What's on in Tokyo
20 events in October 2027: 10 festivals, 4 exhibitions, 3 food events, 1 garden, 1 performance and 1 market, from headline festivals to neighbourhood fairs. 13 of them are annual events whose 2027 dates are still to be confirmed, listed with their usual window.
Arguably the most comfortable month of the year: dry, mild, still green, and short on crowds. Chrysanthemum shows, food festivals, and design week fill the calendar. More on the season in Tokyo in autumn.
MapWhat's on each day of October 2027, events starting that day first. Annual events still waiting for their 2027 dates aren't listed here.
レンブラントからモネ、ゴッホ ハマー美術館展
Station Ueno (JR Yamanote Line, Park exit), 7 min walk
About 70 works from the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, the first time its collection has been shown as a group in Japan, with paintings by Rembrandt, Moreau, Gauguin and Van Gogh among them. The show also looks at the eye of the founder, Armand Hammer, who collected art throughout his life.
ギルバート＆ジョージ展
Station Nogizaka (Chiyoda Line), direct from exit 6
The London duo's first large show in Japan in 30 years, running from their 1969 Singing Sculpture film to the huge photographic Pictures series of recent years, with photographs and film from their 1970s visits to Japan. It comes to Tokyo after Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art.
Dick Thomas Johnson, CC BY 2.0 画中画 絵をめぐる絵の冒険 ルネサンスから現代、そのさきへ
Time 9:30 to 17:30, Fridays and Saturdays to 20:00 (museum's general hours, last entry 30 minutes before closing)
A large show on paintings that depict other paintings, tracing how European artists handled the act of depicting and the act of looking from the Renaissance to today. Loans include works from the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, including Habsburg pieces, plus the Musee d'Orsay and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. It is the museum's only venue for the show.
Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, CC BY 2.0 世田谷区たまがわ花火大会
Time Fireworks 18:00 to 19:00 (2026)
Setagaya's fireworks over the Tama River, launched from the Setagaya bank above Futako Bridge on the same evening as Kawasaki's display across the river.
ふるさと北区区民まつり
Kita City's yearly ward festival in early October.
下北沢カレーフェスティバル
Station Shimokitazawa (Odakyu Line, Keio Inokashira Line), 2 min walk
Special curries from well over 100 cafes, bars, restaurants, and shops across Shimokitazawa for about two and a half weeks each October, many in mini portions so you can crawl between several in an afternoon. A stamp rally links the participating shops.
神楽坂化け猫まつり
Station Kagurazaka (Tozai Line), 3 min walk
Tokyo's cat-costume Halloween parade, inspired by the ghost-cat folklore of old Kagurazaka. Anyone in cat make-up or costume can register on the day and join parades down the sloping geisha-district main street; watching from the roadside is free.
Kabacchi, CC BY 2.0 Station Meguro (JR Yamanote Line, Tokyu Meguro Line), 9 min walk
Meguro ward's annual festival, best known for charcoal-grilled sanma (Pacific saury) sent from Kesennuma in Miyagi and handed out free, a nod to the classic rakugo story Meguro no Sanma. Around the fish there are regional food stalls, a flea market, and stage performances by the Meguro River. Check the ward site for how the grilled-fish tickets are allocated.
江戸川区民まつり
Time 9:00 to 16:00 (2025)
Edogawa's biggest festival, run by about 9,500 resident volunteers, fills Shinozaki Park with seven stages, a parade and food stalls.
池上本門寺 お会式
Station Ikegami (Tokyu Ikegami Line), 10 min walk
Memorial festival for the Buddhist saint Nichiren, who died at this temple in 1282. On the night of October 12 around 3,000 people carry mando lantern towers decorated with paper cherry blossoms two kilometres from Ikegami Station to the temple, drumming uchiwa-daiko until past midnight. About 300,000 people attend.
日比谷公園ガーデニングショー
Station Hibiya (Chiyoda, Hibiya, Toei Mita Lines), 1 min walk
Japan's largest amateur gardening competition fills the lawns of Tokyo's first Western-style park with prize show gardens, container displays, and hanging baskets, alongside plant sales and workshops. Free to wander for over a week in mid-October.
雑司ヶ谷鬼子母神 御会式
Station Kishibojin-mae (Tokyo Sakura Tram) or Zoshigaya (Fukutoshin Line), 3 to 7 min walk
Three nights of lantern processions to Kishimojin-do, a 1664 temple hall in the Zoshigaya backstreets, with mando towers of white paper flowers and relentless uchiwa-daiko drumming. Processions set off in the evening from around Ikebukuro and Zoshigaya.
Nesnad, CC BY 4.0 日光東照宮秋季大祭
Station Nikko (JR) or Tobu-Nikko (Tobu Line), then the World Heritage Tour bus to Nishisando, 6 min
The biggest festival in the Nikko area, held on 16 and 17 October every year. Its highlights are yabusame horseback archery and the Parade of 1,000 Samurai Warriors, a procession in traditional samurai dress.
Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, CC BY 2.0 川越まつり
Station Hon-Kawagoe (Seibu Shinjuku Line) or Kawagoe (Tobu Tojo Line, JR Kawagoe Line), 10 to 15 min walk
Kawagoe's float festival grew out of Hikawa Shrine's annual rite on 14 October and is held on the third weekend of October. Ornate two-storey floats topped with dolls are pulled through the old warehouse district all weekend.
yukop, CC BY-SA 2.0 江東区民まつり中央まつり
Time 10:00 to 16:00 (2026)
Koto City's ward festival fills Kiba Park over a mid-October weekend, with Kiba Kakunori log-riding on the Sunday.
Guilhem Vellut, CC BY 2.0 金龍の舞
Station Asakusa (Ginza Line, Toei Asakusa Line, Tobu Line), 5 min walk
An 18-metre golden dragon is carried dancing through Sensoji's grounds by eight bearers on October 18, the autumn counterpart of the March 18 performance marking the day Kannon is said to have appeared in 628. Several shows run through the day.
OiMax, CC BY 2.0 神田古本まつり
Time 10:00 to 18:00 Station Jimbocho (Toei Mita, Shinjuku, Hanzomon Lines), 1 min walk
The world's largest secondhand-book district puts hundreds of thousands of volumes out on the street each autumn, with stalls lining Yasukuni-dori beside the permanent bookshops. Old maps, ukiyo-e prints, and out-of-print photo books turn up alongside bargain carts.
Japan's largest design and art festival scatters furniture, product, and installation exhibits through shops, showrooms, and galleries across Omotesando, Harajuku, Shibuya, Roppongi, and Ginza for about ten days each autumn. Most venues are free.
Station Shiodome (Toei Oedo Line, Yurikamome), 7 min walk
Tokyo's biggest public tea gathering sets up outdoor nodate seats and tea rooms across a former shogunal garden on the bay. Tea tickets are on top of garden admission; check the official site for how seats are sold.
Guilhem Vellut, CC BY 2.0 Station Nihonbashi (Ginza, Tozai, Toei Asakusa Lines) or Kyobashi (Ginza Line), 1 to 3 min walk
Chuo-dori closes to traffic between Kyobashi and Nihonbashi-Muromachi for a parade of Edo firefighter ladder acrobatics, festival floats, and regional dance troupes from across Japan, running from late morning to mid-afternoon past the historic Nihonbashi bridge. A market of regional produce runs alongside.
大江戸骨董市
Time 9:00 to 16:00 Station Yurakucho (JR Yurakucho Line) or Tokyo Station Marunouchi south exit, 1 min walk
Japan's largest outdoor antique market, held on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month with 250 or so dealers selling old kimono, ceramics, woodblock prints, and retro homeware. Dates occasionally shift and there is usually no August edition, so check the official schedule before going.
Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, CC BY 2.0 花園神社骨董市
Station Shinjuku-sanchome (Marunouchi, Fukutoshin, Toei Shinjuku Lines), 3 min walk
Small, atmospheric antique market held almost every Sunday from early morning in the grounds of Shinjuku's Hanazono Shrine, with 25 to 40 stalls of old ceramics, kimono, coins, and curios. Skipped on festival weekends and in bad weather, so go early and have a backup plan.
Bernard Spragg. NZ, Public Domain Mark 1.0 靖国神社骨董市
Station Kudanshita (Tozai, Hanzomon, Toei Shinjuku Lines), 5 min walk
A modest Sunday antique market along the tree-lined outer approach to Yasukuni Shrine, with 10 to 20 dealers selling pottery, old tools, and militaria from sunrise to sunset. Small enough to browse in half an hour on the way to the shrine or nearby Chidorigafuchi.
Guilhem Vellut, CC BY 2.0 とげぬき地蔵の縁日
Station Sugamo (JR Yamanote Line, Toei Mita Line), 5 min walk
Temple fair days at Koganji, home of the healing Togenuki Jizo, held on the 4th, 14th, and 24th of every month when food and trinket stalls line Jizo-dori shopping street. Nicknamed the Harajuku for grandmas, it is one of Tokyo's most charming old-school street scenes.
雑司ヶ谷手創り市
Time 10:00 to 16:00 Station Kishibojin-mae (Tokyo Sakura Tram) or Zoshigaya (Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line), 3 to 7 min walk
Craft market held on the third Sunday of most months in the cedar-shaded grounds of Kishimojin Temple, where up to 200 makers may only sell things they made themselves. One of the best places in Tokyo to buy ceramics, leather goods, and prints directly from the artists.
Nesnad, CC BY 4.0 高幡不動尊ござれ市
Time 8:00 to 16:00 Station Takahatafudo (Keio Line), 2 min walk
Around 120 dealers fill the grounds of this major Kanto temple on the third Sunday of every month, selling old kimono, clocks, toys, and farmhouse finds. The name Gozare roughly means anything goes as long as it is old, and prices run cheaper than central Tokyo markets.
Time 10:00 to 16:00 Station Omotesando (Ginza, Chiyoda, Hanzomon Lines), 5 min walk
Tokyo's best-known farmers market runs every Saturday and Sunday on the plaza in front of the United Nations University, with around 50 stalls of produce, honey, coffee, and baked goods from farms across Japan. An easy, food-truck-fuelled stop between Shibuya and Omotesando.
富岡八幡宮 骨董市
Station Monzen-Nakacho (Tozai Line, Toei Oedo Line), 3 min walk
This Edo-era shrine in old-town Fukagawa hosts an antique market on most Sundays plus flea markets on set dates each month, with dealers in Imari porcelain, old kimono, and vintage toys. The schedule shifts around festivals and markets are cancelled in rain, so check before going.
Guilhem Vellut, CC BY 2.0 東京シティフリーマーケット
Station Oikeibajomae (Tokyo Monorail), 2 min walk
Tokyo's biggest regular flea market takes over the Oi Racecourse parking area most Saturdays and Sundays, with 300 to 600 stalls of secondhand clothes, household goods, toys, and the occasional genuine antique. Pure local bargain-hunting rather than a curated antiques fair.
ヒルズマルシェ
Time 10:00 to 14:00 Station Roppongi-itchome (Namboku Line), 3 min walk
One of Tokyo's longest-running weekly marches, held every Saturday morning at Ark Hills since 2009 with farmers and small producers selling vegetables, bread, and prepared food. A relaxed local scene ten minutes from Roppongi.
赤坂アンティークマーケット
Time 11:00 to 17:00 Station Roppongi-itchome (Namboku Line), 3 min walk
Around 70 vendors of antiques, vintage jewellery, art, and old kimono fill the plaza at Ark Hills on the fourth Sunday of each month, moving to the second Sunday in December. More polished and design-minded than the shrine markets, with food stalls alongside.
平和島骨董まつり
Station Ryutsu Center (Tokyo Monorail), 1 min walk
Japan's biggest indoor antiques fair, held about five times a year over three days with nearly 300 dealers from across the country under one roof. Because it is indoors it runs rain or shine, making it the safest bet of Tokyo's big antique events.
20 events are listed for October 2027: 10 festivals, 4 exhibitions, 3 food events, 1 garden, 1 performance and 1 market. 7 have confirmed dates and 13 are annual events whose exact 2027 dates are still to be announced, shown with their usual window. Every listing links to the interactive map.
Arguably the most comfortable month of the year: dry, mild, still green, and short on crowds. Chrysanthemum shows, food festivals, and design week fill the calendar.
Near-term events are refreshed every week as organisers announce dates, and finished events drop off automatically. Annual events further out carry their typical dates until the official ones are published.