Things to do in Tokyo this week

Tokyo's biggest fireworks display is returning this summer on Saturday July 25. The Sumida River Fireworks Festival is also Japan's oldest fireworks event, dating back to 1733, when it was staged as part of a ceremony to pray for victims of a severe famine the previous year. It turned into an annual event in 1978 and attracts close to a million people every year.

This year, the Sumida River Fireworks Festival starts at 7pm and will run for around 90 minutes, with a staggering 20,000 shells of fireworks. The fireworks are launched from two sites on the Sumida River around Asakusa Station: one between Umaya Bridge and Komagata Bridge and the other between Kototoi Bridge and Sakurabashi Bridge. You can check out the locations on the festival website.

It may not be the biggest of Tokyo's many fireworks events, but Tachikawa's hanabi is certainly one of the more comfortable ones. Held at the spacious Showa Kinen Park, the festival always draws massive crowds, so make sure to arrive early to secure the best viewing spot.

This year’s event on July 25 will see around 5,000 shells of fireworks launched during the hour-long show from 7.15pm. Paid seating with the best views will be sold online on a first-come, first-served basis (2026 reservation details have not been released yet). 

On the day of the fireworks display, the park will open to the public free of charge.

The event is subject to cancellation in severe weather conditions.

While it may be tempting to just stay indoors to avoid Tokyo’s sweltering summer heat, the Marunouchi Bon Odori festival is giving us many reasons to be out and about instead, with a host of events taking over the picturesque Gyoko Street facing Tokyo Station.

Taking place on July 24 between Tokyo Station and the Imperial Palace, this fun-filled event revolves around a five-metre-tall Bon Odori yagura stage lit with bright lanterns. Everyone is welcome to join the communal Bon Odori dance against the striking backdrop of Tokyo Station. While details are yet to be announced for 2026, expect to also see a J-Pop-themed DJ session, transforming the bustling plaza into a party zone.

At the festival site, expect to see food trucks selling traditional matsuri grub, such as Fujinomiya-style yakisoba and grilled squid. Expect to also see ice vendors serving up cooling treats to help you beat the heat.

Don’t miss the opening ceremony from 5pm – there will be a demonstration of a traditional water sprinkling ritual known as uchimizu.

The Bon Odori festival in hip Shimokitazawa returns this summer on July 25 and 26. On both days, you can dance to the neighbourhood’s original Bon Odori song, ‘Shimokita Ondo’. There's an official practice video up on YouTube, so make sure to learn the steps before heading over.

At the far end of Shimokitazawa Station's east exit square, you’ll find over two dozen stalls offering crowd-pleasing street food like taco rice, karaage fried chicken, hamburgers, yakisoba noodles and crepes. The stalls open at 1pm, but the Bon Odori festivities run from 4pm to 8pm. In the meantime, head to the yagura turret stage area for live stage performances and a free samba show from 2pm on both days. 

Eisa is a dance from Okinawa usually performed to mark the end of the Obon period (an annual Buddhist event to honour one’s ancestors). Like most things Okinawan, it's been enthusiastically embraced by the rest of the country, as demonstrated by this Shinjuku parade.

A total of 23 Eisa dance troupes are expected to take to the streets around Shinjuku Station. Performances during the day (2pm-5pm) will take place near the station's east exit on the pedestrianised Shinjuku Avenue, while evening performances (6pm-8pm) will be held near Yodobashi Camera, Odakyu Halc, Shinjuku Mitsui building and Moa 4th Street.

Expect to see dancers twirling their way through the crowds to the beat of portable taiko drums. This will surely be a boisterous and colourful event to brighten your Saturday. Slap on some sunscreen, grab a handheld fan and get there early: it's guaranteed to be crowded.

Check the event website for event schedules.

While it’s usually one of Tokyo’s more peaceful neighbourhoods, Kagurazaka gets a little frenetic each July, as hordes of yukata wearers and Awa Odori dancers flood the streets for four days of traditional festivities. Taking place every summer for over 50 years, this neighbourhood festival is split into two parts.

The festival kicks off on Wednesday July 22 with a hozuki (ground cherry) lantern plant market. Food stalls will be open from 5pm to 9pm on both July 22 and 23. Children can take part in traditional festival games, such as fishing for colourful water-balloon yo-yos, while adults can join a guided tour of Kagurazaka’s back alleys (¥1,000) in yukata or pick up a Chinese lantern plant at the market held at Bishamonten (Zenkokuji) Temple.

The main festivities take place over the weekend, with a two-hour Awa Odori procession scheduled for 7pm on both Friday and Saturday. On Saturday, there will also be a children’s Awa Odori procession from 6pm to 7pm along the main street.

Immerse yourself in a sake-tasting adventure this summer at one of Tokyo's premier sake festivals. Held three times a year, Washu Fes celebrates the culture and tradition of sake-making. For the festival's 31st edition, 53 breweries from around Japan will set up shop in Nakameguro, where you can sample over 250 varieties of sake. Some of the participating sake makers such as Asahara Brewery and Iwase Sake Brewing are based around the Kanto region, while others hail from faraway prefectures like Aomori or Kumamoto.

The theme of the 31st edition is 'Beat the summer heat with a refreshing cup of ice-cold sake', so expect a curated selection of summer sake and crisp sparkling varieties perfect for the warmer months – including everything from fruity ginjo-shu to unpasteurised namazake, plum wine and cloudy nigori sake. If you find something you like, you’ll be able to purchase full bottles of your favourite sake on-site.

Besides sake tasting, the programme will feature stage performances including a traditional chindon-ya street advertising band and a unique shamisen and Okinawan kachashi folk dance duet. Tasting tickets for residents of Japan are ¥3,600 on Rakuten Travel Experiences and ¥4,500 for tourists with foreign credit cards via Stripe. The ticket includes a tasting cup, a sake textbook, an original fan, a bottle of water and a pouch to carry the cup home. With limited space available, it's wise to arrive early (reception starts 20 minutes before opening).

Celebrate Tanabata (Star Festival) this summer by simultaneously launching up to 3,500 sky lanterns beside Saitama Stadium 2002. 

Tanabata is a traditional Japanese festival where people write their wishes on strips of paper and hang them on bamboo branches. This seven-day event, however, puts a modern spin on the custom. The sky lanterns are illuminated with LEDs instead of candles, making them safer and more family-friendly. At 8.30pm, the lanterns are released into the night sky, but unlike traditional floating lanterns, they remain tethered with strings, allowing them to be easily controlled and retrieved afterwards.

While artist line-up details for 2026 are unannounced, expect to see music performances each day by artists such as Chris Hart and Chay on the entertainment front, as well as festival favourites such as shateki shooting games and food stalls serving traditional matsuri grub. While you’re there, don’t miss the chance to write and hang your wish on a tansaku paper slip. 

Lanterns are handed out every day until 8pm. Tickets are available for purchase on the official website.

The public square in front of Jiyugaoka Station is hosting a massive bon odori festival between July 18 and 20. Expect lively dancing to begin at 6.30pm each night to the tune of bon odori classics such as ‘Tokyo Ondo’ as well as local favourites like 'Jiyugaoka Kouta' folk song and the 'Tanko-bushi' coal mining folk song.

Learn the dances before visiting by checking out one of their tutorial videos.

Featuring 100,000 bright yellow himawari, the Kiyose Sunflower Festival is the closest a Tokyoite can get to frolicking through a flower field in July. Located an express train ride from Ikebukuro, the festival is known for its colourful flowers that contrast with the bright post-rainy season blue sky.

This large-scale sunflower field, roughly 24,000 square meters in size, is used every summer by local farmers to grow sunflowers as a natural fertiliser for agricultural produce. Take in the spectacular scenery of towering sunflowers while supporting local farmers by purchasing fresh local vegetables and cut flowers sold at the venue.

Free shuttle bus services connecting Kiyose Station and the venue depart from Kiyose Station North exit bus stop, in front of the Drug Seims pharmacy. Parking spaces are limited to those who have reserved in advance.

For details, check the event website.

The National Stadium’s swanky next-door park is hosting a summer beer garden and outdoor cinema festival this month from July 17 to September 27. During the event, the park will be transformed into an open-air beer garden complete with tables, tents and plenty of seating. Hosted by Corona, the beer garden will serve favourites such as Corona Extra (¥750), alongside the brand’s non-alcoholic Corona Cero (¥600) and inventive Corona-infused cocktails. New for 2026 is the Corona Sunsets Truck, which will be serving drinks and appetisers designed to pair perfectly with Corona beer every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

While you’re there, don’t miss the free outdoor film screenings taking place on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. This weekend outdoor cinema event is one of Japan’s largest, with screenings running for over 70 days. While the cinema line-up for 2026 has yet to be announced, last year’s programme featured Academy Award-winning titles such as Green Book and Top Gun: Maverick, as well as family favourites including Paddington, School of Rock, The Minions and more. Note that most screenings are Japanese-dubbed versions of the films.

While entry to the festival is free, a special reservation is required to enter on August 8, when the nearby Jingu Stadium is hosting the Jingu Gaien Fireworks Festival. Capacity is limited to two thousand visitors, so reserve a slot via the official website before it's too late.

Listen to the soft, soothing sounds of wind chimes at Kawasaki Daishi Temple’s annual wind chime market, happening from July 17 to 21. The 31st event this year will feature over 800 types of wind chimes collected from all over the country. The chimes, made of a variety of materials such as ceramics, glass or metal, each produce their own unique sound. While you’re there, don’t forget to purchase the temple’s very own version – the ‘Daruma wind chime for warding off evil’ – which promises to do just that.

One of Tokyo's biggest annual festivals is celebrating its 75th edition this year. Held at its namesake park, Ueno Summer Festival is a month-long programme packed with a diverse array of traditional events, live performances and seasonal festivities. These include a traditional lantern-floating event on July 17 at 7pm, as well as Japanese taiko drum street performances on July 20 and 25 (from 1pm and 3pm) at Ueno Park’s Shinobazu Pond Bentendo Temple.

That said, the festival offers more than just classic Japanese celebrations. The antique market, which will run every day from July 10 to August 11 (from 2pm to 8pm) at the gates of Shinobazu Pond Bentendo Temple, for instance, is a great place to look for small treasures and summer mementoes.

For a picture-perfect spot to capture your summer memories, don’t miss the nearby Hasumi Deck lookout, adorned with more than 4,000 wind chimes that create a soothing summer soundtrack.

As always, there will be plenty of food and drink stalls encircling Ueno Park's Shinobazu Pond (from 3pm to 9pm daily), selling popular street eats like yakisoba and kakigori shaved ice – a staple summer treat.

Check the event website for the full programme (in Japanese only).

Tokyo Tower’s alternative to the usual summer beer gardens kicks off the outdoor drinking season with a double dose of whisky highball festivals. Head to the terrace at the base of the tower for a wide selection of highballs alongside snacks like karaage and grilled bacon.

There’s also a meatier option on the roof of the Tokyo Tower Foot Town, where the Tokyo Tower Rooftop Highball Garden serves all-you-can-eat jingisukan, the Hokkaido-born lamb barbecue named after Mongol warlord Genghis Khan.

Two hours of all-you-can-drink alcohol and limitless jingisukan costs ¥6,300 (teens aged 13-19 ¥4,300, primary school students ¥3,300, children aged 4-6 ¥2,300, all with non-alcoholic drinks, of course).

The Tokyo Tower Ultimate Kaku Highball Garden at the base of the tower is open until October 12, from 4pm-10pm on weekdays and 12noon-10pm on Sat, Sun & holidays.

The Tokyo Tower Rooftop Highball Garden is open until October 18, from 5pm-10pm daily. Make your reservations here.

Shinjuku welcomes a brand new Korean pub-style beer garden, located on the rooftop of the Lumine Est shopping complex in the heart of the city. You can choose from four meal plans: the Pocha course (¥3,500), which includes yangnyeom chicken and bulgogi kimbap; the Korean Chicken BBQ course (from ¥4,000), offering chicken marinated in sweet and spicy miso sauce as well as salted green onion sauce; the samgyeopsal and beef galbi course (¥5,000), featuring makgeolli-aged samgyeopsal and seafood pancake; and the premium BBQ course (from ¥6,000), which builds on the samgyeopsal set with the addition of wagyu steak. All four courses come with a two-hour all-you-can-drink plan, with the options including fruit-flavoured soju, makgeolli, highballs, and both Korean and Japanese beers, along with unlimited banchan (Korean mini side dishes), French fries and curry.

A new exhibition space in the basement of the Tokyo International Forum, Yurakucho Museum is opening this July, and its inaugural exhibition brings the whimsical world of Pingu to Japan. Running from July 10 to September 6, it features priceless clay models used in actual animation production, alongside storyboards and other production materials. What’s more, you can pretend to be in Pingu’s Antarctic igloo with a photo spot made to look like the penguin boy’s home.

While you’re there, take the opportunity to study Pingu’s facial expressions, unique play-doh-like contortions and language, and maybe you’ll learn to decipher his noot noots once and for all. The exhibition also includes three collaborative art pieces by renowned miniature photographer and artist Tatsuya Tanaka, who has reimagined Pingu with everyday items.

Tickets are now on sale via Epus.

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.

Known for emotionally resonant works that bridge intimate storytelling and speculative worlds, Mamoru Hosoda is the man behind landmark films such as The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars and Wolf Children. His cinema is marked by a fluid interplay between everyday life and digital or fantastical realms, as well as a sensitivity to themes of family, memory and transformation.

Marking the 20th anniversary of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, ‘The Creative Origins of Mamoru Hosoda’ unfolds at the Creative Museum Tokyo from June 20 to August 31. Conceived as the most comprehensive exhibition ever dedicated to the director, it offers unprecedented insight into the creative processes behind his most celebrated works.

Drawing extensively from original production materials, the exhibition presents storyboards, layouts, key animation drawings and background art that illuminate the construction of Hosoda’s cinematic language. By foregrounding these foundational elements, the show reveals how influences from painting, cinema and animation converge within his visual storytelling.

Rather than simply looking back, the exhibition invites visitors to reconsider Hosoda’s films through the lens of their origins, tracing recurring motifs and stylistic evolutions across his oeuvre. In doing so, it captures both the enduring appeal of his past works and the continuity of his artistic vision as it extends toward new creative horizons.

When the boundless imagination of Pablo Picasso meets the vibrant creativity of Sir Paul Smith, fireworks follow. Picasso (1881–1973), one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, revolutionised modern art with his radical innovations in form and colour. British designer Smith, noted for his playful approach to tailoring and his masterful sense of colour and pattern, brings his unique sensibility to the table, transforming the NACT’s galleries into a dialogue between art and fashion, and tradition and reinvention.

‘Adventure of Playful Spirits’ offers a fresh encounter with approximately 80 works from the Musée National Picasso-Paris. Following the success of the 2023 Paris exhibition ‘Picasso Celebration: The Collection in a New Light!’, this Japan edition invites visitors to rediscover the painter’s creative evolution from his early Portrait of a Man to the tender Paulo as Harlequin, through Smith’s imaginative spatial design.

From colour-splashed walls to whimsical décor, every element of the exhibition reflects Smith’s joyful spirit and his fascination with artistic play. This meeting of two creative giants – one who shaped modern art and another who redefined contemporary design – conjures up a vibrant, immersive world where curiosity, humour and craftsmanship intertwine.

A visionary who worked along the boundaries between art, design and everyday life, Ettore Sottsass (1917–2007) was one of the most influential figures in 20th-century Italian design. Rising to prominence in the 1950s through his groundbreaking work for the typewriter and computer manufacturer Olivetti, Sottsass redefined industrial design by infusing functional objects with emotion, symbolism and wit. His restless creative spirit culminated in the 1981 founding of the Memphis Group, an international collective whose bold colours, playful forms and radical aesthetics came to define post-modern design and reshape global visual culture.

‘Design begins where magic begins’ at the Artizon Museum is the first comprehensive retrospective of Sottsass’s work in Japan. Drawing from the Ishibashi Foundation’s extensive collection, the exhibition brings together 112 works spanning the entirety of its subject’s long and prolific career, from early experiments to later, more philosophical creations.

Through furniture, industrial design and conceptual works, the exhibition traces Sottsass’s lifelong challenge to strict rationalism and his belief that design should reflect the emotional and spiritual dimensions of human life. Humour, colour and sensuality emerge as tools with which he sought to illuminate the lived experiences, desires and contradictions of modern society. Offering a rare opportunity to encounter Sottsass’s work in depth, the exhibition reveals a visionary who insisted that true design begins with imagination and magic.

Ron Mueck has long been celebrated for redefining figurative sculpture through extraordinary craftsmanship and emotional acuity. After early work in film and advertising, the Australian-born, UK-based artist emerged on the contemporary art scene in the mid-1990s, gaining international attention with Pinocchio (1996) and Dead Dad (1996-97), the latter exhibited in the landmark ‘Sensation’ show at London’s Royal Academy in 1997.

Over the decades, his meticulously crafted human figures, rendered at startlingly altered scales, have probed themes of vulnerability, solitude, resilience and the fragile complexity of existence. With a rare and limited oeuvre of about fifty works, each sculpture distills months or even years of observation and reflection, resulting in pieces that feel at once hyper-real and quietly enigmatic.

From April 29 to September 23, the Mori Art Museum hosts the artist’s first solo exhibition in Japan in eighteen years. Organised in collaboration with the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, the exhibition gathers eleven works tracing Mueck’s evolution, including six making their Japanese debut. Its monumental centrepiece is the Japan premiere of Mass (2016-17), an immersive installation of 100 giant skulls reconfigured to reflect the museum’s architecture. Other highlights include Angel (1997), Woman with Shopping (2013) and the iconic In Bed (2005), each inviting viewers into a deeply intimate emotional space.

Complementing the sculptures, photographs and films by Gautier Deblonde offer a glimpse into Mueck’s studio practice, revealing the quiet rigour behind some of contemporary art’s most affecting works.

Did you even have a childhood if you didn’t turn the hole-punched pages of The Very Hungry Caterpillar? Originally published in 1969, this children’s classic will be celebrated at the Museum of Contemporary Art, marking 50 years since the book’s Japanese release (Japan was the first place the beloved caterpillar ever appeared in print).

Prepare to feast your eyes upon 180 objects – all bursting with bold bright colours, playful patterns and Eric Carle’s specially curated collages. Over 27 picture books will also feature, offering a deep dive into the ingenuity of Carle’s imagination. The late American author and illustrator was famed for his fresh take on storytelling; simple shapes are layered with textured hand-painted tissue paper, resulting in whimsical works that were deceptively clever and remain iconic to this day.

This expansive exhibition is the largest in the Doraemon franchise’s 56-year history, bringing together manga panels, animation, sculptures, limited-edition merch and a themed food menu all starring the world’s favourite blue robot cat and his friends. It launched in Hong Kong in July 2024, attracting over five million visitors during its month-long run. Since then, it has continued to captivate fans across Asia, making its way through several cities including Shanghai, Guangzhou, Bangkok, and Kaohsiung in Taiwan.

The exhibition space contains over 100 distinct Doraemon figures, each with its own expression and costume. In addition to showcasing the content from the previous cities, the Tokyo exhibition also features Japan-exclusive works. Here you can see Doraemon transformed into a shiba inu, a sumo wrestler and a few other forms inspired by Japanese culture, as well as view two original animations not seen elsewhere.

‘100% Doraemon & Friends’ runs until September 30 and is open from 10am to 6pm daily (last entry 5.30pm). Tickets start from ¥2,400 for adults, ¥1,800 for primary and secondary school students and ¥1,600 for children four years old and below – purchase yours here. As an added bonus, upon arrival exhibition visitors receive one of nine Doraemon-themed acrylic pins and one of four promotional cards (both chosen at random).

Step into a world of vibrant chrysanthemums this spring at this free collaborative exhibition between teamLab and Galaxy. Now in its fifth year, the interactive, immersive space at Galaxy Harajuku uses cutting-edge projection mapping to depict flowers caught in an endless cycle of birth and death. Reach out to touch them and they’ll wither; stand still beside them and they’ll bloom more quickly.

Look down and you’ll see flowing currents of gold beneath your feet – traces shaped by your very presence. The movements of others create their own currents, which intertwine and form swirling vortices. The result is a constantly shifting environment where no two moments are ever the same. The Galaxy store also invites visitors to capture these fleeting scenes using the foldable smartphones available at the venue.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government No 1 Building in Shinjuku serves as the backdrop for a jaw-dropping and record-breaking projection mapping show. Covering an area of a whopping 13,905sqm, the after-dark spectacle has been certified by Guinness World Records as the largest permanent display of its kind in the world.

The nightly showcase features a range of visual wonders created by a mix of local and international artists. Some shows are inspired by Tokyo’s rich history, while others draw on themes like the lunar cycle. 

Currently, on weeknights, you can catch striking visuals synchronised to ‘800’ and 'Zankyosanka' by hit Japanese pop singer and lyricist Aimer as well as ‘Pac-Man eats Tokyo’, ‘Lunar Cycle’, ‘Synergy’, ‘Tokyo Resonance’ and ‘Evolution’. On weekends, you can look forward to the aforementioned ‘Zankyosanka (Aimer)’, as well as ‘Godzilla: Attack on Tokyo’ and ‘TYO337’, a display featuring motifs of traditional Japanese performing arts such as Kabuki paired with electronic beats. 

From March 20, Pokémon Trading Card Game ‘Tokyo Luminous Night’, a brand-new projection-mapping show featuring Pokémon cards on a massive scale, has been running on weekends and holidays from 6.30pm, 7.30pm and 9pm. Be sure to check the event website for more details.

Shows take place every night at fifteen-minute intervals from 6pm (Mar from 6.30pm, 7pm from Apr, 7.30pm from May to Aug) to 9.45pm. For more details and to check the full programme of daily projection mapping shows, visit here.