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On 31 October and 1 November, the Japan Steampunk Expo fills Studio Ease Meguro, a film studio near Meguro Station in Tokyo designed to look like a street abroad. Around 75 makers sell steampunk-inspired goods, alongside a fashion show and live music.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 17h

Until 26 Oct, an immersive exhibition at the Ginza Mirai Museum in Tokyo explores "No. 6", Atsuko Asano's sci-fi novel series, later adapted as manga and anime. Visitors walk through recreated spaces from the story, including Nezumi's room, with a Japanese audio guide narrated by Yuki Kaji.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 03/10/2026

From 9 October, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku shows a free projection mapping work by students at a public arts high school, turning its facade into classroom windows, corridors, and shoe lockers in a story of teenage love. tokyoprojectionmappingproject.jp

Spectators in the plaza below the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku look up at the facade at night, where a hand-drawn figure in a white sailor-style school uniform with a red neckerchief and navy skirt is projected across the tower against a blue background. Provided by TOKYO Night & Light PR Office

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building at night, its facade covered in a projected hand-drawn scene of a student in a white shirt, head tilted back, in warm orange, yellow, and green tones. The twin tower tops glow blue above. Provided by TOKYO Night & Light PR Office

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building at night, lit in pale lavender, with a hand-drawn boy and girl in school uniforms projected on the left and right towers. The boy stands looking across, while the girl reaches upwards, her hair and skirt swept by the wind, as small pink petals drift across the facade. Provided by TOKYO Night & Light PR Office

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 02/10/2026

From 15 to 18 October, the Namba Hiroba plaza in front of Nankai Namba Station in Osaka is decked out for Halloween with around 5,000 lanterns and eyeball sculptures, inspired by the Japanese belief that everyday objects can come to life. Entry is free.

A Nankai Line 8300 series train in a depot, its silver front car followed by carriages wrapped in red and covered in cartoon eyeballs in yellow, purple, and white, some dripping as if melting. The wrapped train runs between Namba, Wakayamako, and Kansai Airport from 5 October. Provided by Meta Osaka Inc.

Concept image of the Chimney Town Halloween art space at Namba Hiroba, Osaka, showing walls and ceilings of glowing red, orange, and purple paper lanterns hung from black metal frames. Two large eyeball sculptures in orange, purple, and white stand among the lanterns, with red mist and spotlights filling the space and two figures silhouetted in the centre. Provided by Meta Osaka Inc.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 02/10/2026

On 31 October, about 2,000 people take part in an alien costume parade through Iino in Fukushima, a town that calls itself the UFO village. Anyone can join, and the most convincing aliens win prizes. www.hey-japan.com/event/ufo-fe...

Group photo at the UFO Festival 2025 in Iino, Fukushima, with a large crowd in alien costumes gathered on the street in front of the stage. Costumes include green and silver alien masks, blonde wigs, squid-like hats, and an inflatable flying saucer. People at the front hold a banner reading "UFO Festival 2025," with more spectators filling the street behind them. © 福島市いいの街なか活性化委員会

Three costumed participants at the UFO Festival 2025, standing on the main street of Iino in front of an old pharmacy. One wears green face paint and a grey wig and holds a stuffed panda, one wears a tall pointed headpiece and silver foil gloves and trousers, and one has gold face paint and antennae. Behind them, someone holds up a sign asking passers-by whether they want to become aliens. © 福島市いいの街なか活性化委員会

A costumed group at the UFO Festival 2025, with members in pink wigs and silver masks at the front and purple one-eyed alien headpieces behind. They hold a hand-drawn sign for a mock hostess bar named after Senganmori, the local hill associated with UFO sightings. A man in a maroon blazer stands beside them holding a bag of rice, one of the festival prizes. © 福島市いいの街なか活性化委員会

Four participants at the UFO Festival 2025, posing in front of a traditional storehouse with a tiled roof. Two have blue striped body paint and pointed ears, one is in a black suit and sunglasses, and one wears a green full-face alien mask with yellow eyes and antennae. © 福島市いいの街なか活性化委員会

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 01/10/2026

Kyoto Night Market holds a Halloween edition on 3 and 4 October, spread across the plaza in front of Kyoto City Hall and the Zest Oike underground mall below. On 4 October, a yokai parade of Japanese folklore spirits and monsters moves between the two venues.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 30/09/2026

The Yamanashi Prefectural Museum holds the largest exhibition to date of kaiki, a silk once made in the prefecture and used as the hidden lining of kimono jackets, from 10 October to 30 November. More than 100 jackets and fabric samples will be shown.

The front of the exhibition flyer. The title "Kaiki Monogatari" appears in large gold Japanese lettering with the English title "The Inner Sensibility of 'Kaiki'" above it. The dates, 10 October to 30 November 2026, sit in the centre, surrounded by a patchwork of striped, checked, and patterned kaiki fabrics in a decorative frame. Provided by Yamanashi Prefecture

The back of the exhibition flyer, in Japanese. It has an introduction to kaiki, photos of exhibits including a fabric sample book, a parasol, lined jackets, a kimono, and an old photo of a child in Western clothes. Below are listings of lectures, workshops, and factory tours, plus access information and a map. Provided by Yamanashi Prefecture

A fabric sample of picture kaiki silk, with wide turquoise and orange horizontal bands. The orange bands carry a star-like geometric hemp-leaf pattern, and soft-edged maple leaves and flowers in orange, blue, and green overlap the bands. Provided by Yamanashi Prefecture

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 30/09/2026

Until 23 November, visitors to the Hakone Glass no Mori Museum in Kanagawa can see 300 stalks of silver grass made from some 30,000 crystal glass beads in its garden. They are modelled on the grass fields of nearby Sengokuhara, which turn gold in autumn.

The Hakone Glass no Mori Museum garden in autumn, with red and orange maple leaves framing European-style stone buildings beside a pond. A white glass sculpture rises from a small island in the pond, a bridge beneath a sparkling arch of crystal glass leads into the garden, and wooded mountains rise behind. Provided by Daikoku Denki Co., Ltd.

Stalks of silver grass made from strings of crystal glass beads, glittering in the sunlight in front of a stone cottage with a steep tiled roof and ivy-covered walls. Provided by Daikoku Denki Co., Ltd.

A two-storey stone museum building with a wooden balcony and a curving staircase. Colourful glass balloons on long coloured strings hang from the balcony, and two green banners mark the museum's 30th anniversary. Provided by Daikoku Denki Co., Ltd.

Glass balloons in blue, green, red, and white, some striped and some speckled with colour, hanging from a round wooden ceiling with rafters that radiate from the centre. Provided by Daikoku Denki Co., Ltd.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 29/09/2026

A 3.8-metre turtle mikoshi made by about 70 Tokyo University of the Arts students for this year's Geisai festival is now for sale on the Dipsy marketplace for ¥1.5 million until 6 October. If no buyer is found, it will be scrapped. A mikoshi is a portable shrine carried at festivals.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 29/09/2026

"Meet Your Art Festival" returns to Tennozu, Tokyo, from 9 to 12 October, with more than 150 artists. Highlights include an exhibition directed by actor Mirai Moriyama, two art fairs, outdoor works, and a box set of drawings Yoko Ono made at 19. avex.jp/en/meetyoura...

Key visual for Meet Your Art Festival 2026: "MYAF" and "Meet Your Art Festival" in large black lettering over a wavy orange shape on a white background. The dates 9 to 12 October 2026 and "Tokyo Tennoz Canal Area" run vertically beside it, with the labels Art, Music, Food, Fashion, and Lifestyle down the left side. Provided by Avex Creator Agency Inc.

Shota Yamauchi's "In Between... Us?": a large white sculpture of curving, root-like branches outlined in glowing light, built around a scaffolding frame in a park at dusk. Two people stand inside it. Artwork image: photography by Ryota Haraguchi, direction by Sho Kikuchi (Nippachi Seisakusho)

Dan Isomura's "Informe-ation Center #131": a close-up video of a sleeping face projected onto a wall in a darkened gallery. Soap bubbles float out of openings at the nostrils and gather in a pile on the floor. Photo: Ujin Matsuo

A drawing from Yoko Ono's "Invisible Flower": six thin, wavering pencil lines, each topped with a small loop like a flower head, on cream paper. © Yoko Ono

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 28/09/2026

Pandorobo (bread thief), and Nise-Pandorobo (his impostor) are on displays at JR Ikebukuro Station until 4 October, ahead of the anime's 2 October premiere. Based on Keiko Shibata's picture books, it follows a mouse disguised as a loaf of bread, searching for the world's tastiest bread.

A giant plush Pandorobo, a mouse disguised as a loaf of white bread with half-closed eyes, whiskers, and a red nose, wrapped around a pillar in a station concourse. Behind it, more pillars are covered in yellow Pandorobo posters. ©柴田ケイコ・KADOKAWA/パンどろぼう製作委員会 Provided by KADOKAWA Corporation.

A giant plush Nise-Pandorobo, a round bread roll with buck teeth, whiskers, and sleepy green eyes, wrapped around a pillar in a station concourse. Yellow Pandorobo posters cover the pillars behind it. ©柴田ケイコ・KADOKAWA/パンどろぼう製作委員会 Provided by KADOKAWA Corporation.

A front view of the giant plush Pandorobo figure: a slice-shaped loaf of white bread with a mouse's half-closed blue eyes, red nose, open mouth, and grey feet poking out below. ©柴田ケイコ・KADOKAWA/パンどろぼう製作委員会 Provided by KADOKAWA Corporation.

Artwork for the Pandorobo anime showing the title in orange lettering above a forest scene. Pandorobo in his loaf disguise stands beside a cat hidden in a baguette and Nise-Pandorobo in a round roll. A smiling baker with bread-shaped hair stands behind them, and a tree stump in front is covered with assorted breads and pastries. ©柴田ケイコ・KADOKAWA/パンどろぼう製作委員会 Provided by KADOKAWA Corporation.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 27/09/2026

We present our Song of the Week! #HeyJapanSOTW Tomoko Soryo - City Lights By The Moonlight Apple Music: music.apple.com/song/city-li... Spotify: open.spotify.com/album/3T28jN...

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 26/09/2026

The Miho Museum in Koka, Shiga, was designed by I. M. Pei and modelled on a Chinese legend of a hidden paradise. Until 6 December, it hosts "Hyakusaiji Temple and the Buddhist Art of Omi", including a normally hidden 8th-century Kannon statue. www.hey-japan.com/event/hyakus...

The Miho Museum's glass-roofed entrance building, seen from inside a curved metal-lined tunnel, with suspension bridge cables and green trees in front of it. © MIHO MUSEUM

A wooden temple gate at the top of worn stone steps, with giant straw sandals hanging on either side of the entrance. It is framed by tall cedars and orange autumn maple leaves. © MIHO MUSEUM

A seated wooden Buddhist statue with one knee raised and a hand resting against its cheek. It wears an ornate metal openwork crown with dangling beads, and gold patterning shows on the robes. © MIHO MUSEUM

A handmade red-glazed tea bowl with a speckled, uneven surface, standing on a tatami mat. © MIHO MUSEUM

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 25/09/2026

"Go to Edo", a free exhibition at Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library in Minato City, runs from 24 October to 8 November. It looks at Edo as a tourist destination through ukiyo-e, district maps, board games, and Important Cultural Property drawings of Edo Castle from the Kora family.

Promotional banner for the exhibition "Go to Edo: A Tourist's Guide to the Great City of Edo" at Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library, showing a bird's-eye ukiyo-e board game map of Edo with Mount Fuji on the horizon and the title, dates, and venue details on the right. © Tokyo Metropolitan Government

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 24/09/2026

Cosmos and Kochia Festa runs from 3 to 30 October at Expo '70 Commemorative Park in Suita, Osaka. Around 150,000 cosmos and 3,600 kochia bushes turning red cover Flower Hill, with muhlenbergia on the northern slope, plus weekend markets, workshops, and a brass band concert.

A field of pink, magenta, and white cosmos on Flower Hill at Expo '70 Commemorative Park, with a wooden viewing platform at the left and woodland under a clear sky. Provided by Yoshimoto Kogyo Co., Ltd.

Bands of white, orange, yellow, and pink cosmos separated by a path on the slope of Flower Hill at Expo '70 Commemorative Park, with a wooden viewing deck in the top right. Provided by Yoshimoto Kogyo Co., Ltd.

Rows of round kochia bushes in shades of crimson and orange on Flower Hill at Expo '70 Commemorative Park, with a tree line in the background. Provided by Yoshimoto Kogyo Co., Ltd.

Feathery pink plumes of muhlenbergia on the northern slope of Flower Hill at Expo '70 Commemorative Park, behind a low rope fence with trees behind. Provided by Yoshimoto Kogyo Co., Ltd.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 23/09/2026

The "Tokyo International Pen Show" returns for its ninth year from 21 to 23 November at the Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Trade Centre in Hamamatsucho. Fountain pens, inks, and paper from makers, shops, and independent craftspeople, including one-off pieces and small-batch runs.

Rows of handmade wooden fountain pens with chrome fittings displayed in a felt-lined wooden tray at the Tokyo International Pen Show, each with a paper price tag; the barrels show a range of grains and colours from pale maple to dark burl. © Tokyo International Pen Show Executive Committee

A pale blue fountain pen with gold trim resting in a brass pen tray on a display counter at the "Tokyo International Pen Show", with a matching cap and a second pen shown on clear acrylic stands behind it. © Tokyo International Pen Show Executive Committee

A crowded exhibition hall at the "Tokyo International Pen Show", with visitors browsing exhibitor tables under hanging booth signs such as Glass Studio "Gabi"; trays of pens and stacks of notebooks are laid out on the tables in the foreground. © Tokyo International Pen Show Executive Committee

A long queue of visitors waiting outside the venue of the "Tokyo International Pen Show", holding printed guides beneath numbered signs marking ticket groups, with high-rise buildings visible in the background. © Tokyo International Pen Show Executive Committee

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 22/09/2026

Tsuruga Castle in Aizu-Wakamatsu, Fukushima hosts Projection Mapping 2026 from November 20 – 22, 17:30 – 21:00. Animations inspired by Aizu lacquerware, painted candles and cotton play on the keep, with a new sea-of-clouds effect. Free entry.

Tsuruga Castle keep covered in golden floral projections during Tsuruga Castle Projection Mapping 2025, with green light beams above and illuminated pine trees on either side, seen over the heads of spectators. © HITOHATA,INC.

Wide view of Tsuruga Castle Projection Mapping 2025: the keep and stone walls lit with gold ink-painting imagery, two red-crowned cranes projected on the left wall, blue light beams overhead and a crowd filming on phones. © HITOHATA,INC.

Tsuruga Castle glowing in blue, purple, pink and orange light at Tsuruga Castle Projection Mapping 2025, surrounded by pine trees bathed in blue and laser beams radiating across the sky. © HITOHATA,INC.

Tsuruga Castle keep lit in yellow and red patterned projections at Tsuruga Castle Projection Mapping 2025, with white light beams fanning into the night sky and silhouetted spectators in the foreground. © HITOHATA,INC.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 21/09/2026

Every 15 minutes after dark, Nagoya Castle's main keep, the ground around it, and the nearby trees turn gold together. The "Be GOLD" illumination also lights the stone walls and fills Ninomaru Garden with mist. Until 4 October, then 18–24 October, 17:00–20:00.

Poster for "Be GOLD", Nagoya Castle's night-time illumination. An illustrated aerial view shows the main keep glowing gold above dark trees, with blue and gold wave patterns projected along the walls and green laser beams fanning across the grounds. Text: 19 September–4 October and 18–24 October 2026, illumination 17:00–20:00. © Nagoya City

Nagoya Castle's main keep and smaller keep lit in warm gold against a deep blue evening sky, with thin green and white laser lines tracing across their walls and roofs. Yellow, green, and orange rectangles of light are projected across the empty courtyard in front. © Nagoya City

Ninomaru Garden in the grounds of Nagoya Castle at night, with pines and maples lit in green and amber. Pink and violet mist drifts between the rocks of a dry pond, and small spotlights pick out grasses in blue and gold. © Nagoya City

A white corner turret at Nagoya Castle covered in a pale blue, water-like projection, standing on a high stone wall washed in shifting gold and green light. The main keep is visible in the distance on the left, lit in white and blue. © Nagoya City

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 21/09/2026

We present our Song of the Week! #HeyJapanSOTW Frank Nagai - Tokyo Cachito Apple Music: music.apple.com/song/tokyo-c... Spotify: open.spotify.com/track/0k7gsn...

Frank Nagai - Tokyo Cachito ℗ Victor Entertainment

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 20/09/2026

For fans of Japanese horror: a Tokyo exhibition of scenes built in the style of the genre by Japanese film set artists, with a 1970s–80s setting. Visitors can walk in and take photos. Gallery AaMo, Tokyo Dome City, until 8 November.

Outdoor banner for the exhibition "Re: Touching Horror – The World of Film Art", Tokyo. White brush-style Japanese title on black, with photos of a gravestone, a dark corridor, a figure's shadow on paper screens, and a wooden bucket lit in red. Dates: 19 September–8 November 2026, 13:00–21:00. ©松竹お化け屋本舗

Exhibition set of a closed-down tailor's shop. A cracked, grimy plaster shopfront has an open door showing dressmaker's dummies inside, and a display window holding a dark jacket, a faded poster of two men in suits, shoes, and a headless, bloodstained figure draped in white cloth. ©松竹お化け屋本舗

Exhibition set of a dim, soot-stained room. A life-size figure of a balding man in a bloodied shirt sits slumped in a wooden armchair, holding a thin tool in one hand. A pale, mask-like face with long black hair lies on the floorboards at his feet. ©松竹お化け屋本舗

Exhibition set of a grimy old washroom. A stained concrete wall holds two small mirrors, one glowing blue from behind, above a stone sink with a tap and cup. A side table carries vintage toiletries: boxed soap, toothpaste, a hairbrush, an iron kettle, and a washboard. ©松竹お化け屋本舗

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 19/09/2026

Ibaraki Prefecture has 42 designated traditional craft products. Thirteen of them, from Kasama pottery and Makabe stone lanterns to paulownia clogs and handmade brooms, come to the Iias Tsukuba shopping centre on 2–4 October. Fifteen makers will sell, demonstrate, and teach. Entry is free.

Poster for the 46th Ibaraki Traditional Crafts Exhibition, 2–4 October 2026, 10:00–18:00, "Iias Tsukuba". Japanese text on a yellow and orange hemp-leaf pattern, ringed by craft items including a broom, a red lion head, paulownia chests, wooden clogs, a stone lantern, and a kumiko lamp. Provided by Lives Co., Ltd.

Four photos of small craft gifts: packets of incense sticks, thin wooden postcards, a hand-stitched fabric pouch in a clear bag, and ceramic pieces shaped like chestnuts and lotus root slices. Japanese caption: limited gifts for visitors who answer a survey. Provided by Lives Co., Ltd.

Two photos. Left: hexagonal wooden kumiko coasters with a hemp-leaf lattice pattern. Right: hands shaping small pieces of brown incense into a leaf, a flower, and a crescent moon. Japanese captions list each workshop at 1,500 yen and about 30 minutes. Provided by Lives Co., Ltd.

Collage of five photos from a previous edition of the exhibition: a man in a happi coat showing a red lion head to a woman holding a baby, craft stalls in a shopping centre atrium, a broom maker binding straw, a woman cutting fabric beside a paulownia chest, and a clay workshop table. Provided by Lives Co., Ltd.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 19/09/2026

Tokyo Game Show's first-ever five-day run just became a four-day run. Typhoon No. 25 has cancelled Monday, Sept 21. Sunday goes ahead as planned, under a forecast of heavy rain and strong winds. Monday tickets get refunded; Sunday's don't. Some Monday stage events may stream online instead.

tgs.cesa.or.jp

[Important Notice] Regarding the Events on September 20 (Sun) and 21 (Mon, Holiday) Due to the Approach of Typhoon No. 25 | TOKYO GAME SHOW 2026

Held at Makuhari Messe from September 17th (Thu) to 21st (Mon)! This year's TGS, celebrating its 30th anniversary, has the theme "Longest Five Days of Nonstop Play." With a scaled-up amount of fun…

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 19/09/2026

At Tokyo Game Show 2026, the Game Academy area is where schools present student work. Niigata Computer College adds a local touch: Niigata is known for its rice, so the school is giving away small bags of Koshihikari labelled "No Rice! No Game!" A nice goodie in this economy 😃

A hand holds up a small brown paper bag of Niigata-grown Koshihikari rice labelled "No Rice! No Game!" from Niigata Computer College, with the blue Game Academy Area sign hanging from the roof of the hall at Tokyo Game Show 2026 in the background.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 18/09/2026

Tokyo Game Show 2026 opens to the public tomorrow at Makuhari Messe in Chiba. For its 30th anniversary the show has three public days, one more than last year, running 19–21 September. www.hey-japan.com/event/tokyo-...

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 17/09/2026

Momotaro and Kintaro never meet in their own folk tales. Kunisada put them in a sumo ring anyway, and that print is being rebuilt on the ground at Odaiba out of 25,000 carnations and 250kg of coloured sand, 17 to 19 October.

The May 2026 Odaiba Infiorata at sunset, a long infiorata of red, yellow, purple, and white petals in a bird design with a geometric border, roped off across the deck, with the fountain, Rainbow Bridge, and Tokyo skyline lit behind it. Provided by HANAE JAPAN.

Volunteers kneeling on a printed groundsheet at the May 2026 event, laying coloured petals by hand from buckets to fill in the design, with plastic bags of petals, water sprayers, and onlookers around the edges. Provided by HANAE JAPAN.

Utagawa Kunisada's print of Momotaro and Kaidomaru, two child wrestlers gripping each other in a sumo ring on a pink ground, with attendants in patterned robes on either side and a green judge's fan raised at the right. Provided by HANAE JAPAN.

Mock-up of how the finished infiorata is planned to look on the deck at Odaiba Marine Park, with two child sumo wrestlers locked together on a pink ground, lit by lamps along the railing, and the Tokyo Aqua Symphony fountain, Rainbow Bridge, and bay skyline behind. Provided by HANAE JAPAN.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 16/09/2026

Long before the "Great Wave", Hokusai spent years illustrating novels and drawing manuals, among them the "Hokusai Manga". "Hokusai: Katsushika Hokusai and Taito Periods" runs at the Iwami Art Museum in Shimane, 19 Sept to 9 Nov, with almost the whole show swapped out on 15 Oct.

Poster for the Hokusai exhibition at the Shimane Prefectural Iwami Art Museum, with the character 北斎 in large brush script across an orange-to-green ground. Reproductions of Hokusai book illustrations run down either side, including a seated figure before a burst of rays and a robed figure in a landscape, with the dates and venue in the lower left. © Shimane Arts Center

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 15/09/2026

For three evenings, a beach in Ibaraki is given over to light. Night Park OARAI runs 30 Oct – 1 Nov at Oarai Sun Beach: blue light drawn along the breaking waves, a glowing sand hill, and 20-odd food vans. Free, 15:00–21:00. www.hey-japan.com/event/night-...

"NIGHT WAVE": The shoreline seen from above at night, with lines of bright blue light thrown along the breaking waves so the surf reads as glowing stripes, and small groups of people watching from the dark sand. © Oarai Tourism Association

"RADIANT GRID / Moon":
A large open scaffolding structure lit in blue and violet against a starry sky, hung with rows of green, yellow, and orange discs, with a glowing yellow moon at its centre. © Oarai Tourism Association

"Shimmering Breeze": Visitors walking on the sand among hundreds of strips of mirror tape hung from overhead wires, the strips catching light in blue, gold, and violet and scattering points of light across the beach. © Oarai Tourism Association

"Luminous Sand": A large cone of sand on the beach at night, lit in blue and pink and projected with shells, spirals, and starfish, ringed by a glowing chain and small ground lights, with a lit tent behind. © Oarai Tourism Association

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 15/09/2026

The Japan Game Awards 2026: the grand prize went to a Pokémon game with no battles in it, voted for by people aged 5 to 79. "Word Game", built entirely out of kanji, took the Game Designers Award — the last one ever given. Full list of winners: www.hey-japan.com/post/japan-g...

Miyata Toshiya of Kis-My-Ft2, in a dark suit, and pianist Harami-chan, in a white and black outfit, wave on stage beneath a Japan Game Awards 2026 banner with CESA logos. © Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA)

Miyata Toshiya hands a bouquet to a Pokémon Pokopia developer on stage, while another developer stands with the trophy. The screen shows the Grand Award seal and the Switch 2 box art. © Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA)

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 15/09/2026

We present our Song of the Week! #HeyJapanSOTW Snow Man - show time... Apple Music: music.apple.com/song/show-ti... Spotify: open.spotify.com/track/0SdzkJ... Our weekly pick - personal taste, no charts involved. Spotlighting Japanese artists across every genre, so there's something for everyone.

Snow Man - show time... ℗ 2026 MENT RECORDING INC.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 14/09/2026

Oden started as tofu on a stick. The name is short for "o-dengaku," the miso-glazed skewers of the Edo era; the simmering-in-dashi version came later. Now it's the smell of autumn: daikon, egg, hanpen and shiitake stewing for hours until the broth does the work. The mustard is not optional.

A ceramic bowl of oden in golden broth: two wedges of daikon dusted with chilli, a whole soft-boiled egg gone amber, a white hanpen fish cake stamped with a brown character design, a dark shiitake mushroom, and a dab of yellow karashi mustard on the rim. A small dish of ganmodoki, a blue-and-white plate with chopsticks, and a folded towel sit behind on a wooden counter.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 13/09/2026

Shibuya Crossing at 1:80 scale. Small Worlds in Ariake is 7,000 m² of miniature Tokyo, a snowbound soba town, a neon Chinatown with robots on the roof, and a crashed EVA-01. You can also get 3D-scanned and move in as a figure for a year. www.hey-japan.com/place/small-...

A dense miniature Chinatown street with a red-and-gold ornamental gate, tram tracks running through it, glowing vertical signs, and colourful robots and monster figures standing on the rooftops.

Shibuya's scramble crossing in miniature from above: hundreds of tiny painted figures crossing the striped walkways and casting long shadows, with a glass building labelled "STARBACKS COFFEE" and "TATSUYA" on the corner and a green bus waiting behind.

A large purple, green and orange head of Evangelion Unit-01 with a single yellow eye and a long horn, lying on its side in a heap of grey rubble against a cracked concrete wall.

A miniature snow-covered mountain village at dusk, lit blue, with warm light glowing from a two-storey soba shop whose vertical sign reads おそば更科, a greengrocer's stall, a ryokan sign, and a lone figure in a hat walking up the snowy lane.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 12/09/2026

Around 100 hot-air balloons rise over the Kase River at the Saga International Balloon Fiesta, Asia's largest, 30 Oct – 3 Nov in Saga, Kyushu. Flights at dawn and late afternoon, glowing balloons at night, and free to watch. www.hey-japan.com/event/saga-i...

Balloons rising in the distance above a green embankment lined with spectators, with the whole scene mirrored upside down in the still water of the Kase River in the foreground. © Saga Prefectural Cultural Tourism Federation

Aerial view of dozens of hot-air balloons over Saga's rice fields at dawn, some already aloft and others still inflating on the launch field beside the Kase River, with the city hazy on the horizon. © Saga Prefectural Cultural Tourism Federation

Character-shaped balloons inflated on the grass against a clear blue sky at Balloon Fantasia, including a giant orange cat wearing green leaves and a small yellow bear, with crowds of spectators watching from a path below. © Saga Prefectural Cultural Tourism Federation

Rows of balloons glowing from within against the night sky at La Montgolfier Nocturne, including character shapes and one marked with the kanji for treasure, as a large crowd watches from the grass. © Saga Prefectural Cultural Tourism Federation

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 12/09/2026

Mt. Fuji's trails closed on Thursday. Until July, it's a mountain for looking at, not walking on. We spent one of the last days at the Hōei crater, the gash blown into Fuji's flank in 1707, the last time it erupted. Ash fell on Edo for weeks. Now: a few shrubs, a sea of clouds, nobody in a hurry.

Looking down a ridge of black volcanic rock into the Hōei crater, a wide grey bowl dotted with green shrubs and small pines, above a thick white sea of clouds.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 10/09/2026

"Dai Yankee Ten", a hands-on exhibition dedicated to "Yankee" culture, runs at Hiroshima PARCO from 2 to 18 October. In Japan, "Yankee" refers to the rebellious youth of the 1970s and '80s, known for their modified school uniforms and customised motorbikes.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 09/09/2026

KYO-MAF, Kyoto's international manga and anime fair, runs 19 and 20 September. Main halls at Miyako Messe and ROHM Theatre Kyoto, 9:00 to 17:00, plus a second venue at the Kyoto International Manga Museum until 19:00. www.hey-japan.com/event/kyoto-...

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 09/09/2026

Two Tokyo cinemas are showing the work of Kon Satoshi from 9 to 12 October, the month he was born. Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers and Paprika screen from 4K restorations, and Paranoia Agent runs overnight in one sitting. www.hey-japan.com/event/kon-sa...

Main visual for the Kon Satoshi Birthday Festival 2026: Collage of characters from Kon Satoshi's films on a gold ground, made for the festival by the artist Q-TA. ©1997 MADHOUSE ©2001 千年女優製作委員会 ©2003 今敏・マッドハウス／東京ゴッドファーザーズ製作委員会 ©今敏／株式会社ﾏｯﾄﾞﾊｳｽ／「妄想代理人」製作委員会 ©2006 MADHOUSE / Sony Pictures Entertainment (Japan) Inc.

Black and white portrait of the director Kon Satoshi, in glasses, looking away from the camera. Provided by Humax Entertainment Co., Ltd.

Still from "Perfect Blue": Three singers at microphones on stage in matching pink costumes. ©1997 MADHOUSE

Still from "Paprika": Paprika lying against a red surface, looking towards the viewer. ©2006 MADHOUSE / Sony Pictures Entertainment (Japan) Inc.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 09/09/2026

Oh, these are hella cute 😈

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 08/09/2026

September 9 is now officially Attack on Titan Day. Japan's Anniversary Association has registered the date with Kodansha, marking the day in 2009 when Hajime Isayama's manga began serialisation in Bessatsu Shonen Magazine.

A framed certificate from the Japan Anniversary Association registering Attack on Titan Day on September 9, dated 2 September 2026 and issued to Kodansha. It rests against the base of a large wooden carving of a figure holding a fish, inside a wood-panelled interior. Provided by Kodansha Ltd.

A black promotional poster for Attack on Titan Day. The numerals 9/9 are drawn as large white shapes filled with dense monochrome manga illustrations of Titans. Above them, Japanese text with English translation announces the date the story began, alongside the Japanese and English titles. © 諫山倒/講談社
© 諫山・講談社／「進弊の巨人」The Final Season 製作委員会. Provided by Kodansha Ltd.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 08/09/2026

KADOKAWA publishes "Ramen Walker" prefecture by prefecture, a new edition of each every year. The latest Miyagi volume has 98 pages: shops arranged by area, a grand prix judged by ramen professionals with the editors, a market report, and a map you can tear out. Japanese only.

Cover of Ramen Walker Miyagi 2027, KADOKAWA's Japanese-language ramen guide, with a bowl of ramen photographed from above and the prefecture's cities listed down the side. Provided by Kadokawa Ascii Research Laboratories, Inc.

A feature analysing Ramen-do Sendaikko, a Miyagi chain, with its broth strengths, noodle thicknesses and the options that can be asked for when ordering. Provided by Kadokawa Ascii Research Laboratories, Inc.

A spread from the guide covering shops in Sendai, each entry with a photograph of the bowl, its price and the shop's details. Provided by Kadokawa Ascii Research Laboratories, Inc.

The pull-out ramen map that comes with Ramen Walker Miyagi, marking shops across central Sendai and other parts of the prefecture. Provided by Kadokawa Ascii Research Laboratories, Inc.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 07/09/2026

We present our Song of the Week! #HeyJapanSOTW AKB48 - Tsubasa wa Iranai Apple Music: music.apple.com/song/tsubasa... Spotify: open.spotify.com/track/3cArNR... Our weekly pick, personal taste, no charts involved. Spotlighting Japanese artists across every genre, so there's something for everyone.

AKB48 - Tsubasa wa Iranai ℗ 2016 King Record Co.,Ltd.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 07/09/2026

There is always next year. 🙃

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 07/09/2026

Feel free to share them with us, we like to see them 😊

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 07/09/2026

"Spice and Wolf" turns 20. Tokyo 9 to 13 September, Prism Hall at Tokyo Fuji University, Shimo-Ochiai, with new spring and summer artwork. Osaka 26 September to 4 October at Seaside Studio CASO, with autumn and winter.

Poster for the "Spice and Wolf 20th Anniversary Exhibition". Holo, drawn with wolf ears and tail, sits on a cart holding a bitten apple and looks back over her shoulder, with Lorence standing behind her against a blue sky. The title and a gold 20th anniversary emblem fill the upper left, with Tokyo and Osaka dates and venues listed below in Japanese. A blue band across the bottom advertises the J-Culture Exchange 2026 Forum with headshots of the panellists. Provided by MAT Inc.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 06/09/2026

Kimono EXPO 2026, free entry. Tokyo 7 to 12 Oct, Tokyo Kotsu Kaikan, 2-10-1 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku. Osaka 14 to 18 Oct, Midosuji Hall, 1-4-5 Nishi-Shinsaibashi, Chuo-ku. Weavers and dyers from across Japan, plus hands-on kimono workshops.

Key visual for Kimono EXPO 2026 on a pale turquoise gradient. A gold decorative cord is tied in a looped knot at the centre, with pale family-crest motifs of birds and flowers scattered across the background and the event name in Japanese and English. Provided by Ichikura Co., Ltd.

A grid of eight close-up photographs of kimono and obi fabrics, showing woven geometric borders, painted floral designs in blue and gold, bolts of striped cloth stacked in rows, an iridescent purple weave, and a grey obi with a black cat and butterflies. Provided by Ichikura Co., Ltd.

A grid of eight photographs showing items made in the workshops: embroidered han-eri collars, a floral motif stretched in an embroidery hoop, a printed cup, a colourful dyed design, hairpins topped with fragments of patterned ceramic, a beaded chain ornament, a woman having coloured fabrics held against her shoulder, and folded flower ornaments on a ribbon. Provided by Ichikura Co., Ltd.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 04/09/2026

At Katakai Matsuri in Ojiya, Niigata, the fireworks are offerings to Asahara Shrine, paid for by townspeople to mark a coming of age, a wedding, a death. The largest shell weighs 420 kg. 11 and 12 September, free to attend. www.hey-japan.com/event/kataka...

Poster for Katakai Matsuri 2026, showing a golden firework filling the frame above a crowd in festival dress. A man in a happi coat stands on a raised platform with a large drum, and Japanese text gives the dates as 11 and 12 September. © Ojiya City

A vast firework bursting in the night sky above wooded hills at Katakai, its golden trails falling in a dome shape with smaller green, red and pink bursts inside. Below, a large crowd watches from behind a red and white barrier, lit by rows of paper lanterns. © Ojiya City

Men in patterned happi coats haul a lantern-covered festival float through Katakai at night, ropes over their shoulders. Paper lanterns marked with the neighbourhood association's name hang from the float, and one man rides on top with a microphone. © Ojiya City

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 04/09/2026

Senso-ji's Main Hall gets projection mapping for the first time ever. ASAKUSA CULTURE & LIGHTS 2026 runs 30 October to 3 November, 18:00 to 21:30, free to watch. Same nights, the normally closed Denboin Garden opens for a paid special viewing with around 50 Edo-era votive paintings.

Rendering of projection mapping on Sensō-ji's Main Hall, with an enormous golden dragon coiling across the sweeping roof above a landscape of temple buildings and cherry blossoms. Green laser beams cross the starry sky, and the vermilion hall and its red lantern glow below. Provided by HITOHATA,INC.

Sensoji's five-storied pagoda lit in purple and blue, seen through pine branches and golden autumn maple leaves from across the Denboin Garden pond. The pagoda and trees reflect in the still water, with a full moon in the night sky above. Provided by HITOHATA,INC.

The interior of Sensoji's Emado hall, a narrow gallery hung with large framed votive paintings from the Edo period showing robed figures and horses. A small armored guardian statue stands on a plinth in the centre, with a staircase leading up into the room. Provided by HITOHATA,INC.

Sensoji's Hozomon gate lit in vivid blue projection mapping at night, with beams of light fanning into the sky and the five-storied pagoda glowing purple and red beside it. A dense crowd of visitors watches from the temple grounds, many holding up phones. Provided by HITOHATA,INC.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 03/09/2026

"ENJOY YOURSELF MASK," says the packet. Directly underneath, in Japanese: blocks pollen, dust and droplets. The English is a mood. The Japanese is a spec sheet. You are, in fact, being invited to enjoy yourself while filtering cedar pollen.

A white foil mask packet hanging from a hook on a wire shop rack, photographed close up. Large text across the middle reads "ENJOY YOURSELF MASK", with a line of Japanese beneath it stating that it blocks pollen, dust and droplets, then the word "White" in cursive script. Below that is a line drawing of a three-dimensional face mask with grey ear loops.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 02/09/2026

Eki stamps are free rubber stamps kept at Japanese stations, each designed around the local area. Collectors keep dedicated stamp books, though some desks also put out paper slips to take. Ryogoku's (Tokyo) shows a sumo wrestler, since the Kokugikan sumo arena is next door.

A station stamp desk at Ryogoku Station, set up on an orange-topped table beside the green ticket gates. A tall yellow sign reads "Station Stamp is Here!!" above the Ryogoku design, which shows a sumo wrestler beside a mitsudomoe crest. On the table sit rolls of paper slips labelled "Feel Free To Take One", a stand for the digital version, an ink pad, and the wooden stamp on a green cord. Sumo banners hang from the ceiling behind.

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Hey Japan! @hey-japan.com · 01/09/2026

Saizeriya's spot-the-difference puzzle is back in a new edition. Ten differences, drawn in-house by staff who clearly have something to prove. It was pulled once in 2007 after a regular complained they'd finished their whole meal and still hadn't found them all. How many can you spot?

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