OCTOBER: Festivals + Events

Click on Tell me more to read about the event, then use the search term below to find out the exact dates and times for the year you’ll be there.

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Bakeneko Festival (Ghost Cat Parade)

The costumed participants in the Cat Ghost Parade (Bakeneko) never fail to delight and entertain. Truly an only-in-Japan experience

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Search terms: Bakeneko Parade

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Festival of 10,000 Lanterns (Oeshiki Ikegami)

This nighttime parade of golden pagoda lanterns festooned with streamers of white flowers is well worth the outing and the crowds. The revelers parade though the Ikegami neighborhood to the magnificnet Ikegami Honga-ji temple, which is lit up at night for the occasion

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Search term: Oeshiki Ikegami

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Yokohama Smart Illumination

Every year, nearby Yokohama puts on an outdoor nighttime event featuring art that lights up the night. It’s a whole week of cutting edge exhibitions you’ll see nowhere else in the world

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Search term: Yokohama Smart Illumination

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Cosmos Fields

Waves of blooming cosmos fields brighten Tokyo from late September to early October. Here are the best places to see them:

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Other events in the month of September that might be worth checking out:

Yasukuni Shrine Fall Festival

Log Rolling Exhibition

Halloween 

You can search for information on these by Googling the names in bold or searching for them on Tokyo Cheapo or TimeOut Tokyo, which I think have the most reliable info for events that change dates from year to year.

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While you’re in Japan, read a novel set in Tokyo!

“A genuinely gripping crime thriller which wrong-foots and perplexes the reader throughout, drawing us in emotionally . . . Highly recommended.”

–Raven Crime Reads

For nine years, Tokyo Detective Kenji Nakamura thought his mother’s death was an accident. Then he gets a call, and his life begins to unravel. Because if her death wasn’t an accident…what was it? Read more…