Universal Studios Japan (USJ) is pulling out all the stops for its Halloween event, with both nighttime horrors and a daytime Halloween party.

The daytime event — Hahaha! Halloween — sees staff on hand to offer goodies to trick-or-treaters (excluding Wizarding World of Harry Potter™ and Super Nintendo World™), and a special Pokémon Unstoppable Halloween Party, where everyone is invited to join favorites including Pikachu and Gengar. Fast-forward to nighttime — Halloween Horror Nights — for an altogether scarier experience, where zombies roam the streets and various rides pull out all the stops, like Resident Evil™, with an immersive horror show, and the Chainsaw Man attractions.

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Until September 28, visitors to Nijigen No Mori’s Dragon Quest attraction are treated to a variety of ways to beat the heat, from casting spells to making slime chimes.

It’s no secret that Japan in the summer is incredibly hot, and with summer reaching through September these past few years, any reprieve from the heat is more than welcome. Dragon Quest Island, a Dragon Quest-inspired attraction from Square Enix, the makers of the game, invites questers to dispel the heat through activities like casting the Hyado spell to receive an instant refresh.

Toei Kyoto Theme Park celebrates Japan’s infamous yokai, the creatures of Japanese folklore whose looks could give zombies a run for their money. Visit the theme park in the festive period to discover the yokai world.

The park will be transformed during the Kaikai Yokai Festival, with yokai appearing everywhere you look. A special event is set to take place, “The Night Parade of One Hundred Yokai,” which parades yokai through the streets of the theme park, inviting audiences into the fun. There will be bus tours, taking participants off the theme park, in order to educate yokai lovers about key Japanese ghost incidents that happened in Kyoto itself.

Japan’s most infamous danjiri (float) festival sees 500,000 visitors watch over 100 local participants rush the danjiri floats around the streets near Kishiwada Castle.

The festival weaves over 300 years of tradition into four days in September and three the following month. Residents carry 34 ornately-carved four-tonne floats along the streets, ridden by daikugata (carpenters). The racing has two aims: to celebrate the impressive danjiri woodwork, and to pray for a good harvest. The danjiri can be dangerous for its riders, who’ve been known to fall off in the excitement, but for onlookers, it's an eyeful of adrenaline, pumped full of traditional Japanese festival foods like yakisoba and okonomiyaki.

The Suito Kurawanka Fireworks carries on the Japanese tradition of fireworks to commemorate and celebrate. When the first fireworks festival was held in Tokyo back in the Edo period, it was to light people’s spirits during the time of the plague. The Suito Kurawanka fires one firework for every birth across three of its towns — Hirataka, Takatsuki, Takano — the previous year. It restarted in 2021, after it was stopped in 2003.

This year sees 5,065 shots fired — 4,965 for those born, plus 100 in memoriam — across 50 minutes, making for a sky painted with the spirit of the new residents below.

Each year, the historical town of Takasago in Takasago city lights up with over 10,000 lanterns (manto), to the soundtrack of smooth jazz.

The event was started in 2006, when the old town received designated historical status. It draws thousands of visitors, who come to wander the streets and experience local culture in a warmly-lit wonderland. Over 20 venues take part in the festivities. Six kilometers of street are lit up with lanterns, school yards are full of candles, and there’s the chance to peep into old style houses, lit with lantern-light. Food and trinkets are on offer, from traditional Japanese fare to a night market, and live jazz is performed throughout.

To give it its full name, the “2025 Intercontinental GT Challenge Round 4 49th Suzuka 1000km” is one of the most eagerly anticipated endurance races in the nation’s motorsports calendar. Running since 2016, it is now back for the first time since 2019. The Japan leg sees 30 cars from the local and international community join the race, which lasts for 6.5 hours.

Teams, mainly from areas in Asia, aim to cover 1000km across three days, with their manufacturers’ cars. In total, 10 different sports car manufacturers will be represented, by teams including reigning champion, Origine Motorsport, and former champion Absolute Racing that both use Porsche. Other makers include BMW, Audi and Mercedes-AMG.

Walk through Van Gogh’s flowers, ride Hokusai’s wave, swim in Monet and hang out with Hiroshige’s court artisans; this is Osaka’s third large-scale immersive exhibition, focusing on Impressionsim and Japonsim.

Located in a six-meter-high by approx 450 meter-wide hall, the exhibit puts the paintings and woodblocks on the big screen, and then some. With projections on the walls and the floor, and music and sound effects to match, punters can step inside the paintings as they come to life. There are over 80 works on display, and the chance to play with your own Van Gogh or Hokusai to close. Hurry though, the exhibition is only on for five more days.

“When I Change, Hello Kitty Changes Too,” is an exhibition looking at Hello Kitty’s evolution over the past five decades. The show has seen a tremendous run, starting in Tokyo in January, then moving through Fukuoka and Osaka where it enjoyed rave reviews.

Hello Kitty, perhaps one of Japan’s most famous exports, was first drawn in 1974 by Yuko Shimuzu, an employee at Sanrio. Hello Kitty was released on a coin purse the following year, and went on to become Sanrio’s best-selling character of all time. The exhibit details Hello Kitty’s changes, going from artist collaboration showing different bags and accessories, to candy and even exclusive videos.

Kyoto International Manga and Anime Fair (Kyomaf) is western Japan’s largest anime and manga fair. Last year saw over 40,000 visitors, who learnt about anime and manga in the context of Kyoto as a city that is important to Japanese culture.

This year the festival returns bigger than ever, with a cosplay corner, voice actors performing live on stage, character panels and booths from big players such as Kadokawa and Cospa (Bocchi the Rock!). There is also a cafe where guests can enjoy collaboration menus from voice actors Nobuhiko Okamoto (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Blue Exorcist) and Manaka Iwami (Fruits Basket, Oshi no Ko).

The Expo is a huge world’s fair that attracts millions of visitors to over a hundred pavilions run by various countries and NGOs from around the world. Areas include Japan, Scandinavia and Palestine. As each country tries to outdo the rest, they amaze audiences by showcasing the latest feats in engineering and advancements in technology.

The expo has been running since April this year, with exciting innovations including: a beating heart, dragon meat, a flying car and a hydrogen-powered vending machine. As well as pavilions, the 155-hectare area has art installations, restaurants and even a green, park-style area, with special events happening daily.