Halloween may be a few weeks away, but that won’t stop Tokyoites from anticipatory celebrations.
Although there are more Halloween events next weekend, this one gets things started with the Bakeneko Parade. With bakeneko meaning “supernatural cat”, the only requirement to participate is to dress up like a cat—and you can make it as spooky or ghoulish (or kawaii it seems) as you wish. Disneyland and DisneySea also have Halloween celebrations all month long with multiple daily parades and appearances from the Disney villains.
Not quite ready for the spooky stuff? Not to worry, there’s plenty else to do this weekend in Tokyo:
Design Touch 2015 – This year’s theme is: “Design that connects: From children to adults”, making this event a great one to take kids to. The main interactive design installation is set up behind Tokyo Midtown where families can frolic and have fun, along with other events and exhibitions taking place over the weekend.
Fujisawa Enoshima Fireworks Festival – A mild autumn means you can enjoy a wondrous sunset followed by a display of fireworks from along the Enoshima beachfront on Saturday night. There will be thousands of other spectators, so—as always with big crowds—we recommend getting there a bit early to claim a good watch spot.
Tokyo Vegefood Festa – There will be 100 booths set up in Yoyogi Park serving up strictly vegan food. This is super-amazing-fantastic for vegans and vegetarians seeing as dietary-compliant food can be hard to come by in Japan. The festa is also great for meat-eating foodies wanting to try plant-based foods in all their diversity.
Koto Ward’s Citizen Festival — You’ll get to see feats of acrobatics at this event in Kiba Park. Performers will test their balance and agility on floating logs of wood—be impressed!
Indonesia Japan Friendship Festival – Another Yoyogi Park event, this one will feature Indonesian food, music and dance performances.
Kawagoe Festival – Known as the area’s liveliest, this festival will see floats carrying beautifully crafted dolls (and accompanied by orchestras) face off while the crowd cheers on.
Diwali in Yokohama – Celebrate the Indian “Festival of Lights” in Yamashita Park in Yokohama along with 200,000 others. Expect tasty Indian food, yoga, bollywood-style dancing, and tons of candle illuminations.
Thai Fair in Hikarigaoka – Much like the Indonesia Festival, this fair in Hikarigaoka Park offers up Thai food, music and a flea market.
Journey to the End of the Night – What’s essentially a game of tag, join the Journey to the End of the Night—a real-life Tokyo street race where you reach checkpoint goals, evade chasers and possibly win prizes.
