A sake festival that began in Shibuya in 2023, bringing breweries and craft sake makers from across Japan to a Tokyo venue with food and live music.
Tokyo · 13–15 Nov 2026
Since 1 November 2026, tax-free shopping in Japan is a refund: pay the tax at the till, clear customs at the airport, then get it back. Every step and rule.
Latest Post ・ 2026/11/03
Three artists set work through Hibiya Park in Tokyo for seventeen days in November, in a programme run by the city alongside its flower and light displays.
Tokyo · 13–29 Nov 2026
A museum of teddy bears and stuffed toys in Nasu, with the much-travelled Teddy Edward, antique Steiff bears, artist bears and a stuffed toy workshop.
Nasu
Two days of hot air ballooning on a park field in Oyama, Tochigi: morning competition flights, tethered rides and a balloon glow set to music and fireworks.
14–15 Nov 2026Oyama · TochigiAn open art event at Tokyo Big Sight where more than 10,000 artists, professional or amateur, show and sell original work with no screening.
14–15 Nov 2026TokyoTall doll floats, most built in the 19th century, are drawn through the storehouse streets of Tochigi over two days, in a festival held every second year.
14–15 Nov 2026TochigiA sake festival that began in Shibuya in 2023, bringing breweries and craft sake makers from across Japan to a Tokyo venue with food and live music.
13–15 Nov 2026TokyoFootraces run in inflatable T-rex costumes, held in parks, on beaches and at local festivals across Japan since 2022, with adult and juvenile classes.
15 Nov 2026Rikuzentakata · IwateAn autumn event synchronizes fireworks and drone choreography with music across an open plaza, creating a panoramic display of light and color.
21 Nov 2026Suita · OsakaThe castle Oda Nobunaga set out from, rebuilt in 1989 with a four-floor keep on the history of Kiyosu, a golden-roofed landmark by the Gojo River.
Kiyosu · AichiA 599 m mountain in western Tokyo with seven trails, a cable car and the temple Yakuoin, a centre of Shugendo and tengu worship.
Hachioji · TokyoAn open-air museum in Aichi preserving over 60 buildings from Japan's Meiji, Taisho, and early Showa periods, including Frank Lloyd Wright's Imperial Hotel.
Inuyama · AichiA monkey park on Mount Takao in Hachioji with more than 90 monkeys, next to a wild plant garden of about 300 subalpine and alpine species.
Hachioji · TokyoA city museum on the history and culture of Gifu, centered on the Sengoku period and Oda Nobunaga, close to Mt. Kinka and Gifu Castle.
GifuA Shinto shrine in Iwase, the port district of Toyama, that holds the Iwase Hikiyama Festival with its clashing floats each spring.
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Since 1 November 2026, tax-free shopping in Japan is a refund: pay the tax at the till, clear customs at the airport, then get it back. Every step and rule.
2026/11/03Yuchelin, a new rating for Japanese hot springs, judges the water itself. Its first three-star list names 21 onsen, from Hokkaido to Yakushima.
2026/10/27Sake grades and temperatures, shochu with hot water, umeshu five ways, highballs, sours, Hoppy and Japanese wine: how to order the drinks on an izakaya menu.
2026/10/18Your season-by-season guide to 2026 anime, updated for fall: what aired, what's airing now, what's coming in 2027 and where to watch it all from anywhere.
2026/10/17Japan Game Awards 2026: "Pokemon Pokopia" takes the Grand Award, "Word Game" the Game Designers Award, and the Pokemon series a ministry honour for 30 years.
A million and a half people between Tokyo and Yokohama, and almost nobody stops. What is actually in Kawasaki, and why it is worth getting off the train for.
