There are only a few days left in 2024! Have you found the event or spot you want to visit to make your last memories of the year?
1, Grand Palais Immersive: Mucha Eternal (December 3 – January 19)
The Grand Palais Immersive and the Mucha Foundation, which have attracted the attention of art fans around the world, have arranged the immersive exhibition “Éternel Mucha,” held in Paris in 2023 , into an immersive experience for Japan. The exhibition will feature high-resolution projections of masterpieces created by Alphonse Mucha, a representative of Art Nouveau who was active in Paris from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century.
📍 Hikarie Hall (2-21-1 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo)
👉Official website🚇Directly connected to Shibuya Station on JR Line and Keio Inokashira Line by a connecting passageway on the 2nd floor, and directly connected to Shibuya Station on Tokyo Metro Ginza Line” on the 1st floor
🎟️ Weekday general admission 2,900 yen (early bird ticket 2,700 yen)
2, Blue Cave SHIBUYA 2024 (December 6 – December 25)
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Shibuya’s illumination event, which started as “Nakameguro Blue Cave. Approximately 600,000 lights will illuminate Shibuya Park Avenue and the zelkova trees lining Yoyogi Park in blue. The “Blue Cave – THE SNOW DOME -“, a giant spherical balloon with a glowing image, will also appear at the Zelkova Namiki site in Yoyogi Park. The snow dome image will be projected on the balloon, adding color to the Christmas season.
📍 Shibuya Park Avenue to Yoyogi Park Zelkova Avenue
👉Official website🚇A 10-minute walk from JR Harajuku Station or Tokyo Metro Meiji-jingumae Station
3, Venture CHOCOLAT Fes Holiday Event (December 7 and 8)
📍SHARE LOUNGE, 2F, Daikanyama Tsutaya 3 (17-5 Sarugaku-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo)
👉Official website🚇5 min. walk from Daikanyama Station on Tokyu Toyoko Line
🎟️ Participation fee 5,000 yen per person
4, Odaiba Rainbow Fireworks (December 7, 14, 21, 24, 28)
TheannualOdaiba Rainbow Fireworks will be held again this year. On December 21, a special fireworks display will be held in conjunction with “Digimon Adventure,” an animation series that marks the 25th anniversary of its broadcast in Odaiba.Illuminations will also be held at DECKS Tokyo Beach, Aqua City Odaiba, and other nearby facilities.
📍 Launch location: Offshore of Odaiba’s “Statue of Liberty
👉Official website🚇Odaiba Kaihin Koen Station and Daiba Station on the Yurikamome New Transit Line, Tokyo Teleport Station on the Rinkai Line
5, Futakotamagawa Rise Skate Garden (December 7 – March 2)
A limited-time outdoor skating rink where you can enjoy real ice will be available again this year. This year, the worldview of the Futako Tamagawa Rise Christmas 2024 “Blooming Lights” will be reflected in the skating rink, which will be open on Wednesdays and Fridays from December 18 onward from 11:30 to 12:30 for preschool children and their parents to enjoy ice skating and other activities on the ice. In addition, on December 21, January 8, 11, and 24, “Kids Time” will be held for children who have never participated in a skating class before.
📍 Futako Tamagawa Rise Central Square (1-14-1 Tamagawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo)
👉Official website🚇Direct connection from Futakotamagawa Station on Tokyu Denentoshi Line and Oimachi Line
🎟️ Adults 2,200 yen *Includes rental shoes
6, Natsume no Kannon Go-En-Hi, Hagoita Market ( December 17-19)
Dozens of stores selling Hagoita (shuttlecock boards) line the Senso-ji temple grounds, a tradition in Asakusa during the New Year’s holiday. Hagoita was originally regarded as a good-luck charm, as the feathers of a hagoita resemble an insect-eating dragonfly, which eats bad insects (disease), or the “beans” on the tips of the feathers mean “to live a blissful life.” Eventually, the custom of giving a hagoita to a house where a girl is born became popular, and hagoita was Hagoita became the mainstay of the “Year-old Market” (formerly known as “Hagoita Market”).
📍 2-3-1 Asakusa, Taito-ku
👉Official website🚇About 5 minutes walk from Asakusa Station
7, Ryuichi Sakamoto｜Seeing Sound, Hearing Time (December 21 – March 30)
This is the first and largest solo exhibition of musician and artist Ryuichi Sakamoto’s large-scale installations to be comprehensively presented in Japan. Based on the exhibition concept Sakamoto bequeathed to the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo during his lifetime, the exhibition will present a dynamic composition and deployment of more than 10 immersive and experiential sound installations consisting of previously unreleased new works and representative works from his career, on the themes of sound and time, which have been longtime concerns in Sakamoto’s creative activities. The exhibition will be held in the museum’s interior and exterior spaces.
📍 Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Special Exhibition Rooms 1F/B2F, etc.
Official website9-minute walk from Exit B2 of Kiyosumi-Shirakawa Station on Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line, 13-minute walk from Exit A3 of Kiyosumi-Shirakawa Station on Toei Subway Oedo Line.
🎟️General admission 2,400 yen
8, Ukiyo-e in Motion Exhibition TOKYO (December 21-March 31)
An immersive digital art museum that immerses visitors in the world of Ukiyo-e, which has attracted more than 150,000 visitors in Nagoya and Milan, Italy. Based on more than 300 works by world-renowned Ukiyo-e artists such as Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Utagawa Hiroshige, Kitagawa Utamaro, Toshusai Sharaku, and Utagawa Kunisada, the museum will present 10 areas of 3D artworks that will be graphically depicted as digital artworks for adults and children alike, utilizing 3DCG animation and projection mapping. Visitors can immerse themselves in the world of Ukiyo-e through the visual space.
📍 Terada Warehouse G1 Building (2-6-4 Higashi-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo)
👉Official website🚇About 4 minutes walk from Exit B of Tennozu Isle Station on Rinkai Line, about 5 minutes walk from Central Exit of Tennozu Isle Station on Tokyo Monorail Haneda Airport Line
🎟️ Adult day ticket 2,700 yen (advance ticket 2,500 yen)
9, Tokyo Ballet Company 60th Anniversary Series 11 “The Nutcracker” in two acts (December 12-15)
The ballet “The Nutcracker” set to music by Tchaikovsky will be performed in Osaka, Hyogo and Kyoto, beginning in Tokyo. On Christmas Eve, a young girl named Masha wanders into the magical world of dolls, and is invited by the Nutcracker Prince to visit the Land of Snow and the Land of Sweets. The unique and fun dances of each country performed at the banquet in the Land of Sweets, where the Christmas tree is decorated with gorgeous ornaments, and the magnificent and dramatic grand pas de deux between Masha and the prince at the end of the show are just some of the highlights that make this a perfect Christmas season performance.
📍 Tokyo Bunka Kaikan (5-45 Ueno Koen, Taito-ku, Tokyo)
👉Official website🚇About 1 minute walk from JR Ueno Station Park ticket gate
🎟️ Ticket prices S seats 14,500 yen, A seats 12,000 yen, B seats 9,000 yen, C seats 7,000 yen, D seats 5,000 yen, E seats 3,000 yen
10, evala A Place to Appear A Place to Disappear A Vanishing Image (December 14 – March 9)
This exhibition is the culmination of the “See by Your Ears” series by musician and sound artist evala. “See by Your Ears,” launched in 2017, is a group of works that evoke the viewer’s visual imagination even though they are composed almost entirely of sound. The works are highly acclaimed for their unique “spatial compositions” that make full use of sound systems that do not rely on existing formats, literally “seeing by your ears.
📍 NTT InterCommunication Center [ICC] Gallery A, B (Tokyo Opera City Tower 4F, 3-20-2 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku)
👉Official website🚇About 2 minutes walk from East Exit of Hatsudai Station on the Keio New Line
🎟️ Admission General 1,000 yen
11, Yosuke Amemiya Exhibition｜The Not Yet Melted One Watari-um Art Museum (December 21 – March 30)
This is Yosuke Amemiya’s first solo exhibition at a museum in Tokyo. Visitors can experience all of Amemiya’s representative works, including his latest VR works created in the Watari-um Museum of Contemporary Art, the “Melted Apple Sculpture,” the “13 Minutes in Ishinomaki” documentary video, and the “Nondescript Stone, Carried Around for 1300 Years” paper. The latest VR works will be experienced wearing a VR head-mounted display (HMD).
📍 3-7-6 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku
👉Official website🚇About 7 minutes walk from Gaienmae Station Exit 3 on Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, about 9 minutes walk from Omotesando Station Exit A2 on Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, Hanzomon Line and Chiyoda Line
🎟️ Admission Adult 1,500 yen
12, Christmas event
Christmas events have been held throughout Tokyo since November, centering on the illumination that decorates the city. From those being held for the first time this year to events that have become a winter tradition in Tokyo, we recommend these 15 events if you want to enjoy the holiday season with family, lovers, friends, and loved ones!15 Christmas Events in Tokyo for 2024
13, Christmas Market
The Christmas Market, with its stalls selling Christmas goods, traditional sweets, and glühwein, is another great place to visit during this time of year. Here are five Christmas markets in Tokyo that you can easily drop by on your way home from work or during your weekend shopping.Christmas Markets in Tokyo in 2024
14, Countdown Event
Have you already made plans for how to end the year 2024? From DJ events that attract music lovers from Japan and abroad to events held at hotels and on boats, we recommend these 10 plans for those who want to enjoy a countdown in Tokyo!10 COUNDDOWN PARTIES for the year 2024
Also recommended: 10 Fall Foliage Events in Tokyo