The Best Things To Do in Tokyo This Month: September 2024

Sea of Clouds Splash at Hotel Chinzanso

For it's summer program, Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo will launch "Sea of Clouds Splash" on July 1 to cool off from the hot Tokyo weather. Started in October 2020, the "Sea of Clouds Splash" combines modern technology with traditional ideas of the large misty gardens. Using high-tech Japanese nozzles, fine water particles of 10 to 20 microns are uniformly generated across the hotel's stunning Japanese garden. Japanese umbrellas are also available for rental in the garden during the summer. Avoid the UV rays while enjoying the sound of wind chimes and the glow of the bamboo lanterns.

2024 Summer Events at Tokyo Disney Resort

Summer Exclusives to Beat the Heat

To combat Japan's intense summer heat and humidity levels, Tokyo Disney Resort is offering a variety of special updates, merchandise and snacks as part of their "Get Soaked" program throughout the season. Two attractions, Splash Mountain in Tokyo Disneyland and Aquatopia in Tokyo DisneySea, will have a summertime update that turns up their water features to the maximum level and guarantees guests will leave drenched. Themed around Big Hero 6's nurse robot Baymax raising energy levels, Baymax's Mission: Cool Down, is a parade that will travel throughout Tokyo Disneyland three times a day to help guests cool down with spraying mist and water splashes shooting out of the floats. There will be several water-splashing playground areas at both parks, including in Toontown where the Toontown Fire Department and Fireworks Factory will spout more water than ever before. Guests can participate in "Get Soaked Time" with the Disney cast members. Cast members will be carrying barrels of water to spray cool and refreshing mist. New limited-time merchandise will also be available, including Hawaiian shirts, towels and neck cooling rings. The "Sui Sui Summer" merchandise collection of shirts, headbands, hats, sunglasses, fans and more, features designs with Mickey Mouse and friends enjoying summer at the beach. "Cool" menu items will be introduced, including kakigori shaved ice topped with syrup, fruits, and Japanese wasanbon sugar stamped with Mickey and Minnie Mouse at Disneyland. A chilled version of the crème brûlée churro will be served at DisneySea. Each park will also be offering chilled noodles, smoothies, frosty drinks, and sundaes. Outside of the theme parks, all restaurants at Disney Ambassador Hotel will be serving special summer menus until August 31. Select menu items will come with hotel-exclusive charms and coasters.

2024 Summer Events at Tokyo Disney Resort Details and Location

Tokyo International Comedy Festival

Tokyo Pop-Ups and Community Events

Tokyo Anime and Manga Events

Louise Bourgeois Solo Exhibition

The Mori Art Museum presents "Louise Bourgeois: I have been to hell and back. And let me tell you, it was wonderful." This exhibition, Bourgeois’s first in Japan in 27 years and her largest solo exhibition in the country to date, will showcase approximately 100 works across three chapters that offer a comprehensive overview of her practice.  

A Personal View of Japanese Contemporary Art: Takahashi Ryutaro Collection

A Reputed Takahashi Ryutaro Collection

The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT) presents the exhibition “A Personal View of Japanese Contemporary Art: Takahashi Ryutaro Collection." Comprising over 3,500 items, the Takahashi Ryutaro Collection is reputed as one of the most important collections of Japanese contemporary art in terms of both quality and quantity. A showcase of outstanding works by artists with a highly critical mindset, this exhibition explores the state of contemporary Japan from the specific viewpoint of a 1946-born art collector.

"A Personal View of Japanese Contemporary Art" Event Details and Location

Mode at Liquidroom: Goat(jp), Still House Plants

Enjoy an Experimental Double Bill in Ebisu

Mode, the performing arts, audio visual and experimental music series, presents a special live show at Ebisu Liquidroom in honor of the venue's 30th anniversary. On the double bill is YPY's experimental band (and previous TW music page guests!) Goat(jp) and Glaswegian trio Still House Plants, performing in Japan for the first time. The event is a collaboration between Mode, the London-based record label and event series 33-33 and art/music event production team Bliss.

Mode at Liquidroom Location

Tour to DISCOVER! Japanese Contemporary Performing Arts in Tokyo

Comprehensive Tours of Japanese Performing Arts

Tokyo Festival is a comprehensive urban arts festival held every fall around Tokyo’s Ikebukuro area which aims to connect with the world through Tokyo’s rich culture and diverse arts scene.  This year, the festival will offer special tours for international visitors, allowing them to experience Japan's world-class contemporary performing arts firsthand. These tours will not only offer English subtitles to assist in understanding the productions, but also provide opportunities to gain insights into the historical and cultural context of each work, as well as the history of the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre itself. Enjoy unique artistic experiences in Japan through the exceptional contemporary performing arts.

Tour to DISCOVER! Event Details and Location

Keiichi Tanaami: Adventures in Memory

Keiichi Tanaami takes center stage for his first major retrospective this autumn, celebrating his life and 60-year career of his signature “psychedelic death pop” style. From Tanaami's early days as the first art director of the Japanese edition of Playboy to his role in the Japanese underground art scene, the artist's eclectic oeuvre spans paintings, collages, animations and installations, boasting an impressive lineup of brand collaborations — from Dior to Mattel — along the way. Often explicit, always bold; expect mind-melting graphics from this kaleidoscopic trailblazer of modern Japanese art.

Roppongi Art Night 2024

Roppongi's Annual Evening Art Exhibition

Now in its 13th year, the Roppongi Art Night offers the chance to appreciate art after-hours, with museums and art galleries opening late, and late-night impromptu street performance. This year sees it focus on artists from Taiwan, like Goang-Ming Yuan and dance duo, MeimageDance.

Roppongi Art Night Location

Naked Fireworks Aquarium

A Summer Festival & Fireworks Show Under the Sea

Maxell Aqua Park Shinagawa is partnering with the creative production company Naked to create a spectacle of water, lights and sounds. The Naked Fireworks Aquarium is a digital art and aquarium experience that recreates the feeling of being underwater amidst a dazzling fireworks display. There are two dolphin shows to enjoy. The daytime show will showcase the dolphins' impressive jumps and splashing tricks. For the nighttime performance, the aquarium transforms as the dolphins dance accompanied by bright and colorful digital fireworks filling the entire arena with a 360-degree display. Guests can further explore the aquarium's summer festival offerings with exhibits that combine marine life with bold digital landscapes such as the Jellyfish Ramble where jellyfish are illuminated by colorful lights. Seasonal treats are available such as the green apple mojito and ocean pineapple cider.

Naked Fireworks Aquarium Details and Location

Wanoakari × Hyakudan Kaidan 2024 Light Exhibition

Japanese Arts & Crafts with Magical Illumination

The Wanoakari × Hyakudan Kaidan illumination exhibition is one of the most anticipated summertime Tokyo events, usually attracting over half a million visitors every year. The exhibition combines over 1,000 pieces of traditional Japanese arts and crafts with lights, creating a stunning visual experience. The art pieces come from both private individuals and organizations, and some are even brought from various regional festivals such as the giant paper lantern floats from the Aomori Nebuta Matsuri. Wanoakari × Hyakudan Kaidan is hosted at the Hotel Gajoen Tokyo in Meguro inside an 80-year-old wooden building with a 99-step staircase and seven Japanese-style rooms that are filled with illuminated artwork. This year's theme is "Enchanting Fairy Tales." The exhibit uses lights, music and fragrance to built a dream-like space. Walk around the exhibit and take in the magical glow of the lights and the duality between traditional Japanese art with a sprinkle of modern aesthetics.

Wanoakari × Hyakudan Kaidan 2023 Details and Location

Frontiers of Impressionism: Paintings from the Worcester Art Museum

To commemorate the 150th year since The First Impressionist Exhibition was held in Paris, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum is holding “Frontiers of Impressionism: Paintings from the Worcester Art Museum.” Organized by the Worcester Art Museum, this exhibition follows the birth of impressionism as a groundbreaking force upending the established conventions of Western art and further, its influence and impact across Europe and the US, with a focus more specifically on the artists and the art world of America. The vast majority of the works on display have never been shown in Japan before and are drawn almost exclusively from the Worcester Art Museum collection. It includes pieces by such French titans as Monet and Renoir, impressionists of Germany and Scandinavia, together with American expatriate painter John Singer Sargent and the iconic Childe Hassam.

Takada Kenzo: Chasing Dreams

Takada Kenzo was one of the first Japanese fashion designers to become established in Paris, where his highly original ideas resulted in the successive creation of countless looks that redefined fashion. Takada’s designs effortlessly transcended national boundaries, culture and gender to suggest a new style of clothing that was not dictated by the existing Eurocentric cultural tradition. Even today, his designs are still loved all over the world. This exhibition is the first large-scale solo exhibition since Takada Kenzo’s tragic death in 2020 and will showcase his garments to reveal how Takada’s designs changed over the years. Also included in the exhibition are his paintings which he first began creating as a young child, the reference materials which inspired his ideas, as well as his fashion design sketches. Kenzo's career will be presented from a number of different perspectives to enable visitors to reflect on the lifelong creative career of Takada Kenzo, the pioneering Japanese designer who made the world his stage.

Takada Kenzo Event Details and Location

Rei Naito: come and live - go and live

This exhibition was first conceived when Rei Naito encountered the Tokyo National Museum’s collection and architecture. She discovered a human soul that resonated with her own creativity in the clay objects of the Jōmon period. This feeling was born out of prehistoric people’s awe towards nature, in which Naito found “compassion permeating inside and outside of life.” The exhibition spaces, illuminated by natural light, evoke the realms of life and death, as well as the intimate harmony that endured between humans and nature as well as humans and other living beings. Through this exhibition, you're invited to experience the spirituality and creative power that connect us with the people of ancient times.

Well-Being for Human and Nature Exhibit

This immersive media art exhibit questions what a coexistence between humans, nature and technology looks like.

In the technological art space of SusHi Tech Square, explore the works of innovative creators and consider how we can better interact with advancing technology and nature.

Poul Kjærholm: Timeless Minimalism

This exhibition features one of the greatest furniture designers of 20th century Denmark, Poul Kjærholm (1929–1980). Mid-century Scandinavian furniture is often characterized by warm wood tones. The works of Kjærholm, in comparison, stand out due to his preference for combining hard materials such as stone and metal, a choice that was unusual in his time. But the rigid profiles never give off a cold impression; instead, they evoke a subtle tension in the space. Kjærholm’s timeless clean lines and minimalist beauty resonate with Japanese architecture, garnering continued support among Japanese design enthusiasts. The exhibition will showcase a collection primarily curated from the extensive research and chair collection of Professor Noritsugu Oda (an honorary professor at Tokai University). It will be the first of its kind in Japan to exhibit Kjærholm’s most influential works. With the cooperation of Higashikawa Town in Hokkaido, home to the Oda Collection, it will introduce approximately 50 pieces of furniture and related documents. Kjærholm’s design philosophy and refined aesthetics of the furniture will be presented meticulously in an exhibition space designed by spirited architect Tsuyoshi Tane.

Toulouse-Lautrec, Elegance of the Master of the Belle Époque Exhibition

This exhibition introduces about 240 graphic works of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, the famous artist of French fin-de-siècle, from the Firos Collection, one of the finest private collections of Lautrec in the world. The most unique quality of the Firos Collection is its focus on drawings. This exhibition introduces works that help visitors understand the artist and his art, such as lithographs, posters, and illustrations. It also includes magazines and books where Lautrec was involved in creating designs, as well as letters from Lautrec and photos of the artist taken by his peers.

Calder: Un Effet du Japonais Exhibition

"Calder: Un Effet du Japonais" explores the enduring resonance of the American modernist’s art with Japanese traditions and aesthetics. Curated by Alexander S. C. Rower, President of the Calder Foundation, New York, and organized in collaboration with Pace Gallery, the exhibition will comprise approximately 100 works from the collection of the Calder Foundation that span the 1930s to the 1970s, ranging from the artist’s signature mobiles, stabiles and standing mobiles to his oil paintings and works on paper.

Tokyo Afternoon Tea, Food and Drink Events

Juan Bowl & Tea Tokyo Opening

Juan Bowl & Tea Tokyo, a restaurant specializing in rice bowls and tea, is opening in Omotesando on June 30. Launched in Redfern, southeast of Sydney, Australia in 2017, it's a store that attracts lines of customers outside its doors every day.  
 
The menu consists of four simple bowls of rice topped with roast wagyu beef, eel hitsumabushi, pork cutlet and Hainan chicken. These dishes are accompanied by specially selected drinks to match each bowl of rice, including Chinese tea, Taiwanese tea and Australian organic tea.  

Event Details and Location

Rossi's New Holiday Lunchtime Menu

Rossi, a luxurious Italian restaurant with stunning views on the 20th floor of the Aoyama Grand Hotel, is offering a weekend-only holiday lunch, starting on Saturday, July 6, 2024.  It is available only on weekends and holidays. Appetizers and sweets are served buffet-style. Customers can choose from meat, seafood, Rossi's special curry and more for the main dish. A complimentary glass of champagne is also served.  

Event Details and Location

Tokyo Tower Highball Garden

Enjoy Highballs and Gourmet Food at Tokyo Tower

At Tokyo Tower's Highball Garden, you can enjoy highballs accompanied with gourmet food. Pair that with either the best sky-scapers on the rooftop of the iconic red tower's Foot Town or enjoy the tower's glow from below at the Cho-ten Highball Garden. The two venues have a lineup of dishes that pair perfectly with your drinks. Try the Hokkaido-style fried chicken, zangi, or the jumbo cod cutlet decorated with its own saucy Tokyo Tower. The Mother's Ranch Combo comes with thick slices of bacon, sausages and french fries. Or go for the all-you-can-drink and all-you-can-eat deal with 120 minutes of unlimited highballs and Jingisukan (Ghengis Khan), a popular grilled mutton dish. Highballs are served in a chilled mug with plenty of ice, carbonation and lemon for that crisp taste. The specialty Tokyo Tower Highball has blood orange mixed in for a refreshingly sour yet sweet flavor that also matches the color of the tower's red hue.

Tokyo Tower Rooftop Highball Garden Details & Location

SG Group’s 50 of 50 Best Feast

A Legendary Group Celebrates

This event will bring together five bars in Tokyo led by Shingo Gokan, who has accumulated 50 of the 50 Best Bars awards. Bartenders from Speak Low, Sober Company, The Odd Couple (each in Shanghai), The SG Club (Shibuya) and El Lequio (Okinawa) will serve their signature cocktails, and will be joined by Atsushi Suzuki, who worked at SG Group until 2023, and currently runs The Bellwood (Shibuya). The event will be held at The SG Tavern, the group's newest restaurant, which opened this past May in Marunouchi, Tokyo. The day will be divided into two parts, with three bars performing together in each slot. The restaurant-bar, which normally serves cocktails with a special focus on Japanese sake and local cuisine from around the world, will be transformed into a cocktail hall of fame where guests can literally savor the 50 Best Bars for one day only.

SG Group’s 50 of 50 Best Feast Event Details and Location

A10 3rd Anniversary Party

3 Years of Music and Drinks

As a record bar with a unique entrance and fantastic cocktails, A10 has quickly made a name for itself. The bar is celebrating its third anniversary with a party open to all. A10's reservations are often booked, but for one night only, the bar will be standing only with no seating limitations. Come one, come all for gorgeous cocktails and great music to celebrate another successful year for A10.

A10 3rd Anniversary Party Event Details and Location

Tokki Soju Launch Cocktail Party

Four Renowned Bars From Seoul

On September 5, Gold Bar at Edition is hosting a launch party for Tokki Soju, a spirit gaining popularity in the cocktail scenes of Asia and the U.S. Four renowned bars from Seoul, South Korea — Pine & Co, Alice, Zest and Bar Cham — all ranked in Asia’s 50 Best Bars, are joining for this exclusive event. Eight creative cocktails will be served.

Tokki Soju Launching Cocktail Party Location and Details

Ralph's Coffee Cafe Truck

Ralph's Coffee Omotesando, a coffee shop operated by the American apparel brand Ralph Lauren, will have a cafe truck for a limited time until September 23. In addition to the drink menu, limited items for 2024 will be available to add color to your daily coffee life. 2024 limited edition items available at the cafe truck include caps, water bottles, tote bags and mugs, featuring the French flag and the stars and stripes graphics of Ralph's Coffee signature mark mugs. In addition, the Raspberry Black Tea, a limited-edition cafe truck drink, will be available for the first time. It is a refreshing combination of black tea, raspberry puree and lemonade.

Ralph's Coffee Cafe Truck Event Details and Location

French Summer Terrace BBQ and Free-flow Drinks

This summer, The French Kitchen is offering a stylish barbecue course encompassing the full breadth of French cuisine. 
 
It begins with Provençal pissaladière flatbreads and a refined meat platter, in addition to some Perigord duck and walnut salad, olives and feta cheese for a taste of summer in the French countryside. Following all that is an alluring barbecue skewer, or brochette, featuring a wide range of delightfully prepared meats including pork shoulder confit, lemon chicken thigh and beef rump with spice marinade.  
 
All of this can be washed down with some Champagne or sparkling wine.  

Event Details and Location

Tex-Mex Terrace BBQ at The Oak Door

This summer, The Oak Door is serving a barbecue menu filled with Tex-Mex classics. The course features a meaty barbecue platter heaped with enough spiced beef, pork and chicken to satisfy even the hungriest of carnivores. The platter is accompanied by a mouthwatering variety of Tex-Mex classics, including spicy seafood cocktails, cheese quesadillas, chili con carne nachos and a creamy jalapeño salad.   Built for sharing with family and friends, this barbecue plan provides the perfect opportunity to relax and reconnect over free-flow drinks on an atmospheric outdoor terrace. 

Event Details and Location