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Tokyo Events This Week: Kurayami Festival, Meiji Shrine Performances, and Giant Kites
What's a Cheapo to do this week?
Tokyo Cheapo
April 27, 2025
Tokyo events for Monday, April 28 to Sunday, May 4, 2025.
This week we are treated to not one, not two, but three public holidays: Shōwa Day, Constitution Memorial Day, and Greenery Day. (Don't worry, there will be plenty more next week too.)
This means you can expect a lot of traditional annual festivals held at shrines and temples around Tokyo, including the very popular Meiji Shrine. What else? Giant kites, gun shows, food fairs, and acrobatics on ladders.
Apr 30th - May 6th
Take your slice of horse racing and archery, shrine jostling, and giant drum performances. The Kurayami Festival is also known as the Darkness Festival because the most important parades take place under the cover of... well... darkness.
May 3rd
This festival claims to have the biggest koinobori (koi carp streamer) in the world. The streamer will stay in the sky for 30 minutes each time. There will be drums, music, stage shows, a ceremony, and speeches from the mayor.
May 2nd - 3rd
This traditional festival features twelve giant wheeled floats known as dashi -- each representing one of the neighborhoods of the city of Ōme in far western Tokyo. The festival has a history of more than 100 years and draws 130,000 visitors each year.
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May 2nd - 3rd
Every year during Golden Week, a Spring Grand Festival is held at Meiji Shrine (the biggest and most important shrine in Tokyo). The festival will set up a stage in front of the main shrine.
May 3rd
The Odawara Hōjō Godai Festival is a must-see event held annually in Odawara, a city just an hour outside of Tokyo. Almost 2,000 people will parade through the streets of Odawara, emulating the Hōjō lords of the past. There will also be music from brass bands and a gun show.
May 3rd - 4th
The aim of this festival is to promote friendship between Japan and the Kingdom of Cambodia. The festival features Khmer products and traditional food as well as dance and cultural performances.
May 4th
Get up close with bluefin tuna, penguins, and marine life from Tokyo and beyond at Tokyo Sea Life Park, an impressive aquarium right here in Tokyo. Make sure you ask a guide what time the penguin feeding times are.
May 3rd - May 5th
The Kasukabe Giant Kite Festival, held every year on May 3 and 5, is a beloved tradition where local residents and kite enthusiasts gather to witness giant kites take to the sky. On these two days, you can watch the large kites soar, participate in the Kasukabe Original Kite Flying Competition, and enjoy local food from a variety of stalls.
May 3rd - May 5th
Get ready for a huge classical music festival set around Tokyo Station and Nihonbashi. Based on the French festival of the same name, the La Folle Journée in Tokyo also aims to spread the love of classical music across generations.
May 4th - May 5th
Hawarin Bayar are the Mongolian words for Spring Festival. You can expect to see stalls selling traditional Mongolian food, art, and crafts throughout Hikarigaoka Park.
May 5th
Festivities include a dedication to the kachiya (victory arrow) and a traditional samurai procession tracing a 2-km route through the neighborhood around Kameido Station and finishing at Katori Shrine. Going back 1000 years, Fujiwara no Hidesato prayed for victory before a battle at Katori Shrine.
May 2nd - May 6th
Claimed to be Japan's largest outdoor cinema, Seaside Cinema Yokohama is also completely free. Top films from Japan and around the world will be shown at spots around Yokohama: Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse, Marine & Walk Yokohama, Yokohama Bay Quarter, and Yokohama World Porters.
Apr 29th
Everyone's invited to this fun food extravaganza at Saint Maur International School. Take the chance to try international bites, with sampling menus of different cuisines available to buy.
Apr 29th
Watch as local construction workers perform acrobatics on bamboo ladders. As the spiritual descendants of the firemen of Edo (aka hikeshi), they perform as a memorial to the 120 firefighters (including those in the metropolitan police) who died in the Edo-Showa period.