Adjacent to the Imperial Palace, Hibiya Park was once the playground of feudal lords before being converted to military parade grounds during the Edo Era. Opened to the public at the height of the Meiji Restoration, Hibiya Park is Tokyo’s first Western-style park with its tulip and rose gardens and replica of America’s Liberty Bell.
It’s also a great place to drink, and the Hi-Beer Garden is the highlight of this weekend’s intoxicating activities happening across Tokyo, which also include hydrangea festivals, Vietnam festivals, traditional Japanese festivals and more.
Hi Beer Garden 2019
Japan’s largest beer garden returns with more than a dozen brewers and more than 80 kinds of beer. Don’t miss the HiBeer Girl Contest, where a pool of charming women who love to drink beer compete to make it to September’s final Grand Prix.
Bunkyo Ajisai Matsuri
Witness 3,000 hydrangea plants reach full bloom, captivating visitors with a sea of purple and blue. There will also be music concerts, food stalls and more.
Vietnam Festival
When you’ve had your fill of pho at this Yoyogi Park festival, feast your eyes on stunning áo dài costumes, live water paintings and some of Vietnam’s top musical stars.
MOMAT Collection
This latest MOMAT exhibition introduces currents in Japanese modern and contemporary art from the beginning of the 20th century to the present.
Image: Maruki Toshi (Akamatsu Toshiko), “Emancipation of Humanity,” 1947
Torigoe Festival
Get rowdy with the locals in Taito as they haul Tokyo’s heaviest mikoshi portable shrine (weighing almost 4 tons) through the streets to Torigoe Shrine.
Iliza Shlesinger
American comedian Iliza Shlesinger is abrasive, subversive and most importantly, funny. The Netflix sensation performs at Shibuya Face on Friday night, and took time to answer a few of our questions ahead of time.
Best Flea Market
There are other flea markets happening in Tokyo this Sunday. There is a romantic flea market in Shibuya. There is a rooftop flea market in Kichijoji. This one at Tokyo International Forum is the best.
Ben Edmunds: Where should I go from here?
British artist Ben Edmunds, who hosts a reception at Kaikai Kiki Gallery on Friday night, combines holy, almost archaic, formal modes of Modernist Abstract Expressionism, color field painting and Minimalism, with the highly stylized and contemporary accents of extreme sports and fashion.
