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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Tokyo Cake Show

This three-day event took place around the middle of October when I went to see it, and it included not only the most spectacular wedding cakes I’ve ever seen, there were also amazing sugar sculptures and strange things carved out of chocolate

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Search terms: Japan Cake Show Tokyo 20XX (the year you’re searching for)

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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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Bush Clover Tunnel

One of the legendary “seven flowes of autumn” so beloved by poets and kimono designers, bush clover has been trained into long, lush tunnels for centuries. There’s an absolutely magnificent one at the Mukojima Hyakka-en botanical garden in Tokyo

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Search terms: Bush clover, hagi, Mukojima Hyakka-en,

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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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