Things to do in Tokyo this week

Continuing Tokyo’s trend of dazzling nighttime projection-mapping events, digital creative company Hitohata is bringing back its Asakusa Culture & Lights show to Sensoji Temple. This projection mapping showcase celebrates the history and culture of the iconic temple in the heart of Asakusa.

The nightly shows feature high-resolution digital animations created using cutting-edge technology and displayed at two locations within the temple grounds: the south side of Hozomon Gate facing Kaminarimon Gate, as well as Sensoji Temple's main hall. These light-ups are free to view, happening daily from October 30 to November 3 between 6pm and 9.30pm. 

Alongside the brilliant light-ups, the temple is also offering paid daytime and nighttime viewings of the Denboin Garden; the daytime session includes exclusive access to the Ema Hall, home to Edo-era votive plaques by the likes of Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Hasegawa Settan and Henmi Isshin. Be sure to book tickets in advance to attend these viewings.

This super-popular bread festival is returning on Saturday, October 31 and November 1. It’s a gathering of Setagaya ward’s many renowned bakeries and bread shops, with the support of several guest bakers and producers from other parts of Tokyo and the rest of Japan.

This neighbourhood-wide festival, taking place at Setagaya Park, Home/Work Village cultural complex and participating stores in the Setagaya area, will feature more than 250 vendors over the two days. You can sample local delicacies, as well as baked goods and pastries from across Japan. Some bakeries are even selling festival-exclusive bread that you can't find elsewhere.

While you're there, help decide the best mentaiko (spiced pollock roe) baguette at the annual 'Best Bread Contest,' or join one of the many workshops available for you to learn how to make your own bread.

Roppongi Art Night returns in full force from October 31 to November 1 2026, again transforming one of Tokyo’s most vibrant districts into an all-night celebration of contemporary creativity. Launched in 2009, the festival has become a cornerstone of the city’s cultural calendar, inviting visitors to explore art installations, performances and multimedia projects from dusk until dawn.

Spanning key venues including Roppongi Hills, the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo Midtown and the National Art Center, Tokyo, the event extends into public spaces and streets, creating a dynamic urban circuit where art and city life intersect. This year marks the festival’s 15th edition and a return to its original all-night format, restoring the immersive, nocturnal atmosphere that defines its appeal.

The 2026 edition places a special focus on France, drawing inspiration from Nuit Blanche, the Parisian event that originally inspired Roppongi Art Night. Curated by José-Manuel Gonçalvès, the programme highlights a diverse selection of French artists through installations, video works and performances.

Alongside this international spotlight, the Open Call Project once again invites public participation, reinforcing the festival’s commitment to accessibility and experimentation. For one night only, Roppongi becomes a sleepless stage where Tokyo’s urban landscape is reimagined through art.

Start the Halloween weekend with cumbias, taquitos and pan-Pacific vibes at Mexican Night, the second instalment in our monthly series of internationally themed parties at Ark Hills Gallery. On Friday October 30 from 6pm, the intimate space in Roppongi Itchome will be rocking to traditional and contemporary tunes from across Mexico, courtesy of Duo Camino and Shin Miyata, while the food will be provided by Salsa Cabana.

Duo Camino consists of Natsumi Imamura, Japan’s only professional arpista (Mexican harp player), and guitarist Kohei Takeda, who usually perform as part of Mexico City-born Alex Mejía’s Mariachi Mexican La Fiesta band and promote Mexican folklore and traditional music across Japan.

They’ll be taking the stage twice on the night, interspersed by a DJ set from Tokyo’s own Shin Miyata, the owner of Barrio Gold Records and a promoter who specialises in distributing Chicano music on these shores. Miyata has been the driving force behind bringing artists such as Chicano Batman, Joe Bataan and Quetzal to Japan, and just a few weeks ago gave a talk at Fresno City College about fostering cross-cultural dialogue between East Los Angeles and Tokyo. To go with Duo Camino’s mariachi tunes, Miyata will be playing an old-meets-new, all-vinyl set heavy on cumbia and norteño.

All the while you can munch on fish tacos and taquitos courtesy of Salsa Cabana, the ever-reliable Mexican bar and restaurant with locations in Yotsuya and Nakano, which was just last month certified as authentic by the Mexican government.

Tickets are available now through Time Out Tokyo Shop.

Find everything from furniture and old books to clothes and cameras at this massive flea market, held over four days at Showa Kinen Park in Tachikawa. This market features over 300 sellers from all over the country, so you’re sure to stumble across some interesting finds. You can also pick up fabrics and fun knick-knacks at the Nordic Market, backpacks and bags at the Backpack Bazaar, dry flower bouquets and succulents at the Flower Market or sit down for a cup of coffee and a tasty pastry at one of the food stalls. There’s also live music to enjoy and some workshops taking place where you can learn skills like metalworking and brooch-crafting.

Tickets are now on sale via Eplus.

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.

School gymnasiums, churches, office lobbies, guitar shops and shrines are all considered fair game for a spot of music during Asagaya Jazz Streets, a two-day festival in which concerts are held at dozens of locations scattered across the neighbourhood.

The event has steadily grown in stature since its launch in 1995. As has become customary, veteran piano innovator Yosuke Yamashita will still be part of the festival this year, though in a different role. After announcing in January that he would take a break to focus on his health and recovery, Yamashita is instead curating a special session featuring three artists who carry on his legacy: Sugadairo, Benisuke Sakai and Tamaya Honda, performing at Shinmeiguu Shrine.

Meanwhile, performances by internationally acclaimed alto saxophonist Erena Terakubo and her quartet, the Eiji Taniguchi Quartet + Eiji Hanaoka, and the tropical 16-member big band Tawoyame Orquesta are expected to be among the festival’s standout attractions.

Note that while the open-air gigs are free, you'll need a paid wristband to get into most of the participating venues, while a drink or food order is required at many of the shows held in cafés and restaurants.

Check the event website for performance schedules and ticketing information.

Komazawa Olympic Park is hosting its annual ramen festival for the last time this autumn with a dozen booths serving Japanese noodles from different prefectures throughout Japan. You can go for a simple shoyu (soy sauce) or shio (salt) ramen, or a bowl with rich tonkotsu pork broth, or one topped generously with chicken. Be warned though: some stalls are expected to have up to two hours wait time, as they are exclusive to the festival or have won the Ramen Grand Prix in recent years.

Instead of being split into multiple parts like previous versions, Tokyo Ramen Festa 2026 is a single, continuous five-day event. This year's lineup includes highlights such as Sapporo's Menya Nanabei with a premium local-chicken broth miso ramen, and Fukuoka's Honda Shoten, serving up rich, aged yobimodoshi-style tonkotsu ramen brought directly from the birthplace of tonkotsu ramen. You'll also find a rich Shinshu chicken paitan collaboration bowl between Nagano's Kimuzukashiya and Tokyo's Hongare Gyorai, and so much more. As a special addition for its final year at the park, the festival is also offering its first-ever rice dish – a ramen-broth curry called Ra-kare made with dried sardine broth soup.

Admission is free, while a bowl of noodles costs ¥1,100. Meal tickets can be purchased on-site or via Seven Ticket, which you can pick up at Seven Eleven outlets nationwide. We recommend purchasing tickets earlier rather than later, as popular bowls can sell out towards the end of the day.

Whenever winter arrives, Tokyoites look forward to snacking on warm yakiimo (roasted sweet potato). Dedicated yakiimo trucks are a common sight on the streets during the cold season, and this year, there will also be a festival dedicated to this comforting snack at the Yakiimo Fes at Nakano's Shiki no Mori Park from October 30 to November 8.

This tummy-warming food fest will be serving up 30 kinds of sweet potato dessert from 14 vendors, including roasted sweet potato drizzled with white chocolate and dried strawberries, sweet potato parfaits, sweet potato salted butter brûlée and even a sweet potato crepe. If you're looking for something more savoury, try the sweet potato tacos, sweet potato cheese pizza or even a sweet and spicy Korean-style jjigae stew topped with cuts of roasted sweet potato. Entry is free, but don’t forget to bring your credit card or Suica, as the event is completely cashless.

Ticket bundles, including eight meal tickets worth ¥5,000, can be purchased online via KKday. The bundle also gets you two 'fast lane' tickets to purchase items with using the priority lane.

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.

Nightclub Womb's annual Hallow's eve set is landing on October 31 this year with headliners like British electronic music DJ and Houghton Festival founder and director Craig Richards and Ivan Smagghe from DJ duo Dresden. The two will be spinning tunes on the main floor for an ultra-rare, one-night showcase featuring artists who have long been at the forefront of the global underground scene. 

Go downstairs or up to the fourth floor and you’ll get to dance to bopping music played by Satoshi Otsuki, Gabriel Rai and Celter. The entrance fee is ¥4,000, but those who come in full costume —covering 70 percent or more— will receive a ¥1,000 discount at the door. Partial costumes are also welcome, with a ¥500 discount and are only available for those purchasing tickets on-site.

Advance tickets are now on sale for ¥3,500 via Zaiko.

Roppongi Hills' annual Halloween celebration is returning once again, but not in the usual form of a children's parade. For 2026, Roppongi Hills Halloween is teaming up with Roppongi Art Night for a flamboyant headpiece-making workshop with artist, writer, unbuilt architect and drag queen Vivienne Sato.

Taking place at West Walk 2F near the Beams store, the workshop is open to senior high school students and younger children aged 4 and above. Children under 6 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian, of course. Be sure to have the kids come dressed in costume, as they’ll have plenty of opportunities to enjoy photo booths and trick-or-treating with their brand-new, original headpiece.

Reservations are required via the Hills app to join the workshop.

Admire the autumn full moon this autumn in the beautifully illuminated gardens of Hamarikyu. This sprawling green space, which once belonged to the ruling Tokugawa shogunate, will stay open until 9pm from October 21 to 23. The special night opening is held to celebrate Kurimeigetsu (October 23), traditionally considered to be the second most beautiful evening of the year to catch the harvest moon. What's more, the programme is extended with a second late-opening session from October 30 to November 3 to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Hamarikyu becoming a public garden.

Stemming from the moon-viewing tradition known as tsukimi, which dates back to the Heian period (794–1185), the event will begin with an offering ceremony on October 21 at 6pm at the lawn near the Shiojiri pond. This will be followed by a flute performance by shinobue performer Riki Yokosuka.

Guided moon-viewing tours (¥500, cash only) in English are available on October 23 at 6pm and 7.30pm. The meeting point is at the Matsu no Ochaya teahouse. Slots are limited and apportioned on a first-come, first-served basis through an online booking form.

The Nakajima no Ochaya teahouse, which boasts spectacular views of the garden, is offering a special tsukimi-themed nerikiri sweet and tea set from October 21 to October 23, making for a perfect light evening snack. Afterwards, enjoy traditional instrumental music performed near the Umashide no Mikoto statue. There are multiple 30-minute performances from two gagaku bands daily, from 6.30pm.

During the second session, from October 30 to November 3, visitors can expect to see the park decorated with colourful, glowing umbrellas, which are used in Japanese culture to symbolise 80 years. The Nakajima no Ochaya teahouse will serve a special 80th-anniversary menu featuring nerikiri sweets, matcha and sake.

After 4.30pm, entry is permitted only through the main Otemon Gate.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

Tokyo Node presents the largest solo exhibition to date by Japanese artist and art director Yoshirotten. Widely recognised for his ability to move seamlessly between fine art, graphic design, moving image, spatial design and commercial projects, the Tokyo-based visionary has spent more than two decades developing a distinctive visual language that bridges urban culture, technology, nature and the cosmos. From collaborations with global brands and musicians to ambitious independent art projects, his work consistently seeks to make the invisible visible.

‘Communication with the Other Side / Beyond Earth’ brings together the artist’s major ongoing series, while introducing new large-scale, site-specific installations. Across these works, Yoshirotten explores enduring themes that have shaped his practice: light, colour, natural phenomena, planetary systems and humanity’s relationship to the unknown.

A highlight of the display is a new project created in collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, which transforms space-related data into immersive visual experiences. Expanding upon the speculative and sci-fi-inspired worldview that has characterised Yoshirotten’s recent work, the exhibition invites visitors to contemplate perspectives that extend beyond the boundaries of everyday perception – and even beyond Earth itself.

Serving both as a retrospective of key developments in Yoshirotten’s career and as a platform for new experimentation, the exhibition marks a major milestone for one of Japan’s most influential contemporary visual creators. Through a dynamic fusion of art, technology and imagination, it offers a compelling vision of unseen worlds and the possibilities that lie beyond them.

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).

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.