Things to do in Tokyo today
The day's best things to do in Tokyo, all in one place
Not sure what to do this evening? Well, you're in the right place now: Tokyo always has plenty of stuff going on, from festivals to concerts and art shows, activities and more. Read on for our pick of the best things to do, and if you're planning further ahead, check out our weekly picks.
Hanami Spring Festival - Pink Petals
The Palace Hotel Tokyo is upping its game with this exclusive hanami bonanza. Under direction of artist Noritaka Tatehana, you'll find installations of pastel-pink windmills shaped like cherry blossoms, and treat yourself to a variety of limited edition sweets. At the first floor Palace Lounge, you can sample Pink Petals, a doughnut-shaped pastry which is actually a rare cheesecake mixed with sakura ice cream, which is topped with a jelly with cherry blossoms suspended in it. The sweets and cocktail set, featuring a sakura-coloured cocktail with an elderflower liqueur base, comes recommended too.
Sakura Sweets at Pâtisserie Kihachi
The Mont Blanc Sakura hides a white beanpaste milk mousse under a light pink sakura-flavoured butter cream. Beneath the milk mousse you can find a gelée made from plums and strawberries. The Verrine Sakura, on the other hand, resembles a cherry blossom with a tender light green pistachio mousse at the bottom and two different light pink layers. These treats are also most likely this year's longest-running sakura goodies: you can get them between February 28 and April 24.
Kanae Entani’s solo exhibition ‘China Moon’
Embroidery artist Kanae Entani holds her solo exhibition ‘China Moon’ in Kichijoji’s Niji Gallery. After moving to the UK at the age of 19, she worked as an assistant for Donna Wilson, a famous producer of knitted characters, and artist Lizzie Finn. Entani followed her passion and became an independent embroidery artist. Her exhibition shows the world of a fictional, pastel-coloured tea room entitled ‘China Moon’. On April 14 and 15 (12.30pm-2.30pm) you can participate in embroidery workshops, creating the cat teapot seen on the first picture. While working on your own cute character, enjoy some heavenly treats provided by Nishi-ogikubo’s famous sweets shop iplikana. (Participation cost ¥4,500) On April 22, the exhibition is accompanied with sounds of harp and guitar duo Tico Moon. Check the official website for more details.
Sakura Sweets at Grand Nikko Tokyo Daiba
The Bakery & Pastry Shop located inside the fancy Grand Nikko Tokyo Daiba hotel complex has released its annual sakura sweets collection, and it's pretty as ever. The line-up includes the Sakura-Sakura, a dome-shaped pastry filled with sakura jelly and red bean mousse, housing a dacquoise on top kneaded with matcha powder from Kyoto and decorated with salt-pickled cherry blossoms. The Uguisu-anpan, an olive green bean-jam bun, is made from olive green bean jam and surrounded by a sakura-flavoured dough. Certainly worth the trek to Odaiba.
Sakura Pizza at Grand Hyatt Tokyo
Bite into the flavours of spring at Fiorentina, the Italian café and restaurant located on the lobby floor of the Grand Hyatt Tokyo as they introduce their seasonal sakura pizza. Cherry blossoms are kneaded into the pizza dough, and the pie is topped off with generous servings of cherry wood smoked ricotta cheese, pink sakura shrimp, and canola flowers.
Bunkyo Azalea Festival
For 11 months of every year, Nezu Shrine doesn't attract all that much attention from the outside world. Then spring rolls around, and its remarkable crop of azaleas burst into bloom. The shrine precincts are home to some 3,000 azalea plants – roughly 100 varieties in total, including rare breeds such as the black karafune flower – and has to find space for at least as many flower aficionados during the month-long Bunkyo Tsutsuji Matsuri. Expect it to get busiest during Golden Week, when there'll be performances and a range of other activities, although there are stalls with antiques and more all throughout the festival.
Showa Kinen Park Flower Festival
Tachikawa's Showa Kinen Park isn't content with merely hyping the sakura: its Flower Festival takes place over two months and celebrates the blooms of tulips (in April), poppies and rapeseeds (May) and water lillies (May), of course in addition to the cherry blossoms in March and April. The programme consists of guided tours, open-air gigs and plenty of fun for the kids – aim for the weekends to make the most of it. Park entrance is free on April 29 and May 20.
Tracing the Colors
Known for her vibrant use of colour and flowing style, artist Manika Nagare is taking over the Atrium Gallery inside Hakone's Pola Museum as part of its 15th anniversary 'Hiraku Project' programme. Using some well-known classics which are exhibited at the museum, such as Pierre-Auguste Renoir's 'Nude in the Water', Vincent van Gogh's 'Clumps of Grass' and Claude Monet's 'Le Bassin Aux Nymphéas', Nagare has interpreted and reimagined the Impressionists's use of colour in her own, original works.
Kameido Ten Jinja Wisteria Matsuri
Famed within Tokyo for its wisteria ('fuji' in Japanese), this shrine in Kameido has a good 100 flowers inside its precincts, which usually bloom from late April. Everything is lit up at night, and you'll be able to catch the wisteria reflections in the pond. On top of that, over 100 stalls will set up shop during the festival. Munch on some street food goodies while admiring the flowers – you can't get a more oldschool Tokyo spring experience than that.
Parfait Fair
All those days off over Golden Week mean that it's the perfect time to treat yourself, and with temperatures slowly rising, what better way to do so than with a wholesome parfait or five? That's what the people behind Transit General seem to have thought, at least, with their Parfair Fair spanning 16 different restaurants in the Tokyo area. Think more standard, American-style parfaits at The Spindle, to more inventive options such as Samgeori Butchers' Samgeori Parfait (¥600), made with azuki beans, shiratama, soymilk pudding and strawberries, served in a metal rice bowl. Another interesting option is Thai restaurant Longrain's 'Exotic' Mango Coriander Parfait (¥1,200), which comes with an assortment of cubed tropical fruits, coconut cream pavlova and a coriander jelly. For a soft serve-meets-parfait treat, head to Harajuku's Ice Monster, where you'll find cream cheese soft serve mixed with mango (¥680). Parfait away, boys and girls. Note that each restaurant may only serve the parfait at specific times and dates
Tracing the Colors
Known for her vibrant use of colour and flowing style, artist Manika Nagare is taking over the Atrium Gallery inside Hakone's Pola Museum as part of its 15th anniversary 'Hiraku Project' programme. Using some well-known classics which are exhibited at the museum, such as Pierre-Auguste Renoir's 'Nude in the Water', Vincent van Gogh's 'Clumps of Grass' and Claude Monet's 'Le Bassin Aux Nymphéas', Nagare has interpreted and reimagined the Impressionists's use of colour in her own, original works.
Midtown Open the Park
Tokyo Midtown's annual serving of outdoor fun for Golden Week and the wider month of May centres on the complex's spacious lawn, where yoga classes are held and massive koinobori decorations for Children's Day flutter in the spring breeze. The free yoga sessions take place in the mornings (8.30am-9.30am, 10.30am-11.30am) on April 21, 22, and May 12, 13, 19 & 20, and evenings (6.30pm-7.30pm, 8.30pm-9.30pm) on April 24 and 25, plus May 8, 9, 15, 16, 22 & 23.
Koinobori Now! Installation by Reiko Sudo, Adrien Gardère and Seiichi Saito
Traditionally strung up for Children's Day on May 5, the carp-shaped streamers known as koinobori are quite the sight to behold. The National Art Center Tokyo is joining in on the fun with lots of koi streamers, designed by eminent Japanese textile designer Reiko Sudo, happily floating around the exhibition rooms. The installation, which has also toured the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and Paris' Guimet Museum, is a collaborative work with French exhibition designer Adrien Gardère. For this incarnation, Sudo has teamed up with noted Rhizomatiks member Seiichi Saito, while the public can get a proper feeling for the entire thing at the hands-on experience corner set up for the event.
