The best things to do in Tokyo this weekend

The Nihonbashi neighbourhood is once again celebrating sakura season with all things pink. As a yearly tradition in the neighbourhood, the first-floor plazas at Coredo Muromachi Terrace, Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower, and Coredo Muromachi 1, 2 & 3 are decked out with pink noren curtains. There are seven designs, each inspired by a different variety of cherry blossoms, like somei-yoshino, okame-zakura and kawazu-zakura. There are also a few events, including a pop-up parfait expo from March 18 and live music performances scheduled for the evenings of March 28 and March 29. 

Swing by for the Nihonbashi Sakura Yatai on March 28 and 29 and you'll find a host of food and drink stalls around Fukutoku Shrine, representing restaurants, department stores, hotels and other major businesses in Nihonbashi. You can also expect sakura-themed cocktails, bento boxes, pastries and course meals at about 200 venues in the neighbourhood. Check the list of participating outlets on the website.

Come evening, Nihonbashi’s Edo Sakuradori street will light up with pastel pink-coloured illuminations. On March 28 and 29, you’ll also find a night market beneath the trees, featuring food trucks selling festival grub and a cheerleading performance. While Edo Sakuradori arguably boasts the most stunning cherry blossoms, you can also catch illuminated sakura outside the Bank of Japan Head Office and at Coredo Muromachi 1, 2 and 3. Non-illuminated sakura trees can be found in front of several nearby office buildings as well, including Nihonbashi Honmachi Tokyu Building, Mitsukoshi, Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower and Coredo Muromachi Terrace, among others.

This cherry blossom festival, one of Tokyo's most popular, takes place along the 700m-long Chidorigafuchi Ryokudo promenade near the Imperial Palace, around which there are some 230 sakura trees. During the day, you can take a stroll along the Chidorigafuchi moat or even rent a rowboat to see the cherry blossoms from the water. By night, you can enjoy the pink flowers lit up with LEDs from March 26.

If you’re interested in viewing the cherry blossoms from the water, boat rentals (3 seats maximum) are available but require payment. A pre-reservation system is available to minimise wait times.

Advance online reservations cost ¥12,000 per boat and allow you to select your preferred date and time. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Chiyoda Ward Sakura Fund for the conservation of the Chidorigafuchi landscape. (change of date and time can be made until 8pm of the day before the desired date, availability permitting)

Same-day tickets purchased onsite at the Chidorigafuchi boat pier cost ¥3,000 per boat for one hour of use, which is inarguably the more affordable option. Be sure to get in line fast though, as tickets will be distributed from 9am daily and are sure to run out quickly. 

For those who can’t get a hold of tickets during the peak period between March 15 and March 31, shorter 30-minute rides are available for ¥1,000 from April 1.

For the sakura illuminations that start at sunset, expect lights out at 9pm. The boats, on the other hand, will be available from 9am to 7.30pm. 

The cherry blossoms are illuminated daily from March 26 to April 6, 2026.

Even among Tokyo's innumerable flower-viewing spots, Ueno Park stands out with its sheer scale and tasteful lantern decorations. Turned on at sunset, these beautiful lights help make Ueno's nighttime sakura a must-see spectacle.

This year, the 20-day event unfolds across three areas within the park, all centred on the theme of food. At Takenodai Square (also known as the Fountain Square), food trucks from all 47 prefectures across Japan will serve regional specialities and festival favourites. The park's South entrance area near Keisei Ueno Station will feature food stalls from local Ueno vendors, cooking up their best dishes in bento form. Meanwhile, the square overlooking Shinobazu Pond will showcase food trucks offering piping hot ramen bowls.

Note that the festival period may change depending on the cherry blossom blooming dates.

Light up daily from 5pm to 10pm.

The one-kilometre path along Sumida River from Azumabashi Bridge to Sakurabashi Bridge has over 340 Yoshino cherry trees, making it one of the most popular sakura attractions near Sensoji Temple. These trees were planted in the 18th century by order of the 8th shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune, so they carry extra historical significance. 

Come in the evening from March 20 to April 5 to see the blooming cherry blossoms light up from 6.30pm to 9pm daily. And on weekends when the sakura are in peak bloom – including March 28-29 and April 4-5 – you can expect a vibrant atmosphere, with plenty of street food stalls and games set up near Sakurabashi Bridge and Sumida Park Soyokaze Square.

From March 25 to April 5, you'll even find a ‘geisha’ teahouse hosted by the Mukojima Bokutei Association. Tea will be served at Sakurabashi Deck Square.

Check the event website for the latest details. 

As one of five long-standing flower festivals in Bunkyo ward, the cherry blossoms along Harimazaka Road have been celebrated annually by locals since 1971. Around 120 somei-yoshino trees line the street, along with a few rarer varieties of sakura. While you're there, pay a visit to the nearby Koishikawa Botanical Gardens, one of our top picks for the best places to see sakura in Tokyo.

Note: The road will be closed to traffic and turned into a pedestrian zone on March 28 and 29.

Nakameguro is one of Tokyo’s most popular sakura spots, with 800 cherry blossom trees lining the Meguro River that runs through the neighbourhood. This area is renowned for its cherry blossom trees, which create a canopy of pink over the water. You’ll find local restaurants and shops with stalls set up along the river, and the sakura trees lit up with pretty pink lanterns from 5pm to 8pm.

This part of Nakameguro gets very crowded, especially on weekends during peak bloom, so there will be some restrictions and traffic control in place to manage the crowds. Eating and drinking while walking is discouraged, as is putting down a sheet to have a picnic under the trees. If you want to find some quieter spots, head over early in the morning or try to move further down the river away from Nakameguro Station.

While the light-up runs every evening in late March (dates unannounced for 2026), the Nakameguro Sakura Festival is happening for one weekend only on March 28 and 29 at the Goryuten Playground on the south side of Nakameguro Station. On Sunday March 29, you'll be able to enjoy live events including a brass band performance (from 10am), hula dances (2.10pm), awa-odori dance troupes (4.10pm), and much more.

If you've missed the Nakameguro Sakura Festival and the light-ups, head South to Nakame Ohanami Park Festival for some delicious matsuri grub to enjoy under the cherry trees. Ten food trucks will gather at Meguro River Park daily from March 27 to April 5.

Celebrate spring's arrival at Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi, where the annual highlight is the illumination of the 200m avenue lined with cherry blossoms in the Garden Area. This spot is especially scenic between 5pm and 11pm during the spring festival when all of the trees are lit up. Before the cherry blossoms bloom, they're bathed in bright pink light. Once in full bloom, the lights shine a bright white, letting you admire the blossoms in all their splendour.

For an extra leisurely experience, grab a seat at the Roku Midtown Blossom Lounge (12pm-8pm) in Midtown Garden, where you’ll find exclusive spring-inspired cocktails and dishes prepared by chefs from the nearby Ritz-Carlton hotel.

Check the lounge menu here. 

The annual cherry blossom light-up at Roppongi Hills illuminates the sakura trees in the Mohri Garden and along the 400 metre-long Sakura-zaka slope behind Keyakizaka-dori street, providing the perfect opportunity for after-dark flower viewing. You can see four kinds of cherry blossoms here – somei-yoshino, maihime, yoko and yamazakura. The trees will be lit from 5pm to 10pm, starting around March 19, when the blossoms begin to bloom, and continuing through early April. Exact dates may vary depending on the blooming season.

The Takanawa Cherry Blossom Festival takes place in an expansive Japanese garden with around 210 cherry trees across 17 varieties. Starting with the early-blooming kawazu sakura in February, the garden offers a succession of blossoms to enjoy for nearly three months.

The cherry blossoms here are illuminated nightly from 4.30pm to midnight until April 19. During the festival, the garden paths are also lined with more than 400 ornate bamboo lanterns inspired by Takanawa Nijurokuya, an Edo-period moon-waiting ritual (1603–1868). It’s an especially scenic spot for capturing memorable sakura photos. Kimono rentals are also available.

While you're there, don't miss the exciting workshops at the Japanese garden, such as the cherry blossom bonsai crafting experience, Kyoto-style sweets-making class, outdoor morning yoga, and more. Special cherry blossom-viewing rooms and al-fresco breakfast sessions are also available for booking.

For more information on workshops and stay packages, check the event website.

Japan’s mountainous regions are renowned for their beautiful cloud formations known as unkai (‘sea of clouds’), which appear in the morning hours of spring and autumn. Now you can experience this scenic view at Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo, where the garden features its own misty sea of clouds against a backdrop of beautiful cherry blossoms. While entry to the garden is free, it's only open to guests who are shopping, dining or staying at the hotel.

This spring, the garden and its 20 species of cherry blossoms – 100 trees in total – will be illuminated with brilliant lights in the evening. Expect to see a special light show with unkai clouds every hour from 6.40pm, 7.40pm, 8.40pm and 9.40pm daily.

You can visit the garden day or night and see the sakura flowers for free. But for an extra indulgence, the hotel is offering numerous food and drink plans that can be enjoyed while looking out at the sea of clouds, including a Sakura Afternoon Tea at its third-floor restaurant, Le Jardin. The afternoon tea includes their original blend tea 'Le Jardin,' a pink cherry blossom cake, an assortment of scones and savoury hors d'oeuvre. It costs ¥7,500 per person (exclusive of a 15 percent service charge) and must be booked in advance via Tablecheck.

Here’s your chance to welcome the sakura season before the blossoms even come out this spring – at one of Tokyo’s tallest observatories to boot. Tokyo Skytree’s lower observation decks (at 340 and 350 metres above ground level) are getting a full cherry blossom makeover from February 26 to April 14, with plenty of photo spots and opportunities to take in the city’s breathtaking views framed by sakura.

As dusk falls, the flower decorations on floor 350 are accompanied by a majestic projection-mapping show using the observatory windows as a canvas. Each screening lasts three minutes and takes place at 7pm, 7.45pm and 8.30pm (7.10pm, 7.50pm and 8.35pm Mar 1-8; 7pm, 7.15pm, 7.50pm and 8.35pm Mar 9-31; and 7.30pm, 7.45pm, 8.20pm and 9pm from Apr 1 onwards).

If you’re looking for something to satiate your appetite, make a beeline to Skytree Cafe for their exclusive sweets and drinks menu. Along with alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks that are appropriately pink and sakura-flavoured, the café is offering plant-based vegan and gluten-free doughnuts. The matcha-coloured Sakura Mochi doughnut and sky-blue Sakura Sky Vanilla doughnut make a perfect pairing with the cherry-themed drinks. 

After your visit, don’t miss the special cherry blossom light-up which lights up the tower in vibrant pink and blue almost daily from February 26 to April 14.

Tickets can be purchased through the official website.

Tokyo Tower is collaborating with digital art collective Naked Inc for a stunning projection mapping display this spring. This event takes place on the main deck's second floor and features projections of animals like deers, rabbits and giraffes walking among a forest covered in spring wildflowers and cherry blossom trees in vibrant pink. You can also see a Sakura Candle Monument produced by Japanese artist Candle June, which will be lit up in front of the main deck windows.

It starts at 6pm from February 28 to March 22, 6.30pm from March 23 to April 26 and 6.45pm from April 27 to May 6. Tickets cost ¥1,500 (¥1,200 for high school students, ¥900 for children, ¥600 for younger children) and can be purchased online or at the venue.

Founded in 1988, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) with Wynton Marsalis tours the world performing a vast repertoire of music, from original compositions to arrangements of famous jazz pieces. Headed by trumpeter and music director Wynton Marsalis, the orchestra is heading to Japan for the first time in 20 years this March for three shows in Tokyo.

Based in New York City and composed of 15 members – all accomplished jazz soloists and ensemble players – JLCO spends around one third of the year touring the world and engaging in a range of musical activities. These include educational workshops aimed at sharing the joy of learning music, which Japanese students in Tokyo will also get to experience. This spring, immerse yourself in the world of jazz and experience the genre’s depth and charm.

Tickets can be purchased in English via Japanticket.

Shinjuku's Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo is bringing back its annual month-long Hinamatsuri (girl’s doll festival) event for February. By displaying beautifully dressed ceramic dolls resembling members of the ancient imperial court, families wish for their daughters’ health and happiness. The tradition of displaying these dolls at home, believed to date back to the Edo period (1603-1868), is on full display at the exhibit, which is set up along a stunning curtain wall of approximately 5,000 hand-sewn ornaments made from vintage kimono silk.

After marvelling at the graceful handmade dolls and silk ornaments, be sure to visit the folding screen (byobu) exhibition in the main lobby and 7th-floor restaurant corridor. Folding screens, which usually occupy the background in displays of Hina dolls, take centre stage here, featuring works by Kataoka Byobu, Tokyo’s only folding screen speciality store, as well as pieces by a selection of contemporary independent artists.

The month-long exhibition is accompanied by live koto performances (every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11am and 3pm in the main lobby), a market selling custom-made handpainted tabletop byobu (February 3, 19, March 3, 17 and 31 at the main lobby; prices start from ¥10,000) a live byobu painting performance (March 10 at 3pm, South Wing 2nd-floor space), and a karakuri trick-art craft workshop (February 12 and March 12 at 2pm and 4pm, with an additional 11am session on March 12; ¥4,400 per participant, first come, first served; main lobby).

If you’re looking for the most OTT cherry blossom illumination in Tokyo, this is it. To celebrate the coming of spring, Yomiuri Land has commissioned veteran lighting designer Motoko Ishii for a spectacular light show that will dazzle even the most ardent illumination sceptic.

Highlights include the Sakura Promenade, where all the cherry blossoms along a 180-metre-long path will shine with electric pink LED lights. There are around 800 cherry blossom trees in the park. For the best bird's-eye view of these seasonal trees, catch a ride on the high-speed Bandit roller coaster, or hop on the Sky Shuttle gondola.

Having spent over four decades redefining the relationship between art, technology and desire, Hajime Sorayama is one of Japan’s most celebrated contemporary artists. Noted for his iconic Sexy Robot series and his pioneering fusion of human sensuality and mechanical precision, Sorayama’s work has influenced generations of creators across art, design and popular culture – from RoboCop to Dior. His visionary approach, uniting the sensual with the synthetic, has earned him international acclaim and a lasting place in the subcultural art canon.

Opening this spring at the Creative Museum Tokyo, ‘Sorayama: Light, Reflection, Transparency -Tokyo-’ marks the artist’s largest retrospective in Japan to date, following its acclaimed debut in Shanghai. The exhibition traces Sorayama’s artistic evolution from his first robot painting in 1978 to his latest digital and sculptural works. Visitors will encounter highlights such as the original Aibo robot design for Sony, the artwork for Aerosmith’s Just Push Play album, and an immersive installation that embodies Sorayama’s lifelong pursuit of capturing light, air and reflections.

By blending futuristic imagination with classical mastery, Sorayama invites viewers to contemplate a world where human emotion and machine form merge in radiant harmony.

Picking out some special treats from its plentiful permanent collection to celebrate the onset of spring, the National Museum of Modern Art displays sakura-themed art from March 13 to April 12. You’ll get to see Kawai Gyokudo’s folding-screen masterpiece Parting Spring and classics such as Hobun Kikuchi’s Fine Rain on Mt Yoshino at this seasonal exhibition. A visit here is best combined with cherry blossom-viewing at the nearby Imperial Palace, the Chidorigafuchi promenade and Kitanomaru Park. Make sure to stop by the museum shop on the first floor to pick up some seasonal trinkets decorated with floral motifs.

Special tours in English are also offered for free on March 19, 25-26, April 1-2 and 9, showcasing several spring-themed works. Reservations are not required.

The exhibition is closed on Mondays (except March 30).

Celebrating three decades of Ghost in the Shell, one of Japan’s most influential sci-fi franchises, this large-scale exhibition takes over Tokyo Node at Toranomon Hills from January 30 to April 5. The ambitious showcase traces the evolution of the series from Masamune Shirow’s ground-breaking 1989 manga to its acclaimed anime adaptations and, with a new 2026 series from Science Saru on the horizon, into the future.

Organised with the full cooperation of Production IG, the studio behind the franchise’s animation, the exhibition brings together works by directors Mamoru Oshii, Kenji Kamiyama, Kazuya Kise and Shinji Aramaki, offering visitors an unprecedented deep dive into the cyberpunk universe that redefined anime.

Over 600 production materials are on display, including original drawings, storyboards and concept art. You can also look forward to immersive installations and interactive exhibits that explore key philosophical themes from the series such as identity, consciousness and the boundaries between human and machine.

Further highlights include new contributions by international artists, exclusive interview footage, and the ‘DIG-ru’ installation, which invites visitors to ‘digitally excavate’ the world of Ghost in the Shell. And of course, you get to shop for plenty of only-here merchandise at the gift shop.

This winter, the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo presents a landmark exhibition tracing the evolution of Japan’s landscape printmaking from the twilight of the Edo period (mid-1800s) to the dawn of modernity.

At the heart of the survey stands Kiyochika Kobayashi (1847–1915), often called ‘the last ukiyo-e artist’. Published from 1876, his Tokyo Famous Places series transformed the traditional woodblock print aesthetic by infusing it with Western notions of light and shadow. Through his ‘light ray paintings’, Kiyochika, as he was known, captured the melancholic beauty of a city in transition, the lingering spirit of Edo illuminated by the glow of modernisation.

His vision, steeped in nostalgia yet alive with innovation, profoundly influenced the shin-hanga (‘new prints’) movement that emerged in the early 20th century under artists such as Hiroshi Yoshida and Hasui Kawase. These successors revived ukiyo-e craftsmanship while reimagining Japan’s landscapes for a new era.

Drawn from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art, ‘From Kiyochika to Hasui’ reunites these masterpieces with their homeland, illuminating how light, both literal and emotional, guided Japan’s printmaking into the modern age.

Donald Judd was one of the most decisive figures of twentieth-century art; an artist whose rigorous thinking reshaped the conditions under which art is made and experienced. Emerging from painting in the early 1960s, Judd developed three-dimensional works that rejected illusion and hierarchy, insisting instead on clarity, material presence and spatial integrity.

Beyond form, he was equally concerned with context: how, where and for how long a work should exist. His writings, architectural projects and advocacy for permanent installations reveal an artist for whom art could never be separated from its environment.

The Watari-Um’s ‘Judd | Marfa’ traces its protagonist’s radical vision through the lens of his life and work in Marfa, Texas. After leaving New York in the 1970s, Judd transformed former military and industrial buildings in the remote desert town into sites for the permanent installation of his own work and that of artists including Dan Flavin and John Chamberlain. These spaces, later formalised through the Chinati Foundation, remain preserved as Judd intended.

The exhibition brings together early paintings from the 1950s, key three-dimensional works from the 1960s to the 1990s, and extensive archival materials (drawings, plans, videos and documents) that illuminate Judd’s conception of Marfa as a total environment for art, architecture and living.

A special section revisits The Sculpture of Donald Judd (1978), organised by museum founder Shizuko Watari, underscoring the museum’s long-standing engagement with Judd’s legacy. Together, these materials articulate Judd’s enduring conviction that the installation of art is inseparable from its meaning.

Feeling a bit out of luck recently? Good fortune is on its way – in the form of this pop-up museum, happening for two days on March 20 and 21. Taking place at Orinami Asakusa, Japan’s first workshop for hand-weaving omamori charms, the museum brings together an impressive variety of lucky talismans from various countries and cultures, in addition to spotlighting customs thought to bring great fortune. The eclectic selection includes rolling pineapples, toilet deities and Draco Malfoy – an unlikely mascot of good fortune in China to kickstart the year of the Fire Horse. Make your own luck by learning more about lucky charms and customs from different countries and cultures this spring.

The event is free to enter, but donations are welcome.

Shigeru Onishi (1928–1994) occupies a singular position in postwar Japanese art. Born in Okayama prefecture and trained as a mathematician, he pursued advanced research in topology at Hokkaido University while developing an intensely personal artistic practice. Moving freely between mathematics, photography and painting, Onishi sought visual forms capable of expressing abstract concepts such as ‘superinfinity’. Largely indifferent to fame or artistic movements, he devoted his life to what he described as ‘seeking the way’, producing a body of work that would only be fully recognised decades later.

The Tokyo Station Gallery’s ‘Onishi Shigeru: Photography and Painting’ is the first major retrospective of the artist ever held in Japan. Bringing together carefully selected works from the more than 1,000 photographs and paintings Onishi produced, the exhibition reveals the full scope of a practice that defies categorisation.

Onishi’s experimental photographs, created through multiple exposures, solarisation and chemically altered development, stood apart from the realist and journalistic norms of their time, aligning instead with the rise of subjectivist photography in Europe and Japan.

Equally striking are his ink paintings from the 1950s, whose turbulent, wave-like lines embody the spirit of Art Informel while asserting a powerful individuality. Supplemented by manuscripts and materials from his mathematical research, the exhibition offers a remarkable portrait of an artist who fused rigorous intellect with overwhelming visual force.

Sol LeWitt (1928–2007) is counted among the most influential figures in postwar American art. Emerging in the 1960s amid the rise of minimalism and conceptual art, LeWitt replaced the emotional expressionism of earlier generations with a rigorous focus on systems, structures and ideas. His works, from modular ‘structures’ based on cubes to his celebrated Wall Drawings, transformed how art could be made, perceived and even authored. As he famously wrote in his 1967 essay Paragraphs on Conceptual Art, ‘The idea becomes a machine that makes the art.’

‘Open Structure’ is the first major public museum survey of the artist’s work in Japan. Spanning wall drawings, sculptures, works on paper and artist’s books, the exhibition traces LeWitt’s lifelong pursuit of an art of pure thought and open form. Six wall drawings, realised by local teams following LeWitt’s own detailed instructions, invite viewers to experience his radical redefinition of authorship and collaboration.

Highlighting LeWitt’s ‘open structures’, the exhibition reveals how his skeletal cubic forms, stripped of surface and solidity, expose the underlying architecture of thought. The artist’s enduring influence lies in his conviction that ‘ideas cannot be owned; they belong to whoever understands them’.

Roe Ethridge is one of the most influential photographers of his generation, celebrated for a practice that fluidly moves between fine art and commercial imagery. Born in Miami in 1969 and based in New York, Ethridge has developed a distinctive visual language by repurposing techniques from fashion and advertising photography into the realm of contemporary art. His photographs, often still lifes or seemingly mundane subjects, create subtle tensions between reality and fiction, familiarity and estrangement. Collected by major institutions including MoMA, Tate Modern and the Guggenheim, his work consistently reveals how images construct meaning in both personal and cultural contexts.

‘Chanel History Collection by Roe Ethridge’ is an exhibition unveiling a body of work commissioned for Chanel Arts & Culture Magazine, launched in 2025. For this project, Ethridge was granted rare access to the House of Chanel’s Patrimoine archives and to Gabrielle Chanel’s preserved apartment at 31 rue Cambon in Paris. There he photographed objects that shaped Chanel’s artistic universe: a sculpted bust by Jacques Lipchitz, manuscripts by Pierre Reverdy, works linked to Salvador Dalí and Pablo Picasso, and even an ancient Egyptian funerary mask.

Reimagined through Ethridge’s lens and combined with contemporary props in his Paris studio, these images breathe new life into Chanel’s legacy as a visionary designer and patron of the avant-garde. The exhibition encourages dialogue between past and present, extending Chanel’s century-long commitment to artistic creation through the eyes of a photographer who thrives on reinvention.