The best things to do in Tokyo this weekend

Taking place at Otori Shrine inside the Okunitama shrine complex, this festival is one of the three most important Tori no Ichi festivals in Tokyo (the other two being Asakusa and Shinjuku's Hanazono). Worshippers and visitors crowd the area in Fuchu throughout the three days, shopping for kumade rakes and praying for good fortune and success for the coming year.

The event takes place from 6.30am to 10pm on all three days.

The Tori no Ichi festival at Hanazono Shrine is one of the biggest in the Kanto region. It’s held on three days on November 5, 17 and 29 with some smaller 'warm-up' festivals taking place the night before the main events.

For the occasion, the grounds are decorated with 950 LED lanterns towering over the shrine buildings. On the grounds, you will find stalls selling decorative kumade bamboo rakes, plus plenty of other vendors offering food and festival knick knacks.

The event takes place from 10am to 11pm on all three days, the smaller pre-festivals take place on the day prior to the main event, from the evening until 11pm.

Tori no Ichi is said to have originated at Asakusa's Otori Shrine and the nearby Juzaisan Chokokuji temple, so you can expect a major spectacle here. This is the biggest Tori no Ichi festival in Tokyo with 800 to 900 booths selling kumade, souvenirs and plenty of food.

The event attracts 700,000 visitors every year and gets very crowded in the evening, so go during the day if you have the chance and snack on some old-school kiri-zansho candy.

The festival is held for 24 hours on November 5, 17 and 29, starting with the first taiko drum sound at 12 midnight.

Suit up in your cheeriest Santa outfit for a fun holiday run (or walk) at Tokyo’s Santa Run, a charity event popular worldwide during this year-end season. The ticket includes your Santa get-up while a portion of the proceeds go to hospitalised children in Japan and children fighting poverty overseas.

The run takes you on a 2.5km loop from Yoyogi Park through Meiji Dori and the Jingumae Intersection before ending back at the park. After the run, you can reward yourself with food, drinks and activities at Yoyogi Park's Fiesta de España, which is happening at the same time.

Keep an eye out for Rilakkuma, as he'll make an appearance at the event dressed up as Santa. Ready, get set and ho ho ho. 

Event start times are subject to change. Check the event website for the latest details.

Established in 2013 to celebrate 400 years of relations between Spain and Japan, this vibrant and scrumptious food fest takes place at Yoyogi Park. Having attracted approximately 80,000 visitors last year, this popular fiesta is anticipated to feature an expanded program of live performances this year. There are about 35 food and drink stalls, complemented by about 20 booths selling various Iberian goods and crafts. 

This is the time to sample a wide variety of Spanish delicacies, from the world-famous paella to tapas and more. Spanish beer is, of course, a must, and there are flamenco performances to entertain the crowds on both days this year.

This is one of the most popular spots in the whole of Tokyo for autumn leaves. Stretching for 4km from Hachioji's Oiwakecho to the foot of Mt Takao, this road is flanked by over 700 ginkgo trees (known as icho in Japanese), and they look simply splendid at this time of year.

The autumn colours provide an excuse for all kinds of activities at the annual Hachioji Ginkgo Festival on November 16 and 17, which is returning for its 45th edition this year. There will be a classic car parade, yosakoi dance and wadaiko drum performances, a stamp rally and more. The abundance of kid-friendly attractions make it a good option if you're looking for something to do with the family, and naturally there will be plenty of food stalls to keep everybody well sated.

The festival starts at 9am and ends at 4.30pm on Saturday and 4pm on Sunday.

With its relaxed pace, leafy suburbs and Showa-era streets, Katsushika City certainly has charm. But, perhaps due to its location on the outskirts of Tokyo, it is not one of the more well-known districts in the metropolis. The Katsushika Food Festa is determined to change this, drawing crowds each year to its annual eating extravaganza. This year will see 36 stalls selling delicious festival grub from all over the world, so it’s well worth the trip east of the Arakawa River.

The 9th edition of the Kakuuchi Festival is set to be another boozy affair. ‘Kakuuchi’ refers to the bar that’s inside a liquor store and this festival celebrates the kakuuchi culture by replicating the drinking style. Here, small bars serving up a selection of sake, shochu and wine will be attached to their respective liquor store booth. Additionally, there will be around 30 food stalls cooking up sweet and savoury dishes to pair with your drinks.

Admission is ¥500 and it comes with a sake tasting experience. However, if you're looking to sample a variety of alcohol, get a drink set, as it includes a tasting glass if purchased in advance online plus 11 tickets for redeeming drinks. Be sure to purchase this in advance on the event website for ¥3,500 if you want a free glass to keep as a souvenir.

Watch a selection of short films from around the world at this fantastic outdoor theatre in Shinagawa, where a total of 34 works will be projected on three screens. Before each screening, there will be live performances from artists such as Daiho Soga, Sauce81 and more.

Food trucks are on-site, serving craft beers as well as snacks including gluten-free hot dogs and beef curry. Of course, as it's approaching winter, the illuminations are now on to light up the walkways at night.

The 400m-long Keyakizaka Street next to the Roppongi Hills shopping centre is lighting up with 800,000 sparkling white and blue LEDs until Christmas Day. From the pedestrian bridge near the Roppongi Hills Arena, you'll get a stunning view of the trees covered in shimmering lights, with Tokyo Tower in the background, from 5pm to 11pm daily. 

Showa Kinen Park is the most beautiful in autumn, with the maple and ginkgo trees blushing in fiery red and yellow respectively. The ginkgo trees are the first to turn and you can see two boulevards of the golden yellow trees as soon as you enter the park’s Tachikawa gate. These trees are expected to turn full yellow in mid-November. The momiji and kaede trees, however, present their signature vermillion hues a bit later towards the end of November.

During this season, the park stays open after dark, with special light-ups taking place at the Gingko Tree Avenue (near the futsal and basketball courts) and the traditional Japanese Garden from 4.30pm until 8.30pm.

While you can enjoy the light-ups at Gingko Tree Avenue with just the park's regular admission fee (¥450, free for junior high school students and younger), you need an extra ticket to enter the Japanese Garden (advance ticket online ¥1,200, primary and junior high school students ¥600; same-day tickets sold at Komorebi House close to the Japanese Garden ¥1,300, ¥700).

Tickets to enter the Japanese Garden are now available to purchase online.

Note that the main entrance for this year's event is the Nishi-Tachikawa gate, a 2-minute walk away from Nishi-Tachikawa Station on the Ome Line. 

Among the illustrated characters that emerged in Japan across the second half of the 20th century, and continue to capture hearts both at home and across the globe, none represents the phenomenon better than Hello Kitty. With a half-century now having passed since the cartoon feline was introduced by the Sanrio company, this major exhibition looks at how Kitty-chan’s design has evolved over decades of cultural change: without ever losing that innate charm that has endeared her to generation after generation.

The largest collection of Hello Kitty goods ever amassed in one place, as well as video content and other media, gradually reveals the secrets to this character’s appeal: how besides keeping pace with the times while simultaneously transcending them, Hello Kitty can mirror the day-to-day moods of each and every fan. Highlights include collaboration pieces created with well-known artists and designers, and a series of immersive photo spots featuring not only Kitty-chan but also other faces from the Sanrio stable, including My Melody and Cinnamoroll.

The 400m-long Keyakizaka Street next to the Roppongi Hills shopping centre is lighting up with 800,000 sparkling white and blue LEDs until Christmas Day. From the pedestrian bridge near the Roppongi Hills Arena, you'll get a stunning view of the trees covered in shimmering lights, with Tokyo Tower in the background, from 5pm to 11pm daily. 

French-born artist Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010) has long loomed large over Roppongi Hills: her outdoor sculpture of a gigantic spider, named ‘Maman’, is a local landmark. The sprawling development’s Mori Art Museum, then, is a fitting venue for this major retrospective of one of the most important artists of the past century. As explored by Bourgeois’ first large-scale Japanese solo exhibition in over 25 years, fear was an ongoing motivation over her seven-decade career.

This fear, however, was not the arachnophobia that one might suppose, given the formidable ‘Maman’. Rather, Bourgeois’ work was driven in part by fear of abandonment; something rooted in her complex and sometimes traumatic childhood. Through her famed oversized sculptures, installations, drawings, paintings and other mediums, she confronted painful personal memories while simultaneously channelling them into work that expresses universal emotions and psychological states.

Across three exhibition ‘chapters’ that each explore a different aspect of family relationships, highlights include the ‘Femme Maison’ series of paintings from the 1940s. These works, which decades later were championed by the feminist movement, each depict a female figure whose top half is obscured by a house which protects yet imprisons her.

Bourgeois’ extensive use of the spider motif, meanwhile, is examined in depth. As hinted at by the landmark ‘Maman’ (the French equivalent of ‘mummy’), for Bourgeois the spider was symbolic of the mother figure who heals wounds just as a spider repairs the threads of its web. The artist's use of this powerful symbol is traced from a small 1947 drawing through to the giant Roppongi arachnid and its 'sister' sculptures located in several cities worldwide.

The exhibition is open until 11pm on September 27 and 28, until 5pm on October 23, and until 10pm on December 24 and 31.

The shining full moon looms large in both the autumn night sky and Japanese cultural tradition that is so deeply rooted in nature. This event, at one of Japan’s most lavishly decorated hotels, brings together these two elements and mixes in a third element of contemporary art, in an aesthetic celebration of a natural phenomenon that has enchanted humanity for millennia.

From traditional moon-viewing season in early October, multiple rooms and spaces around the hotel’s Hyakudan Kaidan (‘The Hundred Stairs’, a designated tangible cultural property that spans seven storeys) host lunar-centric artworks ranging from Edo-period (1603-1868) woodblock prints to stunning, hi-tech projection-mapping installations.

Highlights include 20 prints by artist Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, who is considered the last great master of ukiyo-e (woodblock print) painting and printmaking, and a selection of works by contemporary artists, in which the moon was rendered using a wide variety of techniques including glass and Japanese washi paper.

Across the ornate interiors of seven rooms, meanwhile, projection mapping helps conjure up a two-metre-wide full moon that shines above a series of installations inspired by ukiyo-e depictions of moonlit autumnal scenes.

The exhibition is open daily, but closed on Tuesday November 5.

Mt Takao is one of the most picturesque destinations in Tokyo to see autumn leaves. And one of the best ways to do that is by taking the scenic cable car ride, which brings you closer to the mountain’s Yakuoin temple. Here you can sample shojin ryori, a traditional Japanese Buddhist vegetarian meal.

Throughout the duration of the festival, you can also look forward to a host of free events at Kiyotaki Station, the cable car stop at the base of Mt Takao, including musical and dance performances by local university students. Check the website for the schedule.

As it’s the case every year, the base of Mt Takao will be crowded in autumn, so it’s best to arrive via public transport.

If you’re looking for the most OTT illumination in Tokyo, this is it. Yomiuri Land's annual winter light show will bedazzle even the most jaded illumination-fiend. As the name suggests, jewels are the focus here: literally millions of colourful LEDs are set up throughout the vast theme park evoking sparkling gems. The park is split into ten areas where you will be treated to beautifully lit attractions. 

In addition to the rainbow-lit, 180-metre-long Celebration Promenade and Crystal Passage, you’ll spot two gigantic sparkly Ferris wheels to mark the amusement park's 60th anniversary. The highlight, however, is the fountain show, with water illuminated in different colours and sprayed into the air to create stunning shapes. There are three kinds of show happening every 15 minutes from 5pm daily. Also look out for the fountain’s flames and lasers, which are synchronised to music.

Master painter Claude Monet (1840-1926) is best known for Impressionist works that captured on canvas the ceaseless transitions of nature. As explored by this major exhibition, however, in the later years of his career, this French artist pursued a more abstract approach, with inspiration coming from both personal and wider realities such as bereavement, his own eye disease and the First World War.

The natural world remained Monet’s ostensible subject matter, such as his signature water lily ponds and their surrounding trees and skies, but his depictions of such scenes were then additionally coloured by internal distress.

For this show, around 50 pieces from Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris have been brought over to Japan, with many being shown in the country for the very first time. These are augmented by works held in collections across Japan, to form an expansive look at Monet’s later career.

The highlight here is a large screen of water lilies, which stands over two metres tall and makes for a truly immersive experience.

The exhibition is closed on Mondays (except November 4, January 13, February 10 and February 11) as well as November 5, December 28-January 1, and January 14.

Get ready to have your senses awakened at What Museum’s latest exhibit, Synesthesia. This captivating showcase explores the work of an artist who uses air, water, and light to craft mesmerizing sculptures that blur the lines between perception and reality. 

Exhibiting artist Akihito Okunaka, with a background in sociology and art education, was influenced by the late philosopher Bruno Latour to explore the connections between nature and society through our five senses. This exhibition invites visitors to touch, enter and lie down in a balloon-like installation piece, and truly feel a connection with our surroundings through a multi-sensory journey.

The centrepiece of the show is sure to be the 12-meter diameter balloon sculpture. Weighed down by a water pillow and bathed in different light frequencies, this mesmerizing creation promises a visual and tactile experience that blurs the lines between sight and touch. Imagine light refracting through multiple layers of translucent plastic film, creating a kaleidoscope of colours that dance across the surface, all while the gentle sway of the balloon invites exploration.

This exhibition is closed on Mondays (except October 14, November 4, January 13, February 3 and 24) and New Year’s holidays