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 timed 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.

One of Japan’s largest urban photography festivals has returned to Tokyo. Now in its eighth year, it runs from October 3 to October 26 across multiple venues in Yaesu, Nihonbashi, Kyobashi and Ginza.

This year’s edition features prints by South African visual activist and 2026 Hasselblad International Photography Award winner Zanele Muholi at the brand-new Tofrom Yaesu Tower, as well as photographs by internationally acclaimed contemporary photographer Lucas Foglia documenting the great migration of butterflies from Africa to Europe, displayed as public artworks at Tokyo Midtown Yaesu.

Meanwhile, be sure to visit Sarah van Rij's ‘L'épaisseur du temps’, exhibited across the Tokyo Tatemono Nihonbashi Building and Sanei Building. Photographs taken while walking through Paris, New York and Seoul will be installed on the exterior wall of the Sanei Building and within the Tokyo Tatemono Nihonbashi Building (accessible on weekdays and hols only), transforming the neighbourhood itself into a new stage for the work.

If you’re looking to take a quick break in the area, stop by Gallery & Bakery Tokyo 8min inside the Toda Building. The City Bakery is hosting ‘Trace and Vision: Nozomi Suzuki & Sayaka Uehara with the Higashikawa Award Collection’, a two-person exhibition exploring memory embedded in the landscape. Through photography, the artists reconnect past and present, place and lived experience.

Some exhibits are closed on weekends. More information can be found on the official website.

Always wanted to learn more about the Japanese tea ceremony but never found a suitable opportunity? Tokyo Grand Tea Ceremony is a large-scale tea ceremony where even those who aren’t familiar with the custom are welcome to participate.

The event will be held at the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum on Saturday October 24 and Sunday October 25, and then a week later at the Hamarikyu Gardens on October 31 and November 1.

Seven to eight tea ceremony sessions happen daily between 10.30am and 4.15pm, and sessions cost ¥800 per person (¥500 for children's sessions, accompanied by an adult on Oct 24 & 25). Check the schedule of each venue here: Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum and Hama-rikyu.

Aside from the tea ceremonies, you’ll find plenty of other cultural programmes including live performances of daikagura (traditional Shinto acrobatic dance), kodan (narrative storytelling), ikebana (Flower arrangement), kabuki (on Oct 31 at Hama-rikyu) and more across both venues.

Check the website to see what’s on at each venue. Entrance to the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum is free during the event.

2026 is shaping up to be a monumental year for jazz-fusion icon Masayoshi Takanaka, who has captured the hearts of young millennial and Gen Z fans around the globe with sold-out shows on his world tour. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of his solo debut, and what better way to celebrate than with a Super Takanaka pop-up taking over Harajuku’s Takeshita Street?

Running from October 21 to November 1 at the Universal Music Store Harajuku, the curated exhibition features Takanaka’s iconic guitars, spectacular large-format photographs from his 2026 World Tour, and a host of displays showcasing the artistry, imagination and unmistakable style that have defined his illustrious career. Be sure to snap a photo with a replica of his iconic red surfboard guitar at one of the photo spots, then soak up his feel-good vibes with screenings of concert footage. The line-up of original merch includes album cover T-shirts and hoodies (from ¥6,000).

Since it's expected to be packed, reservations (free) are essential.

Tokyo itself becomes both subject and stage in Tokyo Atlas, a new international art exhibition unfolding across the capital’s waterfront from October 10 to December 20. The ambitious project transforms parks, public spaces and urban infrastructure into an open-air cultural landscape, inviting attendees to rediscover the city through encounters with site-specific works. Drawing on the dual meaning of its title – both the mythological Atlas and an atlas of maps – the exhibition encourages audiences to navigate Tokyo as a living constellation of artistic discoveries.

Anchored by major venues including Daiba Park and the Aomi Minami Port Park area, the exhibition explores how history, geography and global exchange continue to shape the metropolis. Daiba Park, originally constructed as an Edo-period (1603–1868) coastal battery, provides a striking backdrop where contemporary art meets one of the symbolic gateways to Japan’s modernisation.

Nearby, the working waterfront of Aomi becomes a setting for projects that reflect on community, ecology and coexistence. French artist Abraham Poincheval presents La Bouteille, a performance in which he inhabits a giant bottle, while the collaborative initiative Goat’s Eyes transforms the site into a participatory environment examining sustainable creativity and new forms of collective living.

Elsewhere, the atrium of the Telecom Center Building hosts a landmark installation by the recently passed Yayoi Kusama, bringing together her monumental balloon sculptures Yayoi-chan and A Bouquet of Love I Saw in the Universe for the first time in Japan. Suspended within the soaring architecture, the works create an immersive dialogue between the artist’s inner universe and an expansive cosmic vision.

By activating overlooked corners of the city with works by internationally acclaimed and emerging artists alike, Tokyo Atlas proposes an alternative map of Tokyo – one that reveals the city’s hidden histories, evolving identities and boundless imaginative potential.

Neuro-tech startup VIE is bringing its masterful soundscape engineering to Tokyo National Museum for the first time with Zen Night Tokyo, an event taking place in the gardens behind the main museum building from October 14 to December 6. Held to coincide with the upcoming ‘Daitoku-ji: Japan’s Unrivalled Zen Monastery – 700th Anniversary Special Exhibition', the Japanese garden is hosting this special after-hours autumn leaves illumination spectacle designed to soothe the senses and let visitors admire the natural beauty of the grounds, which are ordinarily closed to the public.

Themed around the Buddhist concepts of rebirth and cyclical existence, this immersive journey guides visitors through different areas along the mirror-like Suigetsu pond, including an open-air teahouse zone where you can enter different realms through soundscapes tuned to distinct wavelengths, each designed to evoke a unique emotional experience. Continuing along the pond, visitors discover a path of spider lilies, flowers often associated with the arrival of autumn and the honouring of ancestral spirits. Aptly named Hyakki Yado (Night Path of One Hundred Demons), the path is lined with some 3,000 hauntingly beautiful spider lilies illuminated against the night.

Meanwhile, at the Kujokan teahouse, you can drink matcha while admiring the breathtaking illuminated rock garden. The tea experience is paired with a high-tech ‘Brainwave Zen’ meditation experience, which involves measuring brainwaves with an earphone-type monitoring device. The signals are visualised in real time through sound and projected imagery, creating an immersive meditation space. You can take home the results of your brainwave analysis and learn about your Zen meditation strengths and weaknesses. Note that the tea and ‘Brainwave Zen’ experience is a ticketed programme and requires a separate date- and time-designated reservation made online.

General tickets for Zen Night Tokyo are also available now, with early-bird discounts offered until October 13. Tickets include admission to the museum’s Daitoku-ji exhibition.

Grab your tickets now via the official website.

This annual design event, which this year explores the theme of ‘gazing’, sees the vast grass square adjacent to Tokyo Midtown host installations by an international cast of 19 artists and creators. Helmed by creative director and designer Taku Sato, the event also features a diverse programme of family-friendly events intended to help visitors rediscover the charm and value of design hidden in everyday life.

The main highlight is the aforementioned open-air ‘Design Live Exhibition’ on the Midtown lawn, featuring works such as ‘Sea Hammock’ by architect Yuko Nagayama, which makes its return to the event after four years. Elsewhere, catch some grooves at ‘Design Live Music’, where design and music intersect, or browse a selection of books and stationery at ‘Design Live Market’.

Enjoy the changing of the leaves before anywhere else in Tokyo at the 60th-floor observatory of Ikebukuro’s Sunshine City this autumn. From September 10 to November 30, the relaxing indoor park with artificial turf is decorated with vivid red momiji leaves. Here, you can enjoy the seasonal foliage with the stunning Tokyo skyline as your backdrop without having to worry about rain.

During the event period, the Tenbo Park café is churning out autumn-themed menu items like the buttered sweet potato (¥900) and the refreshing Grape soda (¥800), an autumn-inspired concoction of Nagano Purple grapes, soda and jelly.

Tickets can be purchased via the official website.

If you’re looking to max out your Halloween celebrations this year, you’re in luck. Harajuku’s OG kawaii café, Kawaii Monster Land, is putting on Spooky Season parties for an entire month. Reborn earlier this year with rides, claw and gacha machines and hyper-cute shows by the Monster Girls, the venue is bringing back Kawaii Monster Halloween for the first time in 11 years with plenty of spooky stage performances, DJs and dress-up, transforming the hyper-cute fantasy landscape into a Halloween wonderland.

While the venue will be decked out for Halloween throughout the month, you’ll want to time your visit for one of the special event nights. Held on select Saturdays, as well as Halloween Eve and Halloween itself, each night will feature a different line-up of performers and DJs, creating a distinct Halloween world with a mix of live showcases, music and Monster Girls.

Upcoming nights include the ‘Yokubari Kawaii Night’ on October 10, ‘Harajuku Gala’ on October 17, ‘The Halloween Monster’ on October 24, ‘Halloween Eve’ on October 30 and the grand ‘Kawaii Monster Halloween Party’ on October 31.

An entrance fee is required to enter Kawaii Monster Land. Tickets are on sale on the official website.

Ikebukuro’s theme park dedicated to all things Chiikawa is celebrating its first-ever Halloween this year. Expect spooky character decorations, exclusive photo spots near the entrance, special character greetings and more.

If you’re after a photo with Chiikawa and friends in something other than their usual outfits, this is your chance. Chiikawa, Hachiware and Usagi are dressed up in full Halloween costumes, giving fans another reason to pay the park a visit again. As is the case for any Chiikawa Park visit, no outing is complete without browsing the extensive merch selection. Keep an eye out for limited-edition Halloween goodies like the glow-in-the-dark acrylic charms of the aforementioned trio as ghosts (¥1,540) and the Chiikawa Park branded T-shirt (¥4,180) featuring a bloodied, pumpkin-headed Usagi dressed as a lumberjack. Nice.

Tickets to enter Chiikawa Park are sold via the official website.

Enjoy a projection mapping show with a spectacular view of Tokyo's skyline as a backdrop this October from the main deck of Tokyo Tower. Made by the creators of Naked Meets Gaudi Exhibition, this Halloween-themed performance is projected onto the 30-metre-wide glass windows with a scenic view of Tokyo in the background. It features a breezy autumn evening with leaves falling, insects chirping in pampas grass, and ending in a spooky scene of jack o' lanterns, bats, ghosts and witches that will synchronise with the music to scare guests.

While you're there, don't miss the special Halloween-themed Tokyo Tower light-up on October 31. Titled 'Infinity Diamond Veil Halloween,' it's a rare chance to see the tower in pumpkin orange and autumn magenta from sunset to 10pm. 

The erotic art of old Edo returns to modern Tokyo’s most seductive ’hood with ‘Kunisada & Kuniyoshi: Shinjuku Kabukicho Shunga Exhibition – WA’. The fourth instalment in a series of exhibitions focused on Shunga, or traditional Japanese erotica, and organised by the Kabukicho-based Smappa! Group, the display showcases original ukiyo-e prints by two of the greatest masters of the form: Utagawa Kunisada and Utagawa Kuniyoshi.

Kunisada (1786-1864) is particularly renowned for depicting kabuki actors (yakusha-e) and beautiful women (bijin-ga). What’s more, his pieces are famed for their detailed portrayals of daily life in Edo, and have proved invaluable for historians researching the folksier aspects of the late feudal period.

Kuniyoshi (1798-1861), meanwhile, was dubbed ‘Edo’s ultimate graphic designer’. He illustrated the trending topics of his day – from political scandals and sexual fashions to mythical monsters – with a wit and humour that endeared him to the capital’s masses.

Curated from the collection of Mitsuru Uragami, one of Japan’s foremost ukiyo-e authorities and Shunga connoisseurs, the exhibition extends throughout the Shinjuku Kabukicho Noh Stage, incorporating bijin-ga, yakusha-e, musha-e (pictures of warriors) and illustrated books in addition to the erotica. Yasutaka Hayashi from artist collective Chim↑Pom from Smappa! Group returns as art director, bringing a hefty serving of Kabukicho flair to the table.

Advance tickets are available now via TimeOutShop. For a ¥200 discount on same-day tickets, use our Time Out Coupons offer.

The force behind smash-hit titles including Chainsaw Man and Jujutsu Kaisen, Japanese animation studio Mappa is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year. To mark the milestone, the company is hosting its largest-ever exhibition from September 16, bringing together work from 23 titles at the newly opened Yurakucho Museum.

The exhibition features original drawings, large-scale sets and video projections that immerse visitors in the worlds of Mappa shows and films such as Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, Attack on Titan: Final Season, Jujutsu Kaisen and more.

At the Chainsaw Man exhibition area, you can feast your eyes on exclusive production materials, including drawings that follow the story of The Movie: Reze Arc, from Denji and Reze’s first encounter and the explosive battle between Chainsaw Man and Bomb to the conclusion of their story. Don’t miss the illuminated life-size figure of Bomb, which is being unveiled for the first time.

The Attack on Titan: Final Season zone features original drawings for key scenes, displays explaining the production process, and original hand-drawn watercolour artwork of the symbolic hill from the story’s ending.

The Jujutsu Kaisen area revisits some of the series’ most iconic battle scenes and memorable moments. Production materials are exhibited in the first half of this zone, including original drawings from Season 1 and Jujutsu Kaisen 0, while the second half features materials from Season 2, Hidden Inventory / Premature Death, Shibuya Incident and Season 3, The Culling Game Part 1.

The exhibition will be held in two parts: the first from September 16 to October 25, and the second from October 28 to December 7. Some exhibits will be changed between the two parts, giving you a reason to plan multiple visits.

Tickets are available for specific dates and time slots. You can currently purchase tickets for the first half of the exhibition via Lawson Ticket, and place applications for advance lottery tickets for the second half (from Aug 22).

South Korean digital art and design firm D’strict is joining hands with Sanrio to bring a popular interactive exhibit to Japan for the first time after a successful run in Seoul last year. Utilising the latest digital media technologies, the hotel-themed exhibition in Shinjuku’s Tokyu Kabukicho Tower takes you on a photogenic and immersive journey through 11 themed areas in the imaginary hotel, with characters such as Hello Kitty, My Melody, Kuromi, Cinnamoroll and Pompompurin appearing in their own dreamy, fairytale-like rooms.

While the full details are still under wraps, expect to see a plentiful line-up of exclusive Sanrio merch, including Hotel Floria room key charms, hotel sticker sets and travel-themed accessories.

The exhibition space is located on the fourth floor. Tickets are now on sale via Eplus.

Founded in Finland in 1951, Marimekko is one of the most influential design houses of the 20th and 21st centuries, celebrated for its bold prints, vibrant colours and optimistic approach to everyday life. Emerging in the postwar era, the brand quickly distinguished itself by treating textiles as a form of artistic expression, blurring the boundaries between fashion, design and fine art. From iconic floral motifs to abstract, rhythmical patterns, Marimekko’s visual language has come to symbolise freedom, individuality and joy.

From October 16 to December 20, the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum hosts this extensive touring exhibition dedicated to the Finnish brand’s rich creative universe. Through a curated selection of textile designs, prints and related materials, the show explores Marimekko’s distinctive approach to printmaking and its enduring influence on visual culture. Emphasis is placed on the artistic processes behind the patterns, revealing how hand-drawn motifs and experimental compositions have shaped the brand’s identity across decades.

Note that tickets for this exhibition are only sold for specific time slots.

From August, the Yokohama Museum of Art will unveil a dazzling exhibition dedicated to one of history’s most iconic queens. Known as the ultimate symbol of elegance and excess, Marie Antoinette (1755–1793) transformed the aesthetics of 18th-century France and continues to shape fashion, design and visual culture today.

Curated by London’s Victoria and Albert Museum and making its Japan debut in Yokohama, the exhibition traces how the young queen’s refined taste, from her ornate gowns and glittering jewels to her whimsical interiors at Versailles and the Petit Trianon, established a new mode of sophistication that bridged courtly grandeur and personal fantasy.

Through exquisite dresses, jewellery and furniture from her era, ‘Marie Antoinette Style’ explores the queen’s bold creativity and her role as a forerunner of modern self-expression. It also reveals how her image has been endlessly reinvented in art, cinema and haute couture, from rococo opulence to contemporary runways.

A celebration of beauty, rebellion and individuality, the exhibition invites visitors to rediscover the woman behind the legend – a monarch whose influence still defines the art of style.