The best things to do in Tokyo this weekend

Dougu Matsuri is an annual festival held in October in Kappabashi, the wholesale district between Ueno and Asakusa that specialises in tools and kitchen supplies for the restaurant industry. Known affectionately as Tokyo's Kitchen Town, many shops here also welcome home cooks and the general public as you can also purchase items individually.

Over 100 stores will be participating in the event, where you’ll find great deals on cooking utensils, tableware, food samples and more. While the festival officially runs for a week, most of the festivities will be held on October 13. Highlights include a local elementary school marching band parade (11am), wadaiko drumming performances by local junior and senior high school students (1pm and 3.30pm), kung-fu and taiko stage shows (10.30am in front of Taito Ward Life-long Learning Center and 2.30pm in front of Keisei Coop Apartments), cheerleading performances (2pm) and even a character bento exhibition contest (submission deadline is October 9).

Check the event website and performance schedule for more details.

The Sawara Grand Festival is held twice a year – in July and October – in the picturesque canal city of Sawara in northern Chiba. Regarded as one of the three largest float festivals in the Kanto region, the festival was recognised by UNESCO as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property in 2016.

The autumn version of the Sawara Grand Festival takes place from October 10 to 12, centred around Suwa Shrine and the town's carefully preserved historical district. Expect to see fourteen magnificent floats adorned with meticulously crafted ornaments and likenesses of ancient warriors on top during the three-day fest. For fans of traditional festivals, this is a truly immersive experience – complete with dancers in period costume, the rhythmic sounds of Sawara bayashi festival music, and a cityscape that feels like it’s been frozen in time for the 300 years the festival has been held for.

While Sawara is located a stone’s throw away from Narita, getting to the city from central Tokyo by train is a bit more difficult. The journey takes approximately two hours, involving a transfer from the Sobu Line Rapid Service at Narita to the Narita Line to Sawara Station. However, easier and faster direct-route bus options are available from Bus Terminal Tokyo Yaesu, stop no. 14 (Choshi Sawara Route).

Tip: While you're there, check the Sawara Festival Digital Map for real-time mikoshi float locations.

The annual Bakeneko Parade in Kagurazaka is one of the more curious Halloween-related events in Tokyo. Everyone is welcome; all you have to do is dress up as a cat and bring a feline attitude.

It’s recommended that you register for a passport (¥1,000 for adults, ¥500 for children, free for 5-year-olds and younger) in front of Elderly Welfare Facility Kagurazaka from 10am to 3.30pm to get all the perks. They include using the changing rooms for free, the ability to join any of the 'cat halloween' parades taking place as many times as you want, receiving special access to hidden cafés and workshops, and collecting exclusive cat stamps from the neighbourhood. Primary school students and younger kids will even receive trick-or-treat snacks from participating stores.

Don’t worry if you don’t have an outfit. You can get a quick cat makeup done for ¥2,000 (¥500 for children) before the parade (numbered tickets for the makeup are distributed at 9.30am). Better yet, make a reservation online now to rent a cat kimono for ¥3,300 (sold out). The paid 'cat halloween' parades will take place in two different locations along Kagurazaka O-dori, with one starting at Bishamonten Zenkokuji and heading down towards Iidabashi Station and back, and another starting at Akagi Shrine towards Kagurazawa Ue intersection and back. Check the parade schedule for more details.

After the parade, get creative by participating in a cat-themed awaodori dance (1.30pm), where anyone can join in and dance like cats. Or, partake in a free ninja-star throwing experience.

The second instalment of the two-part Fukuro Matsuri will see over 110 teams of yosakoi dancers from across Japan parading through the streets of Ikebukuro.

Taking over the neighbourhood on October 11 and 12, the performers will show off their well-choreographed dances in modern neon reinterpretations of happi coats and yukata for an elaborate show. The yosakoi dance itself originated in Kochi prefecture in 1954, where it was invented to help revitalise the struggling post-war economy.

This massive event will take place across five venues on the west side of Ikebukuro Station, including the main stage in front of the Tobu Department Store and the Global Ring Theatre (Ikebukuro West Gate Park). If you only have time for a quick look, head to Azalea Street, the main boulevard leading in the direction of the station. There you’ll be able to see non-stop performances with few obstructions to ruin your view.

Check the event website for event schedules and more.

The charming neighbourhoods of Nezu and Sendagi flaunt their shitamachi (downtown) roots at this autumn festival, which marks its 27th edition this year. The action centres around Nezu Shrine, which is hosting concerts and performances throughout the weekend, accompanied by a flea market and stalls selling traditional goods.

The rest of the neighbourhood follows suit, with attractions including performances of traditional Japanese music and various dances at the Fureai-kan community centre on Shinobazu-dori. You can also take part in a stamp rally: pick up a stamp sheet and map at Nezu Shrine, tour the seven designated spots to fill up your sheet, and return it to the starting point for the chance to win prizes which include a roundtrip ticket to Hagi-Iwami Airport in Shimane prefecture, pair vouchers for Spa Laqua, and more.

Oeshiki, the festival commemorating the anniversary of Buddhist saint Nichiren's death, is the annual highlight at the majestic Ikegami Honmonji, the place where this holy honcho is said to have drawn his last breath, and attracts around 300,000 people each year. With origins reaching back more than 700 years, this one's got both tradition and spectacle, especially in the form of Sunday evening's mando procession that sees around 3,000 participants carry elaborate lanterns along the two-kilometre route from Ikegami Station to the temple (from 6pm). The festivities go on until late at night, ensuring an electric atmosphere.

Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens, the meticulously tended traditional Japanese garden beside Tokyo Dome City, is hosting a special night opening this autumn. The sprawling green space, which was originally constructed as a private garden for the ruling Tokugawa family in 1629, is staying open until 9pm from October 10 to 20.

Come nightfall, several areas of Koishikawa Korakuen (not to be confused with the nearby Koishikawa Botanical Gardens) will be illuminated, including the artificial, forested Horai island on the main pond, the iconic Ipponmatsu pine tree, Engetsukyo bridge and many more. The highlight, however, is the projection mapping show at the Karamon Gate, the former main entrance into the inner courtyard of the Tokugawa family’s residence. The gate is a meticulously reconstructed structure built using Edo-period (1603–1868) architectural techniques, and the projection mapping display will showcase ukiyo-e and doro-e artworks depicting the vibrant lives of the same period.

While you’re there, don’t miss the other events happening daily, including traditional performing arts such as Edo Daikagura ceremonial dancing and Oedo Tamasudare street performances, as well as a stamp rally and shops selling dango snacks and mini paper lanterns.

The park will close temporarily at 5pm, and reopen at 6pm for the night opening. Special nighttime viewing tickets are required to enter the park after 6pm. These can be purchased in advance via KKday, Tokyo Dome City e-Ticket Store, and Asoview.

Open-air mobile cinema company Kino Iglu is bringing its outdoor film expertise to Azabudai Hills this October for four days, setting up on the spacious lawn at Azabudai Hills Central Plaza. They’ll be showing one film per day at 5.45pm from October 10 to 13.

The screening on Friday October 10 will be The Chef of South Polar, an obscure Japanese comedy-drama about a group of scientists and their resident chef living in isolation in Antarctica. On the following evening, the multiple Academy Award-winning 2018 film Green Book will be screened. Sing Street (2016) will be shown on Sunday, followed by Chef (2014) on Monday’s public holiday.

Before the show starts, stop by the Rubber Tramp mobile pizza bar. Here you can enjoy freshly made pizzas from a selection of about half a dozen flavours, paired with refreshing drinks like draft beer, mojito and lemon squash.

Japan's largest regular urban farmers' market always features more than 80 vendors from around the country. In addition to a vast range (more than 50 types) of Western and local vegetables, each month the market highlights a different seasonal fruit, vegetable or other specialty. In addition to the seasonally changing children's events, farmers hold workshops and let visitors get involved with harvesting, making the market a great option for parents hoping to sneakily educate their kids. The market is held on the second Saturday and Sunday of each month.

The market is held on the second Saturday and Sunday of each month.

To celebrate the launch of Hypebae Japan’s website, the platform pulls together a night at Zerotokyo that sets its sights firmly on the next generation. Billed as New Wave, the event leans into artists and DJs reshaping scenes locally and abroad, with an emphasis on cross-genre energy and future-facing sounds.


It’s positioned as a gathering point for artists working outside of legacy structures – —a chance to see who’s making noise on the edges right now. Doors open late, and like any Zerotokyo night, expect it to run deep into the morning.

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.

Tachikawa's Showa Kinen Park has the most impressive fields of cosmos flowers in Tokyo and this is the ideal time to see them all in full bloom. The hilly grasslands of the park are usually draped in colour from mid-September with various types of cosmos flowers, and the multicoloured scenery can be enjoyed well into mid-October.

There are three main gardens: The Lemon Bright field, which is covered in vivid yellow sulfur cosmos; Autumn Bouquet Garden, which has a mixture of 20 different cosmos; and the Cosmos Sensation filled with lilac blooms.

Don't miss the picturesque soap bubble event, where you can see countless small bubbles floating over the flower gardens. This special spectacle happens twice a day from 10.30am and 12noon on September 13 at the Lemon Bright field, September 28 at the Autumn Bouquet Garden, and October 4 at the Cosmos Sensation flower garden.

Entrance fees are waived on October 5 and 19, 2025.

One of Tokyo's three German beer fest spin-offs this autumn (including Shiba Park and Jingu-Gaien), Munich Oktoberfest kicks off on September 19 at Urban Dock LaLaport Toyosu. This beer extravaganza at least manages to fall within a few weeks of the original German beer-fuelled festival it's copying, running from September 19 until October 13.

As with all the other Oktoberfests in town, you can enjoy pints of German beer served in glasses that can fill up to a litre, alongside bratwurst and sauerkraut. There will be oompah bands to sweeten the mood.

Entry is free and you can pay as you go. Do note that the event is cashless; you can only pay via credit card, PayPay, IC card, QuicPay, ID and other forms of electronic payment.

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.

Founded by Chanel in Paris in 2021, le19M is a ground-breaking hub that brings together 11 maisons d’art and over 700 artisans, dedicated to preserving and advancing the intricate crafts behind haute couture: embroidery, pleating, millinery, shoemaking, feather work and more. As both a creative incubator and a guardian of heritage, le19M is home to la Galerie du 19M, a cultural space that celebrates craftsmanship, fosters innovation and nurtures future generations of artisans.

From September 30 to October 20, Chanel invites Tokyo audiences to discover the extraordinary world of the métiers d’art with la Galerie du 19M Tokyo, an exhibition on an unprecedented scale, held on the 52nd floor of the Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills.

La Galerie du 19M Tokyo offers a free, immersive experience for visitors of all ages and backgrounds. Through a curated journey blending tradition and contemporary creation, visitors are invited witness the meticulous artistry and dedication behind some of Chanel’s most iconic pieces. It’s a dialogue between cultures and crafts, honouring the value of human hands and the timeless beauty of artisanal excellence, brought to life high above the Tokyo skyline.

Note that while the exhibition is free to view, advance reservation is required to enter the venue. You can book your spot here.

Hokkaido-born Atsushi Suwa is one of Japan’s foremost contemporary realist painters. Noted for his extraordinary technical mastery, Suwa combines rigorous research with a penetrating gaze, producing works that explore physical likeness and themes such as memory, mythology and the traces of history. His portraits, still lifes and narrative paintings have earned him wide acclaim both in Japan and abroad.

From September 11 to March 1 2026, the What Museum on Tennozu Isle presents the artist’s first large-scale solo exhibition in three years. Encompassing around 80 works, the exhibition spans early creations, intimate family portraits and newly painted still lifes, with nearly 30 of the pieces shown publicly for the first time. At the heart of the display is At the Shore (2025), a monumental painting depicting a human-like figure assembled from objects in Suwa’s studio, reflecting the artist’s pandemic-era withdrawal from portraiture and his gradual reawakening to the human form.

Curated by Takenori Miyamoto, the exhibition unfolds across five themed rooms and is accompanied by a documentary film and a short story by Akutagawa Prize winner Kaori Fujino.

Daido Moriyama has spent over six decades redefining the possibilities of photography. Born in 1938, he emerged in the 1960s with raw, high-contrast images that challenged conventional aesthetics and captured the restless energy of post-war Japan. His international recognition, as seen in exhibitions from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to London’s Tate Modern, established the Osaka native as a global icon. Honoured with the Hasselblad Award in 2019, Moriyama continues to shape the visual language of photography with unmatched vitality.

Until October 27, GR Space Tokyo presents ‘Daido Moriyama: In Tokyo’, an exhibition marking the Harajuku venue’s first anniversary. Divided into two phases and featuring around 60 new works shot with the Ricoh GR series, the display captures the shifting landscapes and fleeting human presences of the city in 2025.

Free to enter, the exhibition invites visitors to experience the immediacy and intensity of a metropolis in constant flux, distilled through the lens of one of Japan’s greatest living photographers.

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.

Marking 100 years since the dawn of the Showa era and 80 years since the end of World War II, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo looks back with ‘Opening Documents, Weaving Memories’, an exhibition that reflects on Japan’s turbulent mid-20th century. With 280 works on view, the display explores how art has served both as a record of history and as a medium for reconstructing memory across generations.

Spanning the 1930s to the 1970s, the exhibition unfolds across eight sections that probe the role of painting, photography and film during wartime and its aftermath. Visitors encounter powerful ‘War Record Paintings’, commissioned by the Imperial Japanese army and navy to document battles, alongside intimate portrayals of life on the home front. Works such as Ai-Mitsu’s Self-Portrait (1944) and Ken’Ichi Nakamura’s Kota Bharu (1942) highlight the complex intersections of personal expression and state narrative. Later sections trace the shifting visual language of memory, from depictions of wounded bodies in the 1950s to dialogues prompted by Vietnam War imagery in the 1970s.

By juxtaposing propaganda, personal visions and post-war reinterpretations, the exhibition invites audiences to consider how museums can act as repositories of collective memory. In doing so, it opens documents of the past while weaving them into living dialogues with the present and future.

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.