Tokyo events for Monday, March 13 to Sunday, March 19, 2023.
The weather is warming up and that means cherry blossom season is nearly here with the first bloom predicted for March 16 this week.
Check out our latest sakura forecast for the dates. You’ll soon find out from our events that a lot of this year’s festivals are announcing their dates to coincide.
Shibuya–Omotesandō Women’s Run 2023
For only one day a year, Meiji Jingu Shrine opens its doors for an important 10 km race: the Shibuya–Omotesandō Women’s Run. Whether you’ve come to cheer or to participate, there will be an inspiring atmosphere. The route is quite hilly and starts at the Yoyogi Park Amphitheater at 9 a.m. before hitting important Shibuya landmarks, such as Omotesandō Avenue, Meiji Shrine, and Yoyogi Park.
Cherry Blossoms at teamLab Planets Tokyo
While most of the usual exhibitions will remain the same, for a limited time only, you can sit under raining sakura in “Floating in the Falling Universe of Flowers” and wade through cherry blossom petals in “Infinity”.
Oyama Tofu Festival
The Oyama Tofu Festival’s highlights include a Wanko Tofu speed eating contest and a giant pot, 4 meters in diameter, where you can see (and eat, obviously) the tofu made inside – note this tends to happen quite early. There will also be plenty of tofu discounts around, so keep your eyes peeled.
Golden Dragon Dance
Many Japanese and tourists alike visit Sensoji Temple every year. But the Kinryu no Mai (golden dragon dance) is a special performance to enjoy if you can make it there on March 18th. On March 18 in the year 628, two fisherman brothers casually fished a Buddhist statue out of the Sumida River. The village chief used this statue, which turned out to be one of the Bodhisattva Kannon, to found Sensoji Temple. Why the dragon? Because Kannon took the form of a golden dragon when descending from Heaven.
Cherry blossom festivals
As mentioned, for 2023, the first cherry blossom bloom is on March 16, so head to these cherry blossom festivals and start celebrating.
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