Tokyo events for Monday, December 16 to Sunday, December 22, 2024.
The end of the year is fast approaching and that means Tokyo’s temples and shrines are unfolding their stalls and selling a number of good luck charms for 2025. This week is dedicated to hagoita, colorful ornamental bats.
Those with niche obsessions might find their way to Jump Festa or Vket Real Winter, and those with food on the brain may want to stop off at Yoyogi Park for their take on a Christmas market.
Vket (Virtual Market) Real Winter
Vket Real Winter celebrates Social VR, technology, gaming, and indie 3D content creators at a real-world venue in Ikebukuro. Saunter through the booths and try your hand at games and device demos in a welcoming environment.
Christmas Special Lunch with Iron Chef and Piano Performance
Wondering where to go for your Christmas meal? You can’t go wrong with a high-class experience featuring a celebrity chef and an accompanying piano performance. Chef Hiroyuki Sakai, the Iron Chef French from the popular cooking show Iron Chef, will prepare an exquisite feast.
| Advance sales: ¥66,000 | ||
Jump Festa
Jump Festa is one of Japan’s top pop culture events. The event introduces new manga, anime, films, games, and merchandise relating to titles and characters (think One Piece, Dragon Ball, Naruto, Slam Dunk, Bleach, and many more) that are featured in the line of Jump magazines.
Winter Solstice Festival
Traditionally, this time of year marks the plunge into the depths of winter, so to protect yourself from the cold weather, you can buy a mamori (charm) at Ana Hachinmangū Shrine and Hōjōji Temple. Additionally, there is a large winter market with stalls selling winter produce (such as yuzu citrus) as well as hot food to keep you warm.
Kasukabe Hagoita Market
The Hagoita Market features a form of art traditionally sold at this time of year and for which Kasukabe is famous. The origin of the Hagoita is as a paddle-like racket for playing a badminton-like game called Hanetsuki.
Furusato Tokyo Ouen Festival (Christmas Market)
Christmas comes to the Furusato Tokyo Ouen Festival (Shibuya Christmas). Held in the shadow of Shibuya Blue Cave Illumination, this market and music event is dedicated to supporting Japan’s hometowns (furusato) and offers a taste of the 47 prefectures.
Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Museum
Explore one of Japan’s most famous artistic styles at the Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Museum. Go beyond 2D art, and venture into the world of 3D ukiyo-e. For this special exhibition, the Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Museum takes things a step further and will use modern animations and 3D mapping to immerse visitors in the art.
| Advance sales: ¥2,700 | ||
| Advance sales: ¥1,200 | ||
| Advance sales: ¥1,900 | ||
| Advance sales: ¥2,500 | ||
Sensōji Temple Hagoita-Ichi Fair
Asakusa’s Sensōji — Tokyo’s oldest temple — holds a Hagoita-Ichi Festival every year’s end to sell the good luck charm hagoita, which are ornamental bats. The bats are usually decorated with kabuki actors but you may also find them decorated with TV personalities, sports stars, or even cartoon characters.
End of Year Festival at Nishiarai Daishi Temple
Adachi Ward’s Nishiarai Daishi temple will hold its Osame No Daishi end of year ‘closing’ festival to sell lucky items and food. The temple is one of three great temples of the Buzan branch of Shingon Buddhism in the Tokyo region.
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