Tokyo events for Monday, July 24 to Sunday, July 30, 2023.
This may be one of the most eventful weekends of the summer. You won’t be at a loss for things to do, and the toughest thing will be picking which ones to attend.
Which fireworks festival is on your radar? There will be displays in Asakusa, Hachiōji, Katsushika, and Tachikawa all this weekend. Dance? Shimbashi and Kagurazaka are the places to be. Check out the full list below.
Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival
This is the big daddy of summer fireworks festivals in Tokyo. The Sumida River Fireworks show kicks off at 7 p.m. and runs for a full 90 minutes. This festival attracts massive crowds. Check out our full guide to surviving the Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival.
Kagurazaka Festival
This is the biggest summer matsuri (festival) of the year in the trendy neighborhood of Kagurazaka. The second half of the festival (Fri-Sat) is an Awa Odori festival in which participants perform the fluid and graceful dance that originated in Tokushima Prefecture.
Fuji Rock Festival
Fuji Rock is the biggest music festival in the country, with between 100,000 and 150,000 people attending in normal years. Held in a stunning ski resort (Naeba Ski Resort) about a 90-minute train ride from Tokyo, it has been running since 1997 and the international crowd had been steadily increasing over the years.
Katsushika Fireworks Festival
Held for the first time since the pandemic, the annual Katsushika Noryo Fireworks Festival usually sees an impressive 13,000 fireworks go off and almost 800,000 spectators set to watch them. This year the number of fireworks has been increased to 20,000!
Chidorigafuchi Moat Lantern Floating Festival
Chidorigafuchi Moat is stunning during cherry blossoms season, but it also lights up for this annual lantern floating festival known as Tōrō Nagashi.
Shimbashi Koichi Festival
Summer is finally back in full swing and the Shimbashi Koichi Festival (or matsuri) returns for its 26th year. For two days, the area around Shimbashi Station becomes a mass of festival stalls, event stages, and of course, people.
Hachiōji Fireworks Festival
Approximately 3,000 fireworks will be launched at Hachiōji Shimin Kyūjō Ballpark, Fujimori Park. While the show is quite a small one, you can expect a good variety of explosions.
Taiwan Festa
The Taiwan Festa is an all encompassing festival with focus on “tourism, industry, entertainment, culture, and gastronomy”. The superstar of the event will be the gastronomy portion with an array of food stalls mimicking a Taiwanese night market — which is an excellent way to spend a warm, Tokyo summertime evening in Yoyogi Park.
Summer Wonder Festival
Figure collectors, this is the event for you! Known as the world’s biggest festival for figures (also known as “garage kits”), Wonder Festival Tokyo is a biannual (twice-a-year) event held at Halls 1-8 of Chiba’s Makuhari Messe. Typically, the winter event is held in February, while the summer event is held in July.
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Marunouchi Summer Festival
More than a thousand wind chimes and a splash of water define this matsuri (Japanese festival) right in front of Tokyo Station. The main things to see are the wind chimes lined up and the annual Marunouchi de Uchimizu, where water is thrown onto the sidewalks using traditional buckets to cool down the street
Ebisu Bon Odori Festival
One of central Tokyo’s biggest but least-known ‘Bon’ dance festivals. The area around the bus rotary on the west side of JR Ebisu Station is transformed into a giant yukata-clad dance circle around the lantern strewn yagura at the center.
Showa Kinen Park Fireworks Festival
The Tachikawa Showa Kinen Park Fireworks Festival will see 5,000 fireworks launched, making it a medium-sized festival by Tokyo standards.
Shinjuku Eisa Festival
Eisa is a traditional dance originating in the Okinawan islands. The traditional costumes, dancing, and drumming are quite different to what you’re likely to see in other festivals in Japan and you can get a taste of it without flying to the otherside of the country.
Nogi Shrine Summer Festival
Expect all the summer festival standards — yatai (food trucks), games, entertainment and lots of yukata-clad locals. Thankfully, the festival takes place during the relative cool of the late afternoon and early evening.
Roles for Initiative Comedy RPG
Roles for Initiative is a unique kind of comedy show, blending role-playing games with comedy acts. Enjoy the interactivity as the impromptu comedy stems from the dice rolls of the audience. Will your Nat 20 be the perfect joke to charm the guards and audience? Or will that 1 lead to boneheaded shenanigans? It’s all in the rolls!
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