The best things to do in Tokyo this weekend

The Kanda Furuhon (Used Book) Festival in Tokyo's booktown Jimbocho has been held annually since 1960, traditionally timing it to coincide with the Culture Day national holiday on November 3. In addition to offering a vast array of used books, the festival also encompasses a number of other book-related offers and events, including an outdoor book market, the sale of a number of specially selected rare books, and a charity used-book auction. Though the majority of the tomes on display are in Japanese, it's still easy to lose a few hours in idle browsing.

Komazawa Olympic Park is hosting a ramen festival with over a dozen booths serving Japanese noodles from different prefectures. You can go for a simple shoyu (soy sauce) or shio (salt) ramen, or a bowl with rich tonkotsu pork broth, or one topped generously with beef. Be warned though: some stalls are expected to have up to two hours wait time, as they are exclusive to the festival or have won the Ramen Grand Prix in recent years.

The event is split into three parts, each with a different set of vendors. The ramen restaurants that are participating in the first part (October 23 to 26) include Katsuryu from Ibaraki prefecture with its rich paitan (cloudy white chicken broth) ramen topped with uni, and Kumamoto Ramen Kokutei from Kumamoto prefecture, whose signature tonkotsu ramen is a voluminous bowl topped with seared pork belly.

The second part (October 27 to 30) features Hokkaido prefecture's Maruesu Shokudo with its Hokkaido-style miso-based bowl made with chicken and pork broth, and Hakushin from Gifu prefecture with its umami-rich miso broth made from dried shrimp.

Lastly, the third part (October 31 to 3) features Oita prefecture's Hakuryu with its rich tonkotsu (pork-based) soup, as well as Honda Shoten from Fukuoka Prefecture, serving up authentic Kurume-style tonkotsu ramen – said to be the original birthplace of the dish.

In short, you’ll find every kind of ramen that your heart desires at Tokyo Ramen Festa. Admission is free while a bowl of noodles costs ¥1,100. Meal tickets can be purchased at Seven Eleven outlets nationwide in advance or at the venue. We highly recommend purchasing tickets earlier rather than later, as it can run out towards the end of the day.

The festival runs from 10.30am to 8.30pm, with the exception of October 23 and October 27 when it opens at noon, and November 3, when it closes at 6pm.

It's not difficult to guess how Enoshima's landmark tower got its name. With its white facade and cylindrical structure, the Sea Candle observation tower – located only a short hop away from Kamakura – is a fantastic place to catch a 360-degree view of Enoshima's coast and surrounding seaside towns. This autumn, however, the towering torch won't be the island's only candle.

From October 11 to November 3, roughly 10,000 wax candles will be placed along Enoshima Sunset Terrace and lit up to illuminate the promenade leading to the tower. Weather permitting, the candles will be there every evening from 5pm, though an announcement will be posted at around 12noon on the venue website if the illumination has to be cancelled.

The Tokyo Biennale returns with an invitation to explore the city through the theme ‘Wander for Wonder’. From October 17 to December 14, the international art festival transforms the capital into a living gallery, bringing together 38 artist groups from seven countries in a city-wide celebration of walking, discovery and creativity.

Taking place across two main venues – Ueno’s 400-year-old Kan’eiji Temple and the Etoile Kaito Living Building – alongside six exhibition areas including Ueno, Kanda, Nihonbashi and Marunouchi, the Biennale blends contemporary art with Tokyo’s deep cultural layers. Installations emerge at temples, across public spaces, in shops and vacant properties, creating a unique urban tapestry of expression and memory.

Curated to be a ‘social dive’, the Biennale encourages visitors to encounter art through movement, echoing the artistic legacies of walking-based practices by figures such as Yoko Ono and Gabriel Orozco. As people stroll through neighbourhoods and engage with their surroundings, each step becomes part of a creative process.

Tokyo Biennale 2025 looks set to be a journey of serendipitous encounters, offering a fresh lens on the city’s untold stories and its vibrant potential for connection through art.

Many of the exhibitions and events at the Tokyo Biennale are free. However, select exhibitions charge entrance fees. For those seeking a comprehensive experience, all-access passes are available for ¥3,000 per adult (or ¥2,500 if purchased in advance) and ¥1,800 for students (advance passes ¥1,500). These passes grant unlimited access to all venues during the festival period.

For a detailed program and more information, visit the Tokyo Biennale’s website.

Taking place every other weekend at the renovated Shibuya Municipal Kitaya Park, this outdoor vintage market is the place to pick up everything from American Levi's and handmade knit sweaters to unique artisanal accessories. Boasting approximately 20-30 booths, the market offers a curated selection of shops selling on-trend vintage outfits and trinkets from local artists, making it an exciting day out for fashion fiends.

Dates are subject to change. Check the event Instagram for more details.

Everyone loves Chiikawa right now. Get your fill of the mischievous characters created by Japanese illustrator Nagano in Shibuya, where the franchise’s official ramen shop returns for a limited time. Located on the basement floor of Shibuya Parco, it deals in ramen of the pork variety, hence the buta (pig) in the name. The ramen is served in three sizes: Chiikawa (mini), Hachiware (small) and Usagi (large). Each bowl will come with a novelty sticker, featuring either Chiikawa, Hachiware or Usagi depending on the bowl you ordered.

As for drinks, the Shisa Mandarin Soda is a must-try, named after the hard-working lion dog and ramen shop assistant in the Chiikawa universe. Each drink comes with a novelty character card, which you can draw at random from a selection of 10 characters.

Visitors who grab a bite of the ramen are also allowed exclusive access to the adjacent merch shop, complete with limited-edition goods – think T-shirts, ramen bowls, beer jugs and towels featuring the adorable Chiikawa.

The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo celebrates its 30th birthday by gathering together over 30 artists and collectives from diverse generations and geographies to reflect on how contemporary art can illuminate the hidden structures of daily life while opening new possibilities for collective imagination.

Foregrounding domestic, institutional and urban contexts from households shaped by gender norms to the contested spaces of Okinawa and Mumbai, ‘Choreographies of Everyday’ investigates how subjectivity is formed, constrained and transformed. Newly commissioned works developed through research in Tokyo will join pieces by artists including Satoru Aoyama, Jonathas de Andrade, Mako Idemitsu, Shilpa Gupta and the Rice Brewing Sisters Club. Together, these works confront systemic violence and oppression while highlighting acts of resistance, creativity and humour that endure in the everyday.

The exhibition’s title signals both mechanisms of social control and the agency to subvert or transcend them. In that spirit, the show unfolds as a dynamic platform, enriched by performances, talks and workshops throughout its duration.

Creator of the iconic Great Wave off Kanagawa – and more than 30,000 other works across a remarkable 90-year life – Katsushika Hokusai was known for his restless spirit (he moved 93 times) and ever-evolving identity (he used more than 30 artist names). And by the way, the ukiyo-e impresario’s prolific genius also laid the foundation for what we now recognise as manga and anime.

This autumn, ‘Hokusai’ at Creative Museum Tokyo offers an immersive journey into the artist’s seemingly boundless world. With over 300 pieces on display, including the complete Hokusai Manga (from the world-famous Uragami Collection), all three volumes of One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji, and a set of 16 newly discovered hand-painted works from his final years, the show promises unprecedented depth.

And as we’ve come to expect from this venue, the artworks on display will be accompanied by some certifiably contemporary exhibits. These include animated adaptations of Hokusai prints by top Japanese animators, highlighting how the visual storytelling of Edo’s greatest artist continues to resonate. Be sure to exit through the gift shop for a look at some 150 pieces of exclusive merch, including collaborations with Peanuts, Chums and Swiss Army knife maker Victorinox.

In the news for his role as the designer of the Expo 2025 site, Sou Fujimoto is an architect whose work explores the relationship between nature and architecture. Born in Hokkaido, he is inspired by the natural landscapes of his childhood and seeks to integrate organic forms into the built environment through an approach he calls ‘primitive future’.

This philosophy translates into an exploration of the limits between indoors and outdoors and the natural and the artificial, creating spaces that invite a new experience of inhabiting it. Fujimoto’s residential projects in Japan, such as House N, House O and House T, as well as international projects such as the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London, illustrate this desire to blur spatial boundaries. His work is characterised by the use of simple materials, often only one per project, implemented in innovative ways to create complex and intriguing shapes. The balance between a defined program and the freedom of appropriation by the occupants is at the heart of his approach.

Fujimoto’s first major Tokyo retrospective takes over the Mori Art Museum from July 2 to November 9. The exhibition offers a comprehensive overview of the architect’s journey over the past quarter century, showcasing his achievements. Models, plans and documentary photographs sit alongside life-size models and installations, providing an immersive visual and spatial experience of the essence of his work. The exhibition highlights projects such as the Musashino Art University Museum & Library, the Arbre Blanc in Montpellier, France, the House of Music in Budapest, and – yes – the Expo site on Osaka’s Yumeshima.

Kanagawa-born, NYC-based Aki Sasamoto’s decompartmentalised artistic practice explores performance, sculpture, dance, and any other medium conducive to the expression of her ideas. At the intersection of visual and performing arts, her work involves collaborating with musicians, choreographers, scientists and academics, and she often takes on multiple roles: performer and sculptor, but also professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Sculpture at Yale University.

In her work, Sasamoto constantly reflects on the design and configuration of sculptures and devices that she uses as scores during improvised performances within immersive installations. As she describes it, her creative process is akin to fishing: she ‘casts a net and waits for a perfect alignment of events’, letting several elements float before grasping the connections by relating them to seemingly foreign references.

On from August 23 to November 24, ‘Aki Sasamoto’s Life Laboratory’ at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo explores the interplay between sculptural creation and performance that has characterised the artist’s work for two decades. From landmark early works to more recent creations that emphasise kinetic elements, the exhibition offers a comprehensive overview of Sasamoto’s journey and unique approach, where the boundaries between artistic disciplines blur in favour of captivating hybrid expression.

Few artists have touched the soul of modern art as profoundly as Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890). In a mere decade, the Dutchman produced an astonishing body of work, including vivid landscapes, tormented portraits and expressive still lifes, that continues to resonate deeply with audiences worldwide.

Yet Van Gogh’s posthumous fame owes much to those closest to him: his brother Theo, Theo’s wife Johanna, and their son Vincent Willem. Together, they ensured that the painter’s vision and legacy would endure for generations.

The first exhibition in Japan to focus on the Van Gogh family and their collection, ‘Van Gogh’s Home’ at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum features over 30 of its protagonist’s works, from early drawings to late masterpieces, as well as four letters shown on these shores for the first time. The display traces the journey of the collection from the artist’s death to the present day, with highlights including immersive digital experiences and rarely seen works by Van Gogh’s contemporaries.