This Week(End): Tokyo Area Events For February 3-4
Art, Culture, And Fun In The City
Welcome February, welcome good luck! It's the month of Setsubun, Valentines's and plum blossoms and we just can't wait to get enough of them all! Here are our top event picks for this week(end). Enjoy!
Welcome Good Luck
Setsubun Festival At Zojoji Temple
Join celebrities, politicians and sumo wrestlers at the annual bean-throwing “Setsubun” festival at Zojoji Temple, one of the largest such events in Tokyo. Setsubun, meaning the day before the first day of spring, is one of the most unique Japanese traditions and is celebrated across the country when people throw away beans toward demons to scare them away and bring good luck. Thousands of people join the Zozoji event and the battle for bean catch is fierce, so come well armed.
- Date
- SAT, FEB. 3, 2018
- Time
- FROM 12 P.M.
- Location
- ZOJOJI TEMPLE, TOKYO, 4-7-35 SHIBAKOEN, MINATO-KU, TOKYO
- Fee
- FREE
Love At First Sight
Valentine's At Sunshine Aquarium
Aquariums are always great date venues, and that is why Sunshine has a special (and heart-throbbing) deal for you. Sunshine Aquarium's Valentine event shares the love with its adorable sea otters and fish who will be entertaining couples and families with some extraordinary performances. Those will steal your hearts — be warned!
- Date
- FRI, FEB. 2-WED, FEB. 14, 2018
- Time
- 10 A.M.-6 P.M.
- Location
- SUNSHINE AQUARIUM, 3-1 HIGASHI-IKEBUKURO, TOSHIMA-KU, TOKYO
- Fee
- ¥2,200 (ADULTS)
Taste Of Spring
Yokohama Strawberry Festival
Getting sick of the cold and can’t wait for spring to arrive? Then come on down to Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse to get a head start to spring at a major festival full of strawberry tasting opportunities. There will be around 20 booths, each offering their most Instagrammable and delicious treats. Enjoy the differences!
- Date
- FRI, FEB. 2-MON, FEB. 12, 2018
- Time
- 11 A.M.-6 P.M.
- Location
- YOKOHAMA RED BRICK WAREHOUSE, 1-1 SHINKO, NAKA-KU, YOKOHAMA, KANAGAWA
- Fee
- FREE
Framed Moments
Photo Exhibition: Daido Moriyama: K
Photographer Daido Moriyama is well known for framing sceneries of the urban wildlife as it is. This exhibition features his newest works, showing the relationship of mankind with the vigorous city of Tokyo. A nostalgic and informative exhibition for those interested in the history and evolution of the city many of us call our second home.
- Date
- NOW THROUGH SUN, FEB. 4, 2018
- Time
- 12 P.M.-8 P.M. (CLOSED ON MON)
- Location
- NADiff GALLERY, 1-18-4 EBISU, SHIBUYA-ku, TOKYO
- Fee
- FREE
Stinkin' Good
Smell Exhibition
Probably one of the strangest exhibitions ever held in Tokyo, the Nioi-ten (or, literally, Smell Exhibition) explores the different kinds of smells (good and bad ones) that we're exposed to daily or occasionally (like, when we travel to Sweden for its infamous Surströmming). If you're into checking out the difference between stinky shoes, fermented food and rare stinky fish, stop by at this exhibition. Uh, and don't forget to bring a handkerchief.
- Date
- NOW THROUGH SUN, FEB. 25, 2018
- Time
- 10 A.M.-9 P.M.
- Location
- IKEBUKURO PARCO 7/F, 1-28-2 Minami Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo
- Fee
- ¥800
Catch Your Good Luck
Naritasan Setsubun Festival
Another major Setsubun event, the bean-throwing day at Naritasan Temple attracts around 40 thousand visitors every year. Many celebrities and athletes participate in the ceremony, which sets fire to an intense competition over the bean packages. This year, sumo wrestlers including the new Yokozuna Kisenosato and actors from NHK's drama Segodon will be participating — don't miss it.
- Date
- SAT, FEB. 3, 2018
- Time
- 11 A.M. (FIRST BEAN-THROWING SESSION), 1:30 P.M. (SECOND SESSION), 4 P.M. (THIRD SESSION)
- Location
- NARITASAN SHINSHOJI TEMPLE, 1 NARITA, NARITA-shi, CHIBA
- Fee
- FREE
Bonjour, Mademoiselle!
La Parisienne from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
This exhibition is all about women and their allure in Paris, the city of lights and love. Focusing on women who embodied French culture from the 18th to the 20th century in some 120 works from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the exhibit includes prints and paintings of refined hostesses who oversaw salons, women who sported novel hairstyles and trendy attire, models who served as artists’ muses, and painters and actresses whose flourishing talent allowed them to make their own way.
- Date
- NOW THROUGH SUN, APR. 1, 2018
- Time
- 10 A.M.-6 P.M. (CLOSED MON EXCEPT FEB. 12, CLOSED ON FEB. 13)
- Location
- Setagaya Art Museum, 1st and 2nd floor exhibition rooms, 1-2 Kinuta-koen, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo
- Fee
- ¥1,500 (ADULTS)
Observing The ‘Real’
Leandro Erlich Cosmic & Domestic
Leandro Erlich has questioned the sense of ‘reality’ by offering unexpected combinations and relationships. This exhibition is all about reorganizing the meaning and function of things used in everyday life, including his works Laundry and Elevator Maze. Come reassess the importance of all little things we have in our daily lives and the relationship people have with them.
- Date
- FRI, FEB. 19-SUN, FEB. 25, 2018
- Time
- 11 A.M.-7 P.M. (CLOSED ON MON)
- Location
- ART FRONT GALLERY, Hillside Terrace A, 29-18 Sarugaku-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
- Fee
- ¥500
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