Things to do in Tokyo today

Get into the Halloween spirit at Yumenoshima Tropical Greenhouse Dome’s annual pumpkin exhibition, where over 100 pumpkins from Ibaraki prefecture will be on display all over the garden. These pumpkins are much larger than the average Japanese kabocha, and can weigh up to 100kg each. Feel free to sit on them, take pictures and even roll them around.

Tokyo’s newest miniature theme park Small Worlds is transforming its Global Village exhibit into a Halloween village until October 31. Get up close with small-scale reproductions of both real-world and fictional locations decked out with jack-o’-lanterns and tiny figurines dressed up in spooky outfits for the occasion. Come in costume after 5pm and get in for just ¥1,000 (middle school students ¥700, primary school students ¥500). There will also be a Halloween face shield and lantern making workshop, as well as an opportunity to make a 50mm-tall figurine of yourself for additional cost.

A festival dedicated to all things – you guessed it – design and art, Designart Tokyo is back for its fourth edition and set to take over central Tokyo from Omotesando and Roppongi to Daikanyama and Nakameguro for 12 days in October. The brainchild of Creative Director Akio Aoki, artist Shun Kawakami and architects Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham, Designart Tokyo will see shops, galleries, cafés, restaurants and other venues host work by artists from Japan and around the world. The list of exhibitors and venues is set to include Finish architect and designer Alvar Aalto, furniture and ceramics designers Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, and product designer Satoshi Itasaka. For the full list of exhibitions, check the website. Due to the impact of Covid-19 this year, Designart Tokyo has started the Over 2020 project to help artists cover their exhibition costs. The exhibition is currently scheduled to go ahead as planned while implementing new safety measures to reduce the spread of the virus.

Tokyo has one of the best cocktail scenes on earth, with champion bartenders and watering holes that rank in the World’s Top 50 Bars. Tokyo Cocktail 7 Days is usually – as its name suggests – a week-long celebration of the flourishing local scene. However, the event this year will run for the entire month of October. In line with the festival theme 'Shake up Tokyo', 70 participating bars will be serving up 280 kinds of exclusive cocktails showcasing key mixing techniques like shaking, steering, blending and building. To participate in the event, you’ll need to buy a passport (¥1,650 if purchased before September 30; ¥2,200 from October 1), which comes with a ¥1,000 cocktail coupon. You can purchase additional event-exclusive cocktails at the bars at a fixed price of ¥1,000 each. Moreover, the event pass also gives you access to online seminars to learn about the art of cocktail making, conducted by experts from well-known liquor brands. Plus, there’s also a ‘Cocktail Mileage Campaign'. So get ready to paint the town red: the more bars you hit, the more prizes you might win – and the more tipsy you’ll definitely get. But please, drink responsibly.

In the morning hours during spring and autumn, Japan’s more mountainous regions are renowned for their beautiful cloud formations. Thanks to Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo, you don’t need to leave the capital to enjoy those spectacular misty views. You can experience the ‘Sea of Clouds’ several times a day at the hotel’s large, traditional Japanese garden, with the first show taking place from 6.30am. The evening slots even include a stunning light up event, with 1,000 LEDs illuminating the garden, the waterfall and the 600-year-old three-storey pagoda. The event takes place all year round, but is most picturesque in autumn when the foliage really sets off your photos. Note that you'll need to visit one of the hotel's restaurants or stay for a night to be able to attend this event (it's free for diners and hotel guests).

Head out to Tokyo Midtown Hibiya this autumn to watch some classic movies in memory of the old Hibiya Eiga Gekijou cinema, which closed 35 years ago. Now in its third year, the festival will be taking place outdoors to maintain social distancing. The festival includes old-fashioned Hollywood movies like Roman Holiday and Lawrence of Arabia, as well as more recent Japanese films like One Cut of the Dead and To the Ends of the Earth. Check the official website for screening times.

Tokyo has both inspired and served as the setting for countless works of manga and anime, video games and special effects-heavy tokusatsu movies. Setting out to explore the impact of the city on Japanese pop culture and the effects of that culture on how Tokyo is viewed and understood around the world, ‘Manga Toshi Tokyo’, which takes place under the auspices of the ongoing Japan Cultural Expo, approaches its theme by way of a remarkable 93 titles and more than 500 distinct items. The exhibits are organised around a 17m by 22m miniature model of the city, inviting you to discover the exact locations depicted in comics, games and movies. Visitors will be making their way through three sections, starting with one themed on ‘destruction and reconstruction’ as seen in classics such as ‘Godzilla’, ‘Evangelion’ and ‘Akira’, and followed by sections titled ‘Daily Life in Tokyo’ and ‘Characters vs. the City’. Note: due to Covid-19, tickets have to be purchased in advance.

Asakusa’s old-school amusement park Hanayashiki will be celebrating Halloween until November 1 this year. Aside from seeing the park decked out in Halloween decorations and the stage performance featuring monsters and ghouls, you can catch some special events on weekends, including costumed creeps parading around the park and special holiday-themed games. Don’t miss out on the holiday exclusive foods like the witch’s cheese sticks (¥500) and jack-o’-lantern pumpkin ramen (¥700).

Traditional Japanese crafts are explored from every angle at the National Museum in autumn, when this exhibition, co-presented by the Japan Cultural Expo, takes over the Hyokeikan with displays that focus especially on nature and natural beauty. Bowls, bamboo boxes and many other kinds of works by a wide range of contemporary artists are exhibited in a nature-themed space complete with multilingual explanations detailing how the pieces were made and what the artists sought to express. The exhibition is accompanied by a programme that combines crafts with food culture by inviting you to eat off artistic tableware. Note: due to Covid-19, tickets have to be purchased in advance.

Note: The dates and hours of this event may change due to the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak. Please see the official website for the latest details. A celebration of art and culture set in the forest surrounding Meiji Shrine, this festival – co-presented by Japan Cultural Expo – zooms in on the relationship between nature and Japanese culture. The diverse art programme, which coincides with the host venue Meiji Shrine's 100th anniversary, is running until 2021. Held at the shrine along with its immediate vicinity, the Meiji Jingu Forest Festival of Art kicks off with ‘Tenkukaikatsu’, an open-air sculpture exhibition running until December 13 2020. It features fantastical creations by leading artists such as Kohei Nawa and Atsuhiko Misawa. Their artworks draw on the unique environment of the exhibition, as well as on the history and culture of the shrine. For more programme details, see here.

Get into the Halloween spirit at Yumenoshima Tropical Greenhouse Dome’s annual pumpkin exhibition, where over 100 pumpkins from Ibaraki prefecture will be on display all over the garden. These pumpkins are much larger than the average Japanese kabocha, and can weigh up to 100kg each. Feel free to sit on them, take pictures and even roll them around.

For the centenary celebration of Meiji Jingu’s enshrinement, Tokyo’s most famous shrine is open till late only over this weekend for visitors to explore its grounds after dark. Seven areas within the shrine’s sprawling grounds will be lit up beautifully with lanterns, parasol installations and more. For a detailed map of the shrine grounds and the Instagram-perfect light-ups, see here.