A yearly autumn show of sand sculptures carved by professionals from Japan and abroad at Ashiya Seaside Park in Fukuoka, lit up at night with sound and light.
Ashiya · 23 Oct – 8 Nov 2026
Since 1 November 2026, tax-free shopping in Japan is a refund: pay the tax at the till, clear customs at the airport, then get it back. Every step and rule.
Latest Post ・ 2026/11/03
One of Japan's largest arcade game festivals, with every machine free to play, a trade day for the industry and a User Day open to the public.
Tokyo · 6–7 Nov 2026
A museum of teddy bears and stuffed toys in Nasu, with the much-travelled Teddy Edward, antique Steiff bears, artist bears and a stuffed toy workshop.
Nasu
One of Japan's largest arcade game festivals, with every machine free to play, a trade day for the industry and a User Day open to the public.
6–7 Nov 2026TokyoA special night opening each autumn at the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum, with its historic buildings lit up, candlelight and fires in old hearths.
6–7 Nov 2026Koganei · TokyoA yearly autumn show of sand sculptures carved by professionals from Japan and abroad at Ashiya Seaside Park in Fukuoka, lit up at night with sound and light.
23 Oct – 8 Nov 2026Ashiya · FukuokaA re-enactment on a river bed in Fuefuki, Yamanashi, where about seven hundred people in armour refight Takeda Shingen against Uesugi Kenshin.
8 Nov 2026Fuefuki · YamanashiAn itasha and cosplay festival in Odaiba, with around 1,000 cars, motorcycles and bicycles covered in anime characters, stage shows and cosplay.
8 Nov 2026TokyoFootraces run in inflatable T-rex costumes, held in parks, on beaches and at local festivals across Japan since 2022, with adult and juvenile classes.
8 Nov 2026Ueda · NaganoA sumo show in Kabukicho, Shinjuku, with live bouts by former wrestlers, an English-speaking MC and a chance to step into the ring.
TokyoA hot spring town in northern Hyogo with a recorded founding in 720, seven public bathhouses and streets where guests walk in yukata.
Toyooka · HyogoThe lowest of the three mountains of Dewa in Yamagata, climbed by a stone stair through old cedars, with a five-storey pagoda that is a National Treasure.
Tsuruoka · YamagataPlum blossom park in Ome, Tokyo, with about 1,200 trees replanted from 2016 after plum pox, and a main venue of the Yoshino Baigo Plum Festival each spring.
Ome · TokyoTendai temple in Kora, founded in 834 by tradition, with a National Treasure main hall and pagoda built without nails and Asuka period pillar paintings.
Kora · ShigaCastle site held by Honda Tadakatsu from 1590, with a concrete castle-style keep of 1975 built as a museum of the castles and castle towns of Boso.
Otaki · ChibaAlmost all JR trains nationwide, including most shinkansen
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Since 1 November 2026, tax-free shopping in Japan is a refund: pay the tax at the till, clear customs at the airport, then get it back. Every step and rule.
2026/11/03Yuchelin, a new rating for Japanese hot springs, judges the water itself. Its first three-star list names 21 onsen, from Hokkaido to Yakushima.
2026/10/27Sake grades and temperatures, shochu with hot water, umeshu five ways, highballs, sours, Hoppy and Japanese wine: how to order the drinks on an izakaya menu.
2026/10/18Your season-by-season guide to 2026 anime, updated for fall: what aired, what's airing now, what's coming in 2027 and where to watch it all from anywhere.
2026/10/17Japan Game Awards 2026: "Pokemon Pokopia" takes the Grand Award, "Word Game" the Game Designers Award, and the Pokemon series a ministry honour for 30 years.
A million and a half people between Tokyo and Yokohama, and almost nobody stops. What is actually in Kawasaki, and why it is worth getting off the train for.
