Things to do in Tokyo this week

See a huge four-tonne mikoshi (portable shrine) being shuttled through the streets near Torigoe Shrine in Asakusabashi at this traditional festival known for the intense fights that invariably break out over who gets to carry the monster mikoshi.

The main event is on Sunday June 7 from 6.50am to 9pm, when the mikoshi is carried through the streets. If you want to catch the best of the action with beautifully lit lanterns, be here at around 8.30pm to see the mikoshi make its way back to the shrine.

Meanwhile on Saturday June 6, local neighbourhood associations parade their own, much smaller portable shrines around the area. Also don’t miss the food stalls that are set up along the streets during the festival.

For more details, check the event Facebook page.

Celebrated since the early 17th century and recognised as one of the three great festivals of Edo (along with the Kanda and Fukagawa festivals), the Sanno Matsuri marks the start of Tokyo's summer festival season.

The highlight of the 10-day festival is the grand parade, which only happens biannually and will not run this year. However, a series of smaller-scale events will still take place at the festival’s main site, Hie Shrine. Events include the chigo-gyoretsu parade (Sunday June 8 at 12noon and 2.30pm), where children dress up in orange, green and purple to wish for health and growth. Another highlight is the Sanno Kasho Festival on June 16 at 1pm – a Heian period ritual where wagashi (Japanese sweets) artisans present their creations to the gods, praying for the protection against epidemics. Check out the schedule (in Japanese only) for all the details.

Coinciding with the festivities at Hie Shrine, the public square at Sanno Park Tower is hosting the Sanno Ondo bon odori festival. Happening daily at 6.30pm from Friday June 13 to Sunday June 15, the festival lets you bask in the pleasant summer evening breeze, with a communal dance fiesta accompanied by the rhythmic beats of taiko drums. There will also be food stalls galore, making this a true summertime matsuri experience.

Pride Festival is the event for Tokyo Pride. Taking place at the Yoyogi Park Event Plaza June 6-7 from 11am to 6pm, the event welcomes over 200 exhibition booths and food and drink stalls from LGBTQ+ organisations both domestic and international.

For entertainment, stage performances The festival features a number of stage performances, with singer Thelma Aoyama and drag queen Dorian Lollobrigida, both co-stars of the hit Netflix reality series The Boyfriend acting as MCs on the first day. The second day of the event welcomes actress Miyu Nakagawa to the stage, plus the return of drag queen and entertainer Baby Vaggy as MC.

The second day of the festival (June 7) is the Pride Parade, which saw over 15,000 participants last year. The shebang starts at 12noon at the Yoyogi Park Event Plaza, continuing throughout the Shibuya and Harajuku area. Participation is free.

If you’re a fan of umeshu – the sweet and tangy Japanese liqueur made by infusing ume plums in shochu or sake – this boozy festival deserves a spot on your calendar. Visitors will be able to sample more than 120 varieties of umeshu from across Japan, including winners of the 2025 National Umeshu Tasting competition.

Alongside classic styles, expect unfiltered and long-aged umeshu, versions infused with spirits like gin and brandy, and even refreshing umeshu-beer blends.

Tickets cost ¥1,900 with 19 tokens at the door or 21 tokens if purchased in advance online. These physical umesen tokens can be used to redeem drinks and food at the venue.

Paella Tapas Matsuri is one of Japan’s biggest Spanish festivals and will take place at Hibiya Park this year for its 11th edition, with plenty of tapas and paella to go around for the expected 80,000 visitors. Enjoy various takes on the classic Spanish rice dish paella with a range of seafood and meat toppings, as well as side dishes like shrimp ajillo and Basque cheesecake. Alongside visitor-voted competitions for the festival’s best paella and tapas, there will also be a separate contest to determine who can make the most authentic ‘Valenciana Paella’ – prepared using traditional methods with chicken and rabbit meat and cooked over a wood fire.

The festival offers refreshing pints of Spanish cervezas, too. Compare the flavours of Estrella Galicia lager beer and pilsner-style Mahou beer, two of Spain's leading beer brands. Don’t miss out on the stage performances where you’ll get to see flamenco dancers, live music, and much more.

Check the event website for the performance schedules. (Japanese only)

The biggest Italian festival in Japan is now in its tenth year. Held at Roppongi Hills Arena, this weekend fiesta will feature a host of outdoor activities, exhibitions, guest appearances by Japanese and Italian personalities, food and wine, as well as shopping opportunities.

Themed 'Fall in love with Italy,' this year's event will host live performances by guest artists from Italy and Japan, as well as booths showcasing Italian brands of outdoor furniture, fashion and food. There’s booths selling margherita pizza, genovese penne pasta, gelato, aperitivo cocktails, and more.

Be sure to check the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Japan's Instagram for the latest updates on performance schedules.

Atlanta-raised and Austin-based, Dedrick Flynn is the newest main cast member of the hit podcast Kill Tony and the fastest performer ever promoted to the show’s main cast. After rocketing to international attention through his work on Kill Tony, he has quickly become one of the most talked-about new voices in stand-up. Whether tearing through personal stories or delivering razor-sharp observations with his signature intensity, Dedrick Flynn commands a room with pure comedic force. 

From now until June 14, you can catch hydrangeas blooming in one of Tokyo’s most picturesque Japanese gardens. Rikugien Gardens is currently celebrating the onset of summer with around 1,000 hydrangeas spanning 15 varieties. 

The highlight of the event is arguably the mountain hydrangeas, an elegant variety of that has bloomed on the Japanese archipelago since ancient times. These flowers may not have the conventional appearance of a common hydrangea, but they are still beautiful in their own right while being of modest colour and size. At the garden you’ll also find the vibrant pink Satsuki azaleas, which are also native to the mountains of Japan.

Entrance to Rikugien costs ¥300 (free for primary students and younger). Posters explaining the different varieties of hydrangeas will feature descriptions in both Japanese and English.

Go on a floral outing this summer to enjoy the sight of over 20,000 hydrangeas at the 25th annual Hakkeijima Hydrangea Festival. Held from June 6 to June 28, this free event lets you explore the island of Hakkeijima (about 30 minutes by train from Yokohama) and its eight hydrangea spots.

Highlights include the indigenous Hakkei-blue hydrangea, a variety created to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise theme park. The island features eight hydrangea viewing spots in total, some of which also double as stamp rally checkpoints. Collect stamps from five participating locations and you’ll receive discounts at selected restaurants and shops around the island.

Whenever you need to rest your feet and recharge, restaurants across the island are serving special flower-themed drinks and desserts. The most eye-catching of them all is the hydrangea lemon tea (¥520) sold at Cable Car Coffee.

The stamp rally is held daily from 10am-4pm.

Looking for a weekend getaway to see hydrangeas in nature without leaving Tokyo proper? Check out the hydrangea festival at Wonderful Nature Village next to Tokyo Summerland, taking place from June 6 to July 5. Here, you’ll find a sea of white hydrangeas blooming across the hillsides. This section of the sprawling park alone is home to more than 15,000 hydrangeas, which are expected to reach peak bloom from mid to late June.

Aside from the white Anabelle hydrangea, the park also cultivates beautiful blue hydrangeas Kurohime and Ezohoshino that are indigenous to Japan. These varieties will likely reach peak bloom between early to mid June.

While you’re there for these summer blooms, why not beat the heat with a refreshing splash at nearby Tokyo Summerland? This super popular water park on the fringes of Tokyo boasts a large indoor pool for all weather conditions as well as a 650m-long outdoor pool with flowing water (advance tickets are required for Tokyo Summerland).

To get there, take the Keio Line from Shinjuku to Keio Hachioji Station. From there, hop on a local bus and you'll reach Wonderful Nature Village in about 35 minutes. For more details, including other bus connections from Keio Hachioji and Akigawa stations, see the venue website (in Japanese only).

The hydrangea festival takes place daily from 9am to 5pm.

Yomiuri Land amusement park has been breeding and raising fireflies to help conserve the species since 2009. This summer, you can watch genji botaru fireflies in June and heike botaru fireflies in July illuminate the beautiful Hana Biyori garden after dark, with the display running until July 1.

Hana Biyori is open from 10am, but the fireflies viewing time is from 7.40pm until 9pm (8.30pm on weekdays). 

A Hana Biyori ticket (¥800) and a separate Hotaru Biyori ticket (¥400) are required for admission.

Kyu Furukawa Gardens in Tokyo’s Kita Ward is known for its colourful roses that start to bloom in May, and this festival is your best chance to enjoy them all. The Western-style garden on the upper grounds is adorned with 200 roses of 100 different varieties. In addition to your vivid red and pink blossoms, you’ll get to see pastel-coloured ones including Kinda Blue, Cinderella, Manyo and New Dawn roses, too.

There will also be musical performances held on the lawn on May 23 and June 21 from 12noon and at 3pm.  Expect to also see a market in the garden selling potted roses, rose-inspired gelato and gardening goods from 10am to 4.30pm.

Check the garden's Twitter account for the most up-to-date flowering status.

The Shiki no Kaori Rose Garden, located in the residential neighbourhood of Hikarigaoka, is home to an incredible 342 varieties of roses of various colours and species that bloom year-round. During the annual Spring Rose Garden Festival, the roses bloom especially magnificently with bright colours, using the energy they stored up during the winter dormancy period. To celebrate the garden’s 10th anniversary, expect an expanded line-up of events, including hula dancing (June 6 from 1.30pm), talk shows and a special anniversary photo spot.

The garden is separated into two sections. You can compare the rich scents of the roses at the ‘Fragrant Rose Garden,’ or enjoy the vibrant hues of red and pink roses at the ‘Colourful Rose Garden.’ Take in the beauty of the blooms with an accompaniment of live sax music on May 31, with a free concert at the Colourful Rose Garden from 11am and again at 2pm. Free guided tours of the whole garden are available on May 20, 21 and 23 from 3pm.

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.

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.

Window manufacturer YKK AP teams up with a number of prestigious Spanish institutions to highlight a small but crucial detail of Antoni Gaudí’s wide-ranging oeuvre. Zooming in on the role apertures played in the Catalan visionary’s singular architectural language, which was defined by organic forms, intricate ornament and a profound understanding of structure and light, ‘Windows on the Future’ forms part of a wider research initiative examining Gaudí’s creative methods.

Organised to mark the centenary of Gaudí’s death, the exhibition at 21_21 Design Sight shares its concept with a more extensive presentation at Barcelona’s Palau Güell, a UNESCO World Heritage site, adapting it to the design-focused environment of Gallery 3. Through models, research materials and visual documentation, visitors are invited to explore Gaudí’s enduring ideas and consider how his inventive thinking may inspire the windows, and architecture, of the future.

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.

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.

Brace yourselves – things are about to get intensely kawaii. From April 9 to June 21, the Mori Arts Center Gallery in Roppongi hosts the final and most expansive edition of a pink-hued exhibition that has toured Japan since 2021. Marking more than 60 years since the founding of cute character empire Sanrio, the show returns to Tokyo in an enriched version that looks back not only at the company’s history, but also at the birth and global rise of kawaii as a cultural language.

Before Hello Kitty’s debut in 1974 (!), Sanrio was already exploring new forms of visual softness, warmth and emotional connection. The exhibition traces this formative period, revealing how kawaii emerged as a distinct value through early designs, products and ideas. Subsequent sections delve into the creation of the company’s multifarious characters, the enduring appeal of Kitty-chan and Sanrio’s unique philosophy of growing characters together with their fans. Central to this story is Ichigo Shinbun, the fan mag that fostered a participatory culture long before the age of social media.

The exhibition culminates in a spectacular gathering of characters: over 200 appear on display, the largest number in Sanrio exhibition history, alongside a vast array of nostalgic merchandise. More than a celebration of cuteness, ‘The Beginning of Kawaii’ offers a thoughtful portrait of how Sanrio shaped, and continues to shape, a global cultural phenomenon.

When at the exhibition, be sure to also check out the collab café right next to the museum.

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).

Ueno’s University Art Museum plays host to this landmark celebration of one of Japan’s most enduring art-focused TV programmes. Since its debut in 1976, NHK Sunday Museum (Nichiyo Bijutsukan) has aired more than 2,500 episodes, introducing audiences to masterpieces from across eras and cultures while elevating the voices of cast members, thinkers and performers who reflect on the meaning of beauty. The exhibition, on view from March 28 to June 21, revisits this half-century history through roughly 120 works presented across five thematic chapters.

Visitors will encounter iconic pieces that shaped the programme’s narrative, from prehistoric Jomon pottery and Edo-period (1603–1868) screens to Paul Cézanne’s Bathers, Alberto Giacometti’s Yanaihara I, Taro Okamoto’s Encounter and the haunting visions of Tetsuya Ishida. Archival footage and carefully selected quotes from past broadcasts, including reflections by literary giants, dancers and contemporary creators, illuminate how the show has continued to discover beauty across generations. High-definition projections, including a life-size rendering of Pablo Picasso’s Guernica, further expand the experience.

Touching on themes such as rediscovered Japanese aesthetics, the evolution of craft, the relationship between art and disaster and the intimate space of the artist’s studio, the exhibition offers a sweeping meditation on creativity. This anniversary celebration stands as a vivid tribute to a programme that has long served as a bridge between the public and beauty.