. Acts to look out for on this year’s line-up include the UK’s Ella Mai and Emma-Jean Thackray, American artists Jon Batiste and Janelle Monae, and Japan’s Otoboke Beaver and Kid Fresino, as well as a special Nujabes tribute set.

You can also take part in beach cleanups and peruse a green market selling products made from recycled materials.

Tickets are now on sale via the event website. 

Jindai Botanical Garden is one of only ten gardens in Japan that has been given an award of excellence by the World Federation of Rose Societies, and you can see why. It boasts a staggering 5,200 roses of 400 species that bloom in variations of pink, white, red, yellow and orange. You can catch this beautiful sight during the Rose Festival from May 2 to 31 (except Mondays).

There’s plenty to do during the event. Grab a rose ice cream at the Terrace Cafe and stop by the outdoor stalls to shop for rose-themed goods. There’s also an exhibit with rose flower arrangements on display, plus a collection of rose bonsai happening daily from May 12 to May 17.

The garden opens at 9.30am on weekdays, but you can beat the crowds on weekends by arriving at the earlier opening time of 8am.

The garden is closed on May 7, 11, 18 & May 25.

Kyu Furukawa Gardens in Tokyo’s Kita Ward is known for its colourful roses that start to bloom in May, and this festival is your best chance to enjoy them all. The Western-style garden on the upper grounds is adorned with 200 roses of 100 different varieties. In addition to your vivid red and pink blossoms, you’ll get to see pastel-coloured ones including Kinda Blue, Cinderella, Manyo and New Dawn roses, too.

There will also be musical performances held on the lawn on May 23 and June 21 from 12noon and at 3pm.  Expect to also see a market in the garden selling potted roses, rose-inspired gelato and gardening goods from 10am to 4.30pm.

Check the garden's Twitter account for the most up-to-date flowering status.

The annual Fuji Shibazakura Festival is returning this spring with a staggering 500,000 pink, purple and white blooms from April 11 to May 24. With its seemingly endless fields of shibazakura (pink moss) and view of majestic Mt Fuji on the horizon, it's no wonder that this annual spring festival out at Lake Motosu in Yamanashi typically attracts hordes of Tokyoites over Golden Week. 

In addition to the eight kinds of shibazakura, you’ll get to see other colourful blooms like cherry blossoms, grape hyacinth, poppy anemone, forsythia, primrose and Japanese azalea. While you’re here, it’s also worth checking out the adjacent Peter Rabbit-themed English Garden, decorated with around 300 kinds of plants as well as figurines of the characters from the storybook. 

One of the best ways to get here is by highway bus. A round-trip ticket including festival entry fee starts from ¥9,000, with the bus departing from an area in front of Kogakuin University near Shinjuku Station West exit, or a different route from Shin-Yokohama Station. It takes you directly to the Fuji Shibazakura Festival in around two and a half hours. We recommend making reservations in advance because seats can fill up quickly.

Otherwise, you can opt for the two-hour-long Limited Express Fuji Excursion train from Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko Station, and hop on the Fuji Shibazakura liner shuttle bus for another 40 minutes to get to the venue.

If you’re craving some Taiwanese food this spring, then drop by Tokyo Skytree Town for its Taiwan Festival. Head over to the fourth floor of Sky Arena until May 31 to feast on Taiwanese food throughout the day. Several stalls are offering popular Taiwanese festival cuisine such as lu rou fan (braised pork over rice), sheng jian bao (pan-fried soup dumplings) and da ji pai fried chicken.

You can also shop for Taiwanese goods and even enjoy massages and fortune telling. The dining area is decorated with red and Tainan-style vibrant lanterns to give it a Taiwanese night market feel.

Having spent over four decades redefining the relationship between art, technology and desire, Hajime Sorayama is one of Japan’s most celebrated contemporary artists. Noted for his iconic Sexy Robot series and his pioneering fusion of human sensuality and mechanical precision, Sorayama’s work has influenced generations of creators across art, design and popular culture – from RoboCop to Dior. His visionary approach, uniting the sensual with the synthetic, has earned him international acclaim and a lasting place in the subcultural art canon.

Opening this spring at the Creative Museum Tokyo, ‘Sorayama: Light, Reflection, Transparency -Tokyo-’ marks the artist’s largest retrospective in Japan to date, following its acclaimed debut in Shanghai. The exhibition traces Sorayama’s artistic evolution from his first robot painting in 1978 to his latest digital and sculptural works. Visitors will encounter highlights such as the original Aibo robot design for Sony, the artwork for Aerosmith’s Just Push Play album, and an immersive installation that embodies Sorayama’s lifelong pursuit of capturing light, air and reflections.

By blending futuristic imagination with classical mastery, Sorayama invites viewers to contemplate a world where human emotion and machine form merge in radiant harmony.

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).

Internationally recognised photographer and film director Mika Ninagawa is hosting a solo exhibition at the homey and intimate DDDArt art gallery in Shimokitazawa this spring. Much smaller in scale than the likes of her recent projects in Kyoto, at Expo 2025 and Tokyo Node, the exhibition takes a step back to revisit Ninagawa’s body of work, from her early career to her latest creations.

Coinciding with the launch of her latest photo book with the same name, the exhibition brings the artist’s worldview to life in a physical space. As if the vibrant pages of the book were superimposed onto reality, the tatami-floored kominka folk house is reborn with shimmering crystal strands, red and pink paint splatters and super-saturated photo prints.

Running until May 31, the exhibit is only a short stroll away from Shimokitazawa, where Ninagawa herself spent over a decade in her formative years. Why not take a detour towards Sangenjaya for a creative journey on your next visit to the area?