Tokyo events for Monday, November 4 to Sunday, November 10, 2024.
Illuminations are beginning to switch on as we get deeper into autumn.
In Asakusa, Shinjuku, Fuchu, and other shrines and temples around Tokyo, it’s the first Tori-no-Ichi Fair of the year. The festival is meant to bring good luck for the future and occurs from midnight to midnight with kumade (rakes decorated with gold and silver) sold by lively vendors.
Tokyo Art Week
Do you love contemporary art? Do you love free public transport? Well, Tokyo Art Week (AWT) has both. In collaboration with Art Basel and sponsored by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, AWT gives you the chance to hop on and off a bus for free, visiting more than 50 special exhibitions and venues all over Tokyo.
Snow Bank Pay It Forward: Tokyo Snow Festival
Practice your snowboarding skills and learn about the importance of bone marrow donations at this wintery event. In the event square at Yoyogi Park, snow will be trucked in and a slope with a rail down the middle for snowboarders constructed. The event has the dual purposes of increasing interest in snowboarding and raising awareness of becoming a bone marrow donor.
Sound & Chair
Sound & Chair ’24 mixes live music with a beer festival for the best of both worlds. And to complete the trifecta, you’ve got an ideal location — the riverside. Local musicians and DJs provide the music throughout the event, but if you make it on the weekend, also explore the small market with handmade products for sale.
Suginami Festa
The Suginami Festa is a large family-oriented community festival. There will be over 100 stalls selling food and crafts, including food and wares from Pakistan and Uzbekistan. Plus, there will also be entertainment from around the world, along with various games and sports to try out.
Cheese Festa
November 11 is Cheese Day in Japan. Conveniently timed to coincide, Cheese Festa is a two-day cheese-tasting festival taking place at Ebis303 in Ebisu. The festival will include a cheese recipe contest, “talk shows”, food and wine matching, and lots of cheese tasting with cheese producers from around the world.
Roppongi Hills Christmas Illumination
Each year, the 400 meters of Keyakizaka Street behind Roppongi Hills becomes one of the most popular couples’ strolling spots with brilliant blue LEDs decorating the trees and Tokyo Tower providing the perfect backdrop. There will be around 800,000 LED lights.
Tokyo Skytree Dream Christmas
The Sky Arena area will be lit up with warm lights. But that’s not all, there will be a Christmas market, projections, and performances throughout the event period. Throughout the whole event period, Tokyo Skytree will also feature Christmas-themed photo spots on the observation deck and the planetarium will also have a special display.
Ebisu Garden Place Illumination and Christmas Market
Featuring a 10-meter-tall Christmas tree, a giant crystal chandelier, and a whole load of lights, The Baccarat Eternal Lights at Yebisu (Ebisu) Garden Place is one of the fancier displays of the season. Borrowing inspiration from European Christmas markets, it will take over both squares at Yebisu Garden Place and feature mulled wine, hot chocolate, hearty meals, and trinkets.
Asakusa Tori-no-ichi Fair I
Tori-no-ichi is an annual traditional festival held at shrines and temples nationwide on three separate days (rooster days) in November to wish for good luck and prosperity in business. The festivity occurs from midnight to midnight with kumade (rakes decorated with gold and silver) sold by lively vendors in the shrine and temple compound.
Shinjuku Tori-no-ichi Fair I
The hustle and bustle of the Tori-no-Ichi fair in Shinjuku is hard to compare. Taiko drumming will signal the start of the event on November 4 just before midnight and the festivities will last for 24 hours.
Fuchu Tori-no-Ichi Fair I
Tori-no-Ichi Fair, or Festival of the Rooster, is held every November on the days of the rooster in the Chinese calendar. It happens around every 12 days, therefore twice or three times, depending on the year. It is said to have started as the autumn harvest festival, and it gradually changed to a festival wishing for prosperous business and good luck for next year.