Free things to do in Tokyo this week

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government No 1 Building in Shinjuku serves as the backdrop for a jaw-dropping and record-breaking projection mapping show. Covering an area of a whopping 13,905sqm, the after-dark spectacle has been certified by Guinness World Records as the largest permanent display of its kind in the world. The nightly showcase features a range of visual wonders created by a mix of local and international artists. Some shows are inspired by Tokyo’s rich history, while others draw on themes like the lunar cycle.  Currently, on weeknights, you can catch striking visuals synchronised to ‘800’ and 'Zankyosanka' by hit Japanese pop singer and lyricist Aimer as well as ‘Pac-Man eats Tokyo’, ‘Lunar Cycle’, ‘Synergy’, ‘Tokyo Resonance’ and ‘Evolution’. On weekends, you can look forward to the aforementioned ‘Zankyosanka (Aimer)’, as well as ‘Godzilla: Attack on Tokyo’ and ‘TYO337’, a display featuring motifs of traditional Japanese performing arts such as Kabuki paired with electronic beats.  From March 20, Pokémon Trading Card Game ‘Tokyo Luminous Night’, a brand-new projection-mapping show featuring Pokémon cards on a massive scale, has been running on weekends and holidays from 6.30pm, 7.30pm and 9pm. Be sure to check the event website for more details. Shows take place every night at fifteen-minute intervals from 6pm (Mar from 6.30pm, 7pm from Apr, 7.30pm from May to Aug) to 9.45pm. For more details and to check the full programme of daily projection mapping shows,...

One of the most popular street dance festivals in Tokyo, Koenji's Awa Odori is returning this summer in full swing. This year, the celebration will feature over 150 Awa Odori dance groups parading around Koenji Station’s Pal shopping arcade, Koenji Junjo Shotengai shopping street and Konan street over the August 29-30 weekend. The tradition of Awa Odori can be traced back to Tokushima, in the Shikoku region. Legend has it that the local daimyo plied his citizens with booze to celebrate the completion of the local castle in 1586, leading to a citywide outbreak of dancing in the streets. Whatever the accuracy of that tale, the enthusiasm was contagious, and Koenji has been holding a street dance fest of its own since 1957. While the action starts at 5pm for both days, you'll need to arrive much earlier if you want to snag one of the best viewing spots along the three streets mentioned above. Check the official website for more details.

Late August is always a good time for dancing in the streets, with many major festivals happening around this time of year. The Yosakoi dance originated in Kochi prefecture in 1954, where it was created to help revitalise the struggling post-war economy. Tokyo's very own Super Yosakoi festival, however, while relatively new, has been going on for over two decades now. This massive event sees about 110 teams of brightly attired dancers from across Japan and around the world, trying to outdo each other as they strut their stuff to the rhythm of the naruko – a type of clapper that the people of Kochi originally used to scare birds away from the fields. The dance performances take place at various locations within the Harajuku/Shibuya area. But if you only see one thing, make sure it’s the massive parade along the tree-lined Omotesando avenue on Sunday, August 30 from 11.10am to 4.15pm. Stage performances and a yatai food fair serving up Kochi prefecture delicacies will also be held at Yoyogi Park Event Square on Saturday and Sunday from 10am. What's more, the tree-lined boulevard between the NHK Hall and the Yoyogi National Gymnasium is hosting a smaller yosakoi dance procession, around the same time. At the Yoyogi Park Be Stage venue, you can enjoy Yosakoi performances from 11.30am on Saturday and 11am on Sunday. For the latest information, check the event website.

Following a successful inaugural festival in 2025, Nakameguro’s very own Bon Odori dance bash returns this summer to the riverside Meguro River Park on August 29 and 30. This late-season Bon Odori festival has been beefed up for 2026, with food trucks serving up familiar festival grub like yakisoba, apple candy and kebabs from 1pm. The children’s festival stall area is also back this year (from 4pm), with yo-yo fishing and shateki shooting games available for ¥200. Bon odori dance sessions, featuring live singing from the yagura turret stage, will run on both days from 5.30pm to 9pm. If you’re feeling rusty, public practice sessions are offered, so even first-timers can join the dance circle on the day of the event. The last session will take place on August 26 at Shokakuji Jisso Kaikan from 7pm.

After collaborating with JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure creator Hirohiko Araki in early 2025, Yebisu Beer and Ai Yazawa reunite this summer for a second collaboration. The project centres on new illustrations that reinterpret Yebisu Beer’s historic bijin-ga advertisements – early 20th-century beer posters featuring elegant portraits of women. Yazawa presents two new bijin-ga works reimagined through a contemporary lens and themed around summer evening festivals. The pieces will be exhibited at Yebisu Brewery Tokyo from July 8 to August 31. Visitors can also look forward to limited-edition merchandise featuring her artwork, including T-shirts, notebooks, fans and more.

The UNU farmers’ market is one of Tokyo’s longest running and best-attended markets. Taking place every weekend in front of the university’s Aoyama headquarters, this one always attracts a knowledgeable crowd. Organic and local fare is readily available every Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 4pm, with the farmers themselves happy to provide details about their wares. Plus, there's always a few food trucks on hand if you wish to enjoy a quick meal.

Approximately 14 teams of elaborately attired dancers flood the streets of Asakusa for Japan's largest samba carnival. Now in its 41st year, these exuberant dance teams are largely from the Greater Tokyo region, and they will be shaking their tail feathers to the Brazilian beat as they parade along Umamichi-dori in front of Tobu Asakusa Station and Kaminarimon-dori in front of Sensoji Temple's iconic red lantern. First held in 1981 in an attempt to revitalise the neighbourhood, the Asakusa Samba Festival is now one of Tokyo's more popular late-summer events. Every year, it attracts half a million spectators.  The carnival begins at 1pm, with the parade beginning near Sensoji's Nitenmon Gate. Do note that selfie sticks, chairs, and tripods are not allowed in the spectator areas along the side of the road. You can check out the detailed map for the parade route here and read up on the participating teams here.

Dafi Kühne works at the intersection of graphic design, craftsmanship and mechanical performance. At a moment when digital production and AI-generated imagery increasingly dominate visual culture, the Swiss designer has devoted himself to the tactile rigor of letterpress printing, transforming a centuries-old technique into a radically contemporary form of expression. This summer, Ginza Graphic Gallery showcases his distinctive process with ‘Dafi Kühne: Constructing Posters’, on view from July 14 to August 26. Far from nostalgic revivalism, Kühne’s practice pushes analogue printing into unexpected territory. Working from his studio in the Swiss Alps, he operates nearly forty tons of presses, metal type, woodblocks and custom-built tools to produce monumental posters by hand. His works often reach the scale of Swiss street posters, demanding an intense physical engagement with the machinery itself. Combining traditional techniques with self-engineered modifications and digital experimentation, Kühne treats printing not simply as reproduction, but as a performative and sculptural act. The exhibition traces this intricate process from conception to finished object. Alongside completed posters, visitors encounter printing blocks, typographic elements, handmade linocuts and material fragments that reveal the labour embedded within each image. The result is a meditation on the enduring expressive power of the human hand in an increasingly immaterial age, and an immersive...

Head straight to Rinko Park in Yokohama’s Minatomirai area for this annual Bon Odori festival by the sea. Festivities begin at 4.30pm, with special stage performances scheduled for both days. If you're feeling peckish, you’ll also find food trucks selling all kinds of festival grub from the area. The food area is further expanded this year, with a food court area where visitors can take a break from bon odori dancing and enjoy matsuri cuisine.The program is yet to be announced. Check the event website for more details.

Born in Kolkata in 1963 and now based in New York, Rina Banerjee has established herself as a singular voice in the global contemporary art scene. Drawing from her experience of migration and diasporic identity, Banerjee creates intricate, richly layered sculptures and installations out of everyday materials like cotton threads, feathers, shells and glass chandeliers. Her practice, informed by both engineering training and fine art education at Yale, navigates the intersections of postcolonial history, feminism and global exchange, often infusing critical perspectives with a subtle, disarming sense of humour. ‘You made me leave home…’ at Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo is an exhibition of 19 works drawn from the collection of the Fondation Louis Vuitton. Organised as part of the foundation’s ‘Hors-les-murs’ programme, which brings major artworks to venues around the world, the exhibition marks both the 20th anniversary of the Espace Louis Vuitton and a decade of the ‘Hors-les-murs’ initiative. Spanning installation, sculpture and painting, the exhibition foregrounds Banerjee’s ongoing exploration of migration, colonial legacies and the circulation of people and objects. At its core is the monumental installation In an unnatural storm… (2008), presented publicly for the first time by the Fondation. Suspended from the ceiling in a cascading constellation of forms, the work evokes both the wonder and instability of global journeys, drawing inspiration from Jules Verne’s Around the...