Things to do in Tokyo this week

The second instalment of the two-part Fukuro Matsuri will see over 110 teams of yosakoi dancers from across Japan parading through the streets of Ikebukuro.

Taking over the neighbourhood on October 11 and 12, the performers will show off their well-choreographed dances in modern neon reinterpretations of happi coats and yukata for an elaborate show. The yosakoi dance itself originated in Kochi prefecture in 1954, where it was invented to help revitalise the struggling post-war economy.

This massive event will take place across five venues on the west side of Ikebukuro Station, including the main stage in front of the Tobu Department Store and the Global Ring Theatre (Ikebukuro West Gate Park). If you only have time for a quick look, head to Azalea Street, the main boulevard leading in the direction of the station. There you’ll be able to see non-stop performances with few obstructions to ruin your view.

Check the event website for event schedules and more.

Dougu Matsuri is an annual festival held in October in Kappabashi, the wholesale district between Ueno and Asakusa that specialises in tools and kitchen supplies for the restaurant industry. Known affectionately as Tokyo's Kitchen Town, many shops here also welcome home cooks and the general public as you can also purchase items individually.

Over 100 stores will be participating in the event, where you’ll find great deals on cooking utensils, tableware, food samples and more. While the festival officially runs for a week, most of the festivities will be held on October 13. Highlights include a local elementary school marching band parade (11am), wadaiko drumming performances by local junior and senior high school students (1pm and 3.30pm), kung-fu and taiko stage shows (10.30am in front of Taito Ward Life-long Learning Center and 2.30pm in front of Keisei Coop Apartments), cheerleading performances (2pm) and even a character bento exhibition contest (submission deadline is October 9).

Check the event website and performance schedule for more details.

The Sawara Grand Festival is held twice a year – in July and October – in the picturesque canal city of Sawara in northern Chiba. Regarded as one of the three largest float festivals in the Kanto region, the festival was recognised by UNESCO as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property in 2016.

The autumn version of the Sawara Grand Festival takes place from October 10 to 12, centred around Suwa Shrine and the town's carefully preserved historical district. Expect to see fourteen magnificent floats adorned with meticulously crafted ornaments and likenesses of ancient warriors on top during the three-day fest. For fans of traditional festivals, this is a truly immersive experience – complete with dancers in period costume, the rhythmic sounds of Sawara bayashi festival music, and a cityscape that feels like it’s been frozen in time for the 300 years the festival has been held for.

While Sawara is located a stone’s throw away from Narita, getting to the city from central Tokyo by train is a bit more difficult. The journey takes approximately two hours, involving a transfer from the Sobu Line Rapid Service at Narita to the Narita Line to Sawara Station. However, easier and faster direct-route bus options are available from Bus Terminal Tokyo Yaesu, stop no. 14 (Choshi Sawara Route).

Tip: While you're there, check the Sawara Festival Digital Map for real-time mikoshi float locations.

The charming neighbourhoods of Nezu and Sendagi flaunt their shitamachi (downtown) roots at this autumn festival, which marks its 27th edition this year. The action centres around Nezu Shrine, which is hosting concerts and performances throughout the weekend, accompanied by a flea market and stalls selling traditional goods.

The rest of the neighbourhood follows suit, with attractions including performances of traditional Japanese music and various dances at the Fureai-kan community centre on Shinobazu-dori. You can also take part in a stamp rally: pick up a stamp sheet and map at Nezu Shrine, tour the seven designated spots to fill up your sheet, and return it to the starting point for the chance to win prizes which include a roundtrip ticket to Hagi-Iwami Airport in Shimane prefecture, pair vouchers for Spa Laqua, and more.

Oeshiki, the festival commemorating the anniversary of Buddhist saint Nichiren's death, is the annual highlight at the majestic Ikegami Honmonji, the place where this holy honcho is said to have drawn his last breath, and attracts around 300,000 people each year. With origins reaching back more than 700 years, this one's got both tradition and spectacle, especially in the form of Sunday evening's mando procession that sees around 3,000 participants carry elaborate lanterns along the two-kilometre route from Ikegami Station to the temple (from 6pm). The festivities go on until late at night, ensuring an electric atmosphere.

Open-air mobile cinema company Kino Iglu is bringing its outdoor film expertise to Azabudai Hills this October for four days, setting up on the spacious lawn at Azabudai Hills Central Plaza. They’ll be showing one film per day at 5.45pm from October 10 to 13.

The screening on Friday October 10 will be The Chef of South Polar, an obscure Japanese comedy-drama about a group of scientists and their resident chef living in isolation in Antarctica. On the following evening, the multiple Academy Award-winning 2018 film Green Book will be screened. Sing Street (2016) will be shown on Sunday, followed by Chef (2014) on Monday’s public holiday.

Before the show starts, stop by the Rubber Tramp mobile pizza bar. Here you can enjoy freshly made pizzas from a selection of about half a dozen flavours, paired with refreshing drinks like draft beer, mojito and lemon squash.

One of Tokyo's three German beer fest spin-offs this autumn (including Shiba Park and Jingu-Gaien), Munich Oktoberfest kicks off on September 19 at Urban Dock LaLaport Toyosu. This beer extravaganza at least manages to fall within a few weeks of the original German beer-fuelled festival it's copying, running from September 19 until October 13.

As with all the other Oktoberfests in town, you can enjoy pints of German beer served in glasses that can fill up to a litre, alongside bratwurst and sauerkraut. There will be oompah bands to sweeten the mood.

Entry is free and you can pay as you go. Do note that the event is cashless; you can only pay via credit card, PayPay, IC card, QuicPay, ID and other forms of electronic payment.

Everyone loves Chiikawa right now. Get your fill of the mischievous characters created by Japanese illustrator Nagano in Shibuya, where the franchise’s official ramen shop returns for a limited time. Located on the basement floor of Shibuya Parco, it deals in ramen of the pork variety, hence the buta (pig) in the name. The ramen is served in three sizes: Chiikawa (mini), Hachiware (small) and Usagi (large). Each bowl will come with a novelty sticker, featuring either Chiikawa, Hachiware or Usagi depending on the bowl you ordered.

As for drinks, the Shisa Mandarin Soda is a must-try, named after the hard-working lion dog and ramen shop assistant in the Chiikawa universe. Each drink comes with a novelty character card, which you can draw at random from a selection of 10 characters.

Visitors who grab a bite of the ramen are also allowed exclusive access to the adjacent merch shop, complete with limited-edition goods – think T-shirts, ramen bowls, beer jugs and towels featuring the adorable Chiikawa.

Tachikawa's Showa Kinen Park has the most impressive fields of cosmos flowers in Tokyo and this is the ideal time to see them all in full bloom. The hilly grasslands of the park are usually draped in colour from mid-September with various types of cosmos flowers, and the multicoloured scenery can be enjoyed well into mid-October.

There are three main gardens: The Lemon Bright field, which is covered in vivid yellow sulfur cosmos; Autumn Bouquet Garden, which has a mixture of 20 different cosmos; and the Cosmos Sensation filled with lilac blooms.

Don't miss the picturesque soap bubble event, where you can see countless small bubbles floating over the flower gardens. This special spectacle happens twice a day from 10.30am and 12noon on September 13 at the Lemon Bright field, September 28 at the Autumn Bouquet Garden, and October 4 at the Cosmos Sensation flower garden.

Entrance fees are waived on October 5 and 19, 2025.

This autumn, the National Film Archive presents the first comprehensive retrospective dedicated to one of Japan’s most inventive and genre-defying filmmakers. Yoshimitsu Morita (1950–2011) began his career in 8mm films and made a lasting mark on Japanese cinema with works like The Family Game (1983) and The Black House (1999), embracing comedy, horror, courtroom dramas, period pieces and more.

The exhibition offers an opportunity to step right into Morita’s imaginative world. Visitors can explore recreations of the iconic dining room from The Family Game and of the director’s personal study, plus a gallery of his cherished vinyl records. Posters, props, annotated scripts and idea notebooks showcase the full range of the Shonan native’s creative process, while video installations trace Morita’s career from its indie roots to commercial success.

Running alongside the exhibition, a special programme (October 14–November 23) will screen key works from Morita’s filmography, including lesser-known titles and collaborations. Deaths in Tokimeki (1984), Keiho (1999) and Kiriko no Fukei (1998; written by Morita and directed by Tomoyuki Akaishi) will be screened with English subtitles. A series of talks featuring producer Kazuko Misawa and cultural commentator Utamaru will offer further insight into Morita’s legacy. 

To celebrate the launch of Hypebae Japan’s website, the platform pulls together a night at Zerotokyo that sets its sights firmly on the next generation. Billed as New Wave, the event leans into artists and DJs reshaping scenes locally and abroad, with an emphasis on cross-genre energy and future-facing sounds.


It’s positioned as a gathering point for artists working outside of legacy structures – —a chance to see who’s making noise on the edges right now. Doors open late, and like any Zerotokyo night, expect it to run deep into the morning.

Founded by Chanel in Paris in 2021, le19M is a ground-breaking hub that brings together 11 maisons d’art and over 700 artisans, dedicated to preserving and advancing the intricate crafts behind haute couture: embroidery, pleating, millinery, shoemaking, feather work and more. As both a creative incubator and a guardian of heritage, le19M is home to la Galerie du 19M, a cultural space that celebrates craftsmanship, fosters innovation and nurtures future generations of artisans.

From September 30 to October 20, Chanel invites Tokyo audiences to discover the extraordinary world of the métiers d’art with la Galerie du 19M Tokyo, an exhibition on an unprecedented scale, held on the 52nd floor of the Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills.

La Galerie du 19M Tokyo offers a free, immersive experience for visitors of all ages and backgrounds. Through a curated journey blending tradition and contemporary creation, visitors are invited witness the meticulous artistry and dedication behind some of Chanel’s most iconic pieces. It’s a dialogue between cultures and crafts, honouring the value of human hands and the timeless beauty of artisanal excellence, brought to life high above the Tokyo skyline.

Noritake Suzuki is an acclaimed picture book author known for his wit, vibrant illustrations, and deep empathy for childhood wonder. Born in Hamamatsu in 1975, Suzuki got his big break with Ketchup Man in 2008 and has since captivated readers with hits like the Shigotoba, The Working Place of Japan Professionals series and the bestselling Big Pinch Picture Book, which earned him the top prize at the MOE Picture Book Awards in both 2022 and 2024.

From October 8 to December 7, the Play Museum in Tachikawa serves as host for the artist’s imaginative world by way of an exhibition based on Suzuki’s hit Big Pinch book series, which depicts the small yet dramatic ‘crises’ children face in everyday life. 

Labelled ‘pinch entertainment’, it’s an immersive experience where you get to step into, play with and even create your own cartoon disasters. From oversized spilt milk to interactive ‘pinch’ games, the exhibition transforms anxiety into laughter.

Exclusive to this Play Museum exhibition are original sketches, early illustrations and hands-on installations that visitors of all ages can enjoy. For fans of imaginative storytelling and joyful problem-solving, this is a must-visit celebration of life’s little mishaps.

The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo celebrates its 30th birthday by gathering together over 30 artists and collectives from diverse generations and geographies to reflect on how contemporary art can illuminate the hidden structures of daily life while opening new possibilities for collective imagination.

Foregrounding domestic, institutional and urban contexts from households shaped by gender norms to the contested spaces of Okinawa and Mumbai, ‘Choreographies of Everyday’ investigates how subjectivity is formed, constrained and transformed. Newly commissioned works developed through research in Tokyo will join pieces by artists including Satoru Aoyama, Jonathas de Andrade, Mako Idemitsu, Shilpa Gupta and the Rice Brewing Sisters Club. Together, these works confront systemic violence and oppression while highlighting acts of resistance, creativity and humour that endure in the everyday.

The exhibition’s title signals both mechanisms of social control and the agency to subvert or transcend them. In that spirit, the show unfolds as a dynamic platform, enriched by performances, talks and workshops throughout its duration.

Explore how post-war black markets shaped the evolution of Tokyo’s urban fabric at this intriguing exhibition, held at Takashimaya Archives Tokyo on the fourth floor of the Nihombashi Takashimaya department store.

On show until February 23 2026, the display marks 80 years since the end of World War II and focuses on the makeshift marketplaces that emerged amid the ruins of Tokyo. During the war, large-scale demolitions, intended to prevent the spread of fires caused by air raids, created vacant lots across the city. In the chaotic years that followed, these empty spaces, together with bombsites and even roadside corners, were transformed into black markets. Known as yami-ichi, they supplied goods and sustenance in a time of scarcity while seeding new social and commercial hubs.

Particular attention is given to Shinjuku, where some of the black markets grew into vibrant entertainment districts that remain central to Tokyo’s identity today. And while most of the markets eventually vanished, their traces endure in the city’s streetscapes and neighbourhoods.

Curated by Tokukazu Ishigure of Kwansei Gakuin University, the exhibition reframes black markets as more than unlawful encroachments, highlighting their role as catalysts of urban renewal – spaces where disorder gave rise to energy, resilience and reinvention.

In the news for his role as the designer of the Expo 2025 site, Sou Fujimoto is an architect whose work explores the relationship between nature and architecture. Born in Hokkaido, he is inspired by the natural landscapes of his childhood and seeks to integrate organic forms into the built environment through an approach he calls ‘primitive future’.

This philosophy translates into an exploration of the limits between indoors and outdoors and the natural and the artificial, creating spaces that invite a new experience of inhabiting it. Fujimoto’s residential projects in Japan, such as House N, House O and House T, as well as international projects such as the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London, illustrate this desire to blur spatial boundaries. His work is characterised by the use of simple materials, often only one per project, implemented in innovative ways to create complex and intriguing shapes. The balance between a defined program and the freedom of appropriation by the occupants is at the heart of his approach.

Fujimoto’s first major Tokyo retrospective takes over the Mori Art Museum from July 2 to November 9. The exhibition offers a comprehensive overview of the architect’s journey over the past quarter century, showcasing his achievements. Models, plans and documentary photographs sit alongside life-size models and installations, providing an immersive visual and spatial experience of the essence of his work. The exhibition highlights projects such as the Musashino Art University Museum & Library, the Arbre Blanc in Montpellier, France, the House of Music in Budapest, and – yes – the Expo site on Osaka’s Yumeshima.

Creator of the iconic Great Wave off Kanagawa – and more than 30,000 other works across a remarkable 90-year life – Katsushika Hokusai was known for his restless spirit (he moved 93 times) and ever-evolving identity (he used more than 30 artist names). And by the way, the ukiyo-e impresario’s prolific genius also laid the foundation for what we now recognise as manga and anime.

This autumn, ‘Hokusai’ at Creative Museum Tokyo offers an immersive journey into the artist’s seemingly boundless world. With over 300 pieces on display, including the complete Hokusai Manga (from the world-famous Uragami Collection), all three volumes of One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji, and a set of 16 newly discovered hand-painted works from his final years, the show promises unprecedented depth.

And as we’ve come to expect from this venue, the artworks on display will be accompanied by some certifiably contemporary exhibits. These include animated adaptations of Hokusai prints by top Japanese animators, highlighting how the visual storytelling of Edo’s greatest artist continues to resonate. Be sure to exit through the gift shop for a look at some 150 pieces of exclusive merch, including collaborations with Peanuts, Chums and Swiss Army knife maker Victorinox.

Marking 100 years since the dawn of the Showa era and 80 years since the end of World War II, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo looks back with ‘Opening Documents, Weaving Memories’, an exhibition that reflects on Japan’s turbulent mid-20th century. With 280 works on view, the display explores how art has served both as a record of history and as a medium for reconstructing memory across generations.

Spanning the 1930s to the 1970s, the exhibition unfolds across eight sections that probe the role of painting, photography and film during wartime and its aftermath. Visitors encounter powerful ‘War Record Paintings’, commissioned by the Imperial Japanese army and navy to document battles, alongside intimate portrayals of life on the home front. Works such as Ai-Mitsu’s Self-Portrait (1944) and Ken’Ichi Nakamura’s Kota Bharu (1942) highlight the complex intersections of personal expression and state narrative. Later sections trace the shifting visual language of memory, from depictions of wounded bodies in the 1950s to dialogues prompted by Vietnam War imagery in the 1970s.

By juxtaposing propaganda, personal visions and post-war reinterpretations, the exhibition invites audiences to consider how museums can act as repositories of collective memory. In doing so, it opens documents of the past while weaving them into living dialogues with the present and future.

Portuguese filmmaker Pedro Costa has long been recognised as one of contemporary cinema’s most uncompromising and visionary voices. Emerging in the 1980s, Costa quickly established a distinctive style defined by stark contrasts of light and shadow, rigorously composed frames, and an unflinching gaze at the margins of society.

His films, such as In Vanda’s Room (2000), which captured the daily struggles of Cape Verdean immigrants in Lisbon’s Fontainhas district, marry documentary intensity with painterly precision. Acclaimed internationally, Costa’s work has extended beyond the cinema screen to major exhibitions, including ‘Company’ (Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, 2018) and ‘The Song of Pedro Costa’ (Spain, 2022-23).

Celebrating its 30th anniversary, the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum presents Costa’s ‘Innervisions’ until December 7. Inspired by Stevie Wonder’s 1973 album of the same name, which profoundly influenced Costa’s youth, the exhibition reflects on the interplay between individual lives and wider social realities. The show introduces characters that play vital roles in the artist’s oeuvre, alongside the environments they inhabit, situating Costa’s cinema within its broader sociohistorical context.

Complementing the exhibition, the museum will host Carte Blanche, a film series curated by Costa, together with screenings of his own seminal works. Offering rare insight into the filmmaker’s creative universe, ‘Innervisions’ invites audiences to rediscover the power of cinema as both art and social critique.

Kanagawa-born, NYC-based Aki Sasamoto’s decompartmentalised artistic practice explores performance, sculpture, dance, and any other medium conducive to the expression of her ideas. At the intersection of visual and performing arts, her work involves collaborating with musicians, choreographers, scientists and academics, and she often takes on multiple roles: performer and sculptor, but also professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Sculpture at Yale University.

In her work, Sasamoto constantly reflects on the design and configuration of sculptures and devices that she uses as scores during improvised performances within immersive installations. As she describes it, her creative process is akin to fishing: she ‘casts a net and waits for a perfect alignment of events’, letting several elements float before grasping the connections by relating them to seemingly foreign references.

On from August 23 to November 24, ‘Aki Sasamoto’s Life Laboratory’ at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo explores the interplay between sculptural creation and performance that has characterised the artist’s work for two decades. From landmark early works to more recent creations that emphasise kinetic elements, the exhibition offers a comprehensive overview of Sasamoto’s journey and unique approach, where the boundaries between artistic disciplines blur in favour of captivating hybrid expression.

Anime fans are in for a thrilling mission this autumn as Spy x Family takes over Anime Tokyo Station until November 9. Celebrating the global phenomenon that has captivated audiences with its blend of action, comedy and heart, the exhibition offers an immersive journey into the lives of the Forgers (Loid, Yor and Anya) and their unforgettable escapades.

Visitors can relive iconic scenes from the hit series through scene panels and dynamic displays. Life-size character panels and themed photo spots invite guests to step directly into the world of Spy x Family, making the exhibition a must for fans eager to snap shots with their favourite characters.

A standout feature is the interactive AR experience, where you can uncover hidden character dialogues as you explore the exhibit space, adding a new layer of depth to the viewing experience.

Whether you’re a long-time fan or a newcomer to the series, this exhibition should deliver an engaging and stylish encounter with the intersection of espionage, family ties and comedy that Spy x Family so uniquely offers.