Christmas at Disneyland is back. This year, the classic Disney decorations return along with a special nighttime parade, which takes on a Christmassy theme. Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights parade sees Mickey and friends from movies including Aladdin and Toy Story appearing on colorful floats decorated for the season.

Following the success of its 2025 debut, “Toys Wondorous Christmas” parade, returns with Santa, the elves and a lot of toys, alongside favorite Disney characters. In addition to holiday-themed firework displays, Christmas menus and ornaments, attractions includ

All aboard for Tokyo DisneySea’s Christmas spectacular. This year includes Mickey Mouse and friends helming a bauble-decked boat, Santa Claus and Christmas-themed merchandise. The Mickey Mouse Christmas boat will appear at the Mediterranean Harbor to spread festive cheer, joined by Santa Claus and elves.

Visitors to the park will be greeted by a spectacular 15-meter-high tree bedecked in tinsel and sparkling lights, as well as spots of singing joy throughout the venue. A special Christmas menu will be on offer from November 1, with guests able to sample special cake and roast beef.

If you aren’t ready to let go of Halloween just yet, November is your final chance to see Sanrio Puroland’s Halloween event featuring a special guest: the incredibly viral Labubu. For the Halloween Parade, Hello Kitty will be joined by a Labubu mascot and characters such as MyMelody and Pompompurin to spread Halloween cheer through the park every day.

Elsewhere, spooky items will be on offer with a special limited-edition menu as well as exclusive merchandise featuring characters including Kuromi, Hello Kitty and Cinnamonroll.

(Notes: Images are for reference only. Information is current as of October 21, and may be updated without notice.)

Yomiuriland’s popular Jewellumination returns for its 16th year. Directed by lighting designer Matoko Ishii, the illumination bonanza lights up the Yomiuriland theme park with 6.5 million LED lights. And that doesn’t include the lasers.

The theme for the 2026–2027 period is “Light is Love,” with the sub-theme of “Growing Light,” to honor the ‘treasure of the globe’ — nature. Visitors will be treated to illuminations including carpets of lights, a light show reflected in the theme park waters and lasers and dazzling trees, all powered by green energy. This year also sees the introduction of a brand new green color — green in every way.

The Autumn Grand Festival at Meiji Jingu is held to celebrate the birthday of the Meiji Emperor on November 3, with a host of traditional Japanese activities. It’s a great way to get a dose of Japanese culture with a backdrop of autumn leaves.

Events and ceremonies include traditional theater performances such as Noh, and a grand archery tournament with 200 participants. The priests conduct their own archery display once the main tournament is complete. There is also the chance to see yabusame (Japanese horseback archery).

Despite its name — literally, Rooster Market — the annual Tori-no-Ichi Fair doesn’t sell any birds. Instead, it draws enormous crowds for its dazzling display of rakes (kumade) and other auspicious items. The roots of the festival go back to the Edo Period, to a local shrine festival where rakes were sold and traded, believed to bring good luck by “raking” in prosperity for the upcoming year.

During the all-night, all-day event, over 800 stalls surround the shrine, selling rakes, food and other goods. The rakes, designed for ornate purposes, are eye-catching and impressive. Many are fabulously decorated, with prices ranging from 1,000 yen to 50,000 yen and even much more.

Dating back over 300 years, the historic Bonten Festival at Utsunomiya's Hagurosan Shrine is a rowdy ritual praying for five grains of abundance (gokoku-hoyo) and family safety.

The highlight of the festival features participants proudly carrying large 15-meter-long bamboo poles (bonten) decorated with brilliant, colorful cloth balls and streamers. Accompanied by spirited chants of "hoi-sa, hoi-sa," local groups march through the shrine precincts and surrounding streets in an energetic display of community pride, surrounded by lively food stalls and autumn festival crowds.

Witness the pinnacle of traditional kendo competition as Japan’s finest practitioners gather at the historic Nippon Budokan venue for the All-Japan Kendo Championships. 2026 marks the 65th edition of the female championships and the 74th edition of the men's version.

Held annually on Culture Day, this elite tournament showcases intense, high-speed sword combat and unwavering mental discipline as competitors vie for the ultimate national title in Japanese kendo. It is an inspiring cultural and sporting experience for martial arts fans and international travelers alike.

The biggest event of the year in Japan’s sports car racing series welcomes over 40 teams competing to be crowned champion of the 2026 season. They’re racing cars from domestic super-makers: Honda, Toyota and Nissan, and international players: BMW, Porsche and more.

The event sees over two hours of non-stop racing in two main categories: GT500 and GT300. Visitors will be spoilt for choice with other activities including talk events, autograph opportunities and vehicle demos. Also on the site is Honda’s museum, theme park-style rides, and forest trails — staying for the whole weekend is advised.

The Tokyo National Museum opens its historic gardens after dark for Zen Night Tokyo. The exhibition focuses on digital art and illumination, and arrives from Kyoto, where it received rave reviews.

Stroll along illuminated paths lined with fiery autumnal foliage, accompanied by calming music. Meditate watching clouds over the museum pond in the ‘brainwave zazen’ session, and enter the magical path lined with 3,000 glowing spider lilies.

Each year, Ikebukuro hosts one of the biggest cosplay events in Tokyo, when hundreds of cosplayers convene as one of their favorite anime or manga characters. Expect less blood and more spiky hair, as this is considerably less scary than a traditional Halloween event.

Since Shibuya Halloween was effectively cancelled, Ikebukuro has taken up a new baton and is fully embracing those who want to dress up, charging a small premium for the privilege. Even camera people need to pay for the opportunity to get up close to the cosplayers.

Ramen shops from around Japan converge at Ramen Festa, the largest ramen gathering in Japan, across a five-day ramen bonanza. The festa, now in its fourth year, is linked to other similar ramen events across Japan, and uses its network to stretch to the far-flung reaches to find the best local ramen. Last year’s edition saw Michelin-guide-rated ramen from Okayama Prefecture, new wave ramen from Fukuoka Prefecture and miso ramen from Hokkaido.

The event aims to promote ramen as a cultural asset, so the event naturally has its own mascot, Naruto-chan, a character based on naruto-maki, the small fishcake that is found atop bowls of noodles. Naruto-chan promotes Ramen Festa’s goods and is around on all event days, taking part in talks and shows.

Guests can be scared and spooked with the Dark Arts until November 8th at Tokyo’s ever-popular Warner Bros. Studio Tour. Nothing is as it seems as Voldemort’s dark magic has invaded Hogwarts Castle. Cast members will turn into deatheaters, performing spooky demonstrations of their dark powers, battling their way through the set.

The Great Hall will be transformed with over 100 jack’o’lanterns floating in the air, and a special halloween feast will be on display. Elsewhere, deatheaters will appear in Diagon Alley and pop up in the Forbidden Forest. From November 13, the studios will undergo a Christmassy makeover.

One of the biggest movie events of the year is back. The Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) is now in its 39th year, showcasing the best movies from the past 12 months and beyond, with a particular focus on Asia. Japan’s most famed movie stars walk its red carpet, and accolades include names like the Akira Kurosawa Award, which honors those who’ve made splashes in the cinema world.

The festival screens hundreds of movies across its 10 days, alongside talks, workshops and, of course, its award ceremony. Workshops and talks bring fans and industry titans together to talk all things big screen, with many actors and directors appearing at the screenings.

For anyone interested in art, the fall biannual Design Festa is Christmas come early — it’s also a fantastic spot to do all that Christmas shopping. The biggest original art festival in Asia welcomes over 10,000 artists each time, who exhibit their goods in over 6,500 booths on site.

Design Festa often incorporates anything to do with “design” meaning that you’re just as likely to pick up a cute bracelet from a local artist as you are to pick up a painting. This year welcomes handicrafts galore, as well as fashion brands selling knitwear, performance artists, manga artists, pottery... Its long-running theme is “freedom of expression,” so anything goes.