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Tokyo Events This Week: Golden Dragon Dance, Traditional Archery, and Autumn Light-Ups
What's a Cheapo to do this week?
Tokyo Cheapo
October 12, 2025
Tokyo events for Monday, October 13, to Sunday, October 19, 2025.
There’s a certain pleasant chill in the air, which means it’s finally time to grab your favorite jacket and celebrate autumn. This week’s got early Halloween parties, park illuminations, cultural events, and some more traditional fare. Check out some of our favorites below.
Oct 18th
Catch local volunteers parade a golden dragon on their shoulders at the Asakusa Golden Dragon Dance. A lovingly designed golden dragon is carried through the streets surrounding Sensōji Temple. It’ll be accompanied by streams of children and geisha as it makes its way along the route.
Oct 18th - 19th
The festival features spectacular festival floats carrying exquisitely crafted dolls, which are pulled around the center of Koedo-Kawagoe’s landmark Kurazukuri (traditional warehouse architecture) Zone.
Oct 11th - 13th
Yōkai Bon Odori opens a doorway into the spirit world — and you’re invited to dance your way through. While Obon is typically centered on community and ancestral spirits, the Yōkai Bon Odori takes that tradition and puts its own twist on it, inviting dancers to slip into the skins of naughty spirits, ghosts, and goblins.
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Oct 18th
Dive into the very best of Hungary at the sixth Hungary Festival in Odaiba. On top of that, expect a wide range of cultural programs, food trucks serving delectable Hungarian cuisine, market stalls, and more.
Oct 13th
Also known as Takadanobaba Yabusame, this is a chance to watch yabusame, the impressive Japanese martial art of horse-mounted archery (it’s quite difficult to hit a target from a moving horse) in Toyama Park.
Oct 18th
This Diwali celebration in Yokohama is one of the largest India-related festivals in all of Japan. Around 200,000 people celebrate Diwali — the Indian festival of lights — in Yokohama.
Oct 18th
Who says fireworks are only for the summer months? The Fujisawa Enoshima Fireworks Festival takes place in October. This year will see a 30-minute fireworks display.
Oct 19th
The Pirates of Tokyo Bay is a monthly English and Japanese improv comedy show performed at What The Dickens! in Ebisu. The unscripted and interactive shows, performed in both English and Japanese, feature a mix of skits, games, and audience participation from a team of dedicated improv comedy nerds.
Oct 18th - 19th
Music spills out onto the streets at the Sumida Street Jazz Festival. There will also be craft beer and food vendors serving wild game and more.
Oct 17th - 19th
Ikebukuro Egg Festival, also known as Tamago Fes, celebrates the much-loved Japanese dish tamago kake gohan (rice topped with raw egg and soy sauce).
Oct 18th - 19th
Originally, the entirety of Kiba Park was occupied by a giant log pond used for supplying lumber to Edo. This festival offers a glimpse of some of this heritage with the opportunity to see ‘Kaku Nori’ — a form of entertainment developed during the Edo era in which performers balance on floating semi-milled logs.
Oct 15th - 19th
The College Women’s Association of Japan (CWAJ) welcomes you to the 68th CWAJ Contemporary Print Exhibition. There will also be free guided tours and a ‘Hands-on Art Program’ which allows visually impaired guests at the exhibition to enjoy art in a unique way.
Oct 18th - 19th
The Indonesia–Japan Citizens Friendship Festival takes place at the Yoyogi Park Events Square and offers a whole host of traditional food, performances, and more.
Oct 16th - 19th
Join Tokyo International Players for a whirlwind of wit and mystery as the group takes on a comedic adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Oct 19th
In Japanese, nyan is the sound a cat makes, but this festival (for cat lovers, by cat lovers) will get plenty of humans purring, too. There will be 500 booths filled with cat-inspired products: posters, paintings, mugs, mittens with kittens — you name it.
Oct 18th - 19th
Back From The Grave’s yearly Halloween Bash is back for 2025 with a plethora of bands. Artists from around Japan fill two days with drinks, tunes, costumes, and rock n’ roll debauchery galore.
Oct 19th - 20th
The fair is known for a number of vendors selling the local specialty called bettara-zuke (sweet and salty daikon radish pickles).
Oct 10th - 20th
Entitled Long Autumn Nights, this is an opportunity to see one of the city’s most beautiful parks lit up after dark.
Oct 16th - 21st
Step into a world where nostalgia meets playful charm, and humor blends with unexpected creativity. This dazzling showcase of kawaii expressions, born from the collaboration of AI and human artists, unfolds in a one-of-a-kind, dreamlike setting.
Oct 9th - 26th
Shimokitazawa is known for its thrift stores, record stores, and indie music venues, but did you know it’s also the home of some of the best curry in Tokyo?
Oct 11th - 26th
Shinrin Park in Saitama Prefecture will hold a light-up and illumination event. Celebrate Halloween in nature. The event runs on weekends and holidays only between Saturday, October 11, and Sunday, October 26.
Oct 10th - 26th
The Hibiya Cinema Festival runs for a couple of weeks, offering free movie viewings to the public in Tokyo Midtown Hibiya Step Square. There will be a plethora of award-winning films and shorts to see.
Oct 1st - 31st
This month-long Halloween celebration in Ikebukuro is designed for families. Children can make their own candy boxes from paper cartons and use them to collect sweets on designated “Trick or Treat Operation” days.
Oct 1st - 31st
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Tokyo is marking it with Pink Ribbon in Tokyo, a city-wide campaign aimed at raising awareness about breast cancer and encouraging regular screening.
Sep 12th - Oct 31st
RED° TOKYO TOWER, located at the bottom of Tokyo Tower, will be hosting a unique Halloween-themed virtual reality experience where you can explore abandoned attractions and complete a series of different horror-inspired games.