The year 2025 is finally here! Check out the events unique to the New Year and the spots where you can enjoy the first fun of the year.
1, New Year’s Celebration at Museums (January 2 – 26)
The year 2025 is the Year of the Snake! The Tokyo National Museum will hold its 22nd annual New Year’s event, “New Year’s Celebration at the Tokyo National Museum: Snakes of the Year of the Snake! -will be held in Rooms 1 and 2 of the Honkan from January 2, 2025 (Thu). In addition to featuring works related to snakes, other auspicious works to celebrate the New Year will also be on display. Visitors can enjoy the Japanese New Year.
📍 Tokyo National Museum, Honkan, Special Room 1 & 2
👉Official Website🚇10 min. walk from JR Ueno Station Park Exit or Uguisudani Station South Exit, 15 min. walk from Tokyo Metro Ginza Line/Hibiya Line Ueno Station or Chiyoda Line Nezu Station
🎟️ Adults 1,000 yen, University students 500 yen
2, Ruisho-no-Katachi (January 4 – March 2)
Imperial Palace San-no-maru Shōzōkan
A variety of calligraphic works, paintings, and crafts from the imperial family’s collection are exhibited with auspicious motifs appropriate for the New Year, such as Mount Horai, the sacred mountain Fuji, pine trees, cranes, turtles, treasure ships, and sacred beasts. From Ito Yokoyama Taikan , visitors can enjoy masterpieces of Japanese art by artists active from the Edo period to the modern era while experiencing the history and culture of the Imperial Family at the Imperial Palace San-no-Maru Shōzōkan, located in the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace.
📍 The Imperial Household Museum (1-8 Chiyoda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan)
👉Official Website🚇About 5 min. walk from Otemachi Station (Exit C13a) of each subway line
🎟️: Adults 1,000 yen, University students 500 yen
3, Edo Meji (January 5 – 26)
Food culture developed greatly in Japan during the Edo period (1603-1867). Fast foods such as sushi, soba, and tempura became popular, and seasonings such as miso, vinegar, and soy sauce were widely distributed. This exhibition introduces the appeal of “Edo meshi” (Edo food), which is still connected to today’s food culture, through approximately 90 ukiyoe prints by popular painters such as Hokusai, Hiroshige, and Kuniyoshi.
📍 Ota Memorial Museum of Art (1-10-10 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo)
🚇JR Yamanote Line: 5 min. walk from Omotesando Exit of Harajuku Station, Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line / Fukutoshin Line: 3 min. walk from Exit 5 of Meiji-jingumae Station
🎟️: Adults 1,000 yen, High school and college students 700 yen
4, Tokyo Sea of Clouds “Three-story Pagoda in the Sky” (January 8 – throughout the year)
In 2025, the three-story pagoda, a nationally designated tangible cultural property rising on a hill in the garden of Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo, will celebrate 100 years since it was moved from Takayama Chikurinji Temple in Higashihiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture. To commemorate this event, the “Three-Story Pagoda in the Sky” was created in Tokyo Unkai, a reproduction of the natural sea of clouds that can be seen from the actual location. Visitors can enjoy the fantastic and spectacular view of the three-story pagoda standing above the clouds. A limited time offer of takeout sweets commemorating the “three-story pagoda in the sky” is also available.
📍 Hotel Chinzan-so Tokyo, Mie-no-To in the Garden (2-10-8 Sekiguchi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo)
🚇 Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line “Edogawabashi Station” Exit 1a: about 10 min. walk
🎟️: Adults 1,000 yen, High school and college students 700 yen
5, Le Corbusier – A Synthesis of Arts 1930-1965 (January 8 – March 23)
This is the first exhibition in Japan to focus on Le Corbusier, known as a master of modern architecture who also revolutionized the visual arts such as painting, during his mature period of creation. The exhibition will focus on his paintings, sculptures, drawings, and tapestries from the 1930s onward, as well as his continued search for new artistic uses of technology.
📍 Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art (Panasonic Tokyo Shiodome Building 4F, 1-5-1 Higashi-Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo)
🚇 Approx. 8 minutes walk from JR Shimbashi Station “Shiodome Exit”, “Ginza Exit” or “Shiodome Underground Ticket Gate”, Approx. 6 minutes walk from Tokyo Metro Ginza Line Shimbashi Station “Exit 2
🎟️: General: 1,200 yen, 65 years old and over: 1,100 yen, University and high school students: 700 yen
6, Hanami Glasse Afternoon Tea (January 15-February 28)
This limited-time afternoon tea is a collaboration between the Japanese makeup artist brand Shu Uemura and Kimpton Shinjuku Tokyo. Inspired by the “Hanami Glace Collection,” the perfect makeup for spring inspired by lush fruits and cheek-watering sweet treats, the afternoon tea expresses a sweet and pure world where the arrival of spring is already in full swing and can be enjoyed by both cosmetics and sweets lovers.
📍 Kimpton Shinjuku Tokyo District Brasserie Bar Lounge (2F Kimpton Shinjuku Tokyo, 3-4-7 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo)
🚇 12 min walk from South Exit of JR Shinjuku Station, 8 min walk from Exit A4 of Tochomae Station on Toei Oedo Line
🎟️: Standard Plan 7,000 yen and up
7, Yasutaka Yoshimura Exhibition: Manga Architecture – The Absence of Architects (January 16 – March 23)
Architect Yasutaka Yoshimura has been exploring the possibilities of architecture in contemporary society by reconsidering the nature of housing and living. What would happen if the architect’s individual authorship were to be “absent” in order to further these extensions of architecture in contemporary society that he is exploring? In this exhibition, seven of Yoshimura’s projects will be depicted as seven stories by different cartoonists to explore the possibility of new interpretations of architecture.
📍 TOTO Gallery・Ma (TOTO Nogizaka Bldg. 3F, 1-24-3 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo)
🚇 1 minute walk from Exit 3 of Nogizaka Station on Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line
🎟️: Free
8, Sake Restaurant Nabeya 2025 (January 18-February 2)
The theme for 2025 is “Showa “. With nostalgic signboards and background music of Showa-era songs, visitors can enjoy a Showa-era retro atmosphere and a wide variety of flavors of nabe and sake to go with it. There will also be a booth for experiencing “snacks,” a representative of Showa-era night culture, and a kotatsu area.
📍 Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse Event Plaza (1-1 Shinko, Naka-ku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture)
👉Official site🚇 Approx. 15 min. walk from JR or municipal subway “Sakuragicho” station via Kishamichi (train road), approx. 15 min. walk from “Kannai” station.
🎟️: Free of charge *Food, drink, and merchandise sales fees are not included.
9, My Melody & Kuromi Anniversary Party (January 17-December 31)
My Melody & Kuromi Anniversary Party,” an anniversary event for My Melody, who will celebrate her 50th anniversary in 2025, and Kuromi, who will celebrate her 20th anniversary, will be held at Sanrio Puroland in Tama, Tokyo. With the anniversary concept of “Together, we are much cuter”, the event will feature a variety of contents, including the “My Melody & Kuromi Shop”, an interactive store that will make its first appearance at Sanrio Puroland, as well as illuminations.
📍 Sanrio Puroland (1-31 Ochiai, Tama City, Tokyo)
🚇 10 min. walk from Tama Center Station on Keio Line and Odakyu Line
🎟️: Adults Day Passport from 3900 yen
10, Flea Market “Tokyo Shu-shu No.3-kai” (January 19)
The “Tokyo Shu-shu” flea market, whose catchphrase is “a flea market full of collectibles and eccentricities,” takes place at the Keio-Kaku Racecourse. The lineup of items is more appealing than that of a typical flea market, and the third annual event will be held at the Keio Kaku Racetrack. This year’s event, the third in the series, will feature about 80 unique vendors. Why don’t you come and find that one item you have been looking for?
📍 Keio-Kaku Racetrack Main Gate & Pond Area (4-31-1 Tamagawa, Chofu City, Tokyo)
🚇 Keio Tamagawa Station on the Keio Sagamihara Line, 5-minute walk from the regular ticket gate
🎟️: Free
11, Special Exhibition “Former Saga Gosho Daikakuji Temple – New Currents: Paintings Related to the Gosho” (January 21 – March 16)
Saga, located in the northwestern part of Kyoto, has long been a favorite tourist destination for royal court nobles. Prior to the 1,150th anniversary of the temple’s founding in 2026, a number of outstanding temple treasures will be introduced at the Tokyo National Museum. On display are calligraphic works by emperors that tell the story of the temple’s history of faith and masterpieces representing Buddhist statues from the late Heian period, including the paintings on the walls designated as Important Cultural Properties that decorate the interior of the Shinden and Shoshunden buildings located in the center of the temple.
📍 Tokyo National Museum Heiseikan (Ueno Park)
🚇 10 min. walk from JR Ueno Station Park Exit or Uguisudani Station South Exit, 15 min. walk from Tokyo Metro Ginza Line/Hibiya Line Ueno Station or Chiyoda Line Nezu Station
🎟️ Adults 2100 yen (advance purchase 1900 yen)
12, 120th anniversary of Ayako Miyawaki’s birth: The Art of Ayako Miyawaki: Seeing, Cutting, Pasting (January 25-March 16)
An exhibition will be held to commemorate the 120th anniversary of the birth of Ayako Miyawaki, an artist who created beautiful and accessible works on cloth and paper, including applique, collage, and handicrafts, using everyday objects as subjects. The exhibition will focus on Ayako Miyawaki as an outstanding figurative artist, with approximately 150 works and materials categorized and organized into eight chapters based on their figurative characteristics.
📍 Tokyo Station Gallery (In front of the Marunouchi North Exit ticket gates, JR Tokyo Station, 1-9-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo)
🚇 In front of the Marunouchi North Exit ticket gate of JR Tokyo Station, 3 minutes walk from Tokyo Station on the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line
🎟️: General 1,300 yen (advance sale 1,100 yen)
13, Brooklyn Museum Collection Special Exhibition: Ancient Egypt (January 25-April 6)
The Brooklyn Museum’s collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts will be on display in Roppongi, Tokyo. Through approximately 150 artifacts, including sculptures, coffins, jewelry, earthenware, papyrus, and human and feline mummies, visitors will learn about the activities of people who created a culture more advanced than we can imagine. The exhibition introduces facts that have been overlooked in previous exhibitions on Egypt, as well as the results of research on the pyramids using the latest technology, with video and audio.
📍 Mori Arts Center Gallery (52F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo)
🚇 Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line “Roppongi” station, Exit 1C, 3 min. walk (directly connected by concourse)
🎟️: General/University/Vocational students 2500 yen (advance sale 2300 yen)～
14, Special Exhibition: Landscape with Flower Vase (January 25-March 16)
This exhibition introduces Japanese and Chinese art works with a focus on vases for flower arrangements. Paintings depicting vases and vases prized in the tea ceremony will be exhibited from the Sumitomo Collection at the Izumiya Hakkokan. Also on display will be vases from the Ogo Rimei Collection, which commemorates a gift, as well as gorgeous and festive paintings by artists from Tsubaki Tsubakiyama to Umehara Ryuzaburo.
📍 Izumiya Hakkokan Tokyo (1-5-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo)
🚇 3 min. walk from Roppongi 1-chome station on Tokyo Metro Namboku Line
🎟️: General/University/Vocational students 2500 yen (advance sale 2300 yen)～
15, Oden hot sake station (Jan. 30-Feb. 2)
A gourmet event where you can taste the winning sake from the National Heated Sake Contest while warming yourself over a kotatsu will be held again in 2025. Visitors can enjoy 10 cups of sake, including hot sake, along with Kibun’s retort oden while watching the trains on platform 3 at Ryogoku Station, which is said to be a miraculous sight. Why not enjoy sake in a different and special place?
📍 JR Ryogoku Station, platform 3 (Yokoami 1-chome, Sumida-ku, Tokyo)
🎟️: General 3,500 yen *Pre-sale only