Oct102026
Beppu Art Month 2026 (17th)
Beppu's open-platform cultural festival run by BEPPU PROJECT in which citizens and artists stage exhibitions, performances and workshops across the hot-spring city each autumn.
42 events
Arts and stage in Japan.
Every arts and stage event on the calendar, checked against official sources.
Oct262026
Tokyo International Film Festival 2026 (39th TIFF)
Japan's largest international film festival screens 204 films over 10 days in central Tokyo.
Oct282026
Shojo Manga Infinity: Moto Hagio x Ryoko Yamagishi x Waki Yamato (National Art Center Tokyo)
Landmark three-artist exhibition of shojo manga legends Hagio, Yamagishi and Yamato, part of the Art Week Tokyo 2026 institutional programme.
Oct302026
DESIGNART TOKYO 2026
Tokyo's design and art festival fills around 70 venues across the city for 10 days.
Oct312026
Mariko Mori: All That Shines (Mori Art Museum)
Major retrospective of Mariko Mori, including the walk-in Wave UFO, at the Mori Art Museum ahead of its temporary closure from 2027-09-24 for renovation.
Oct312026
Roppongi Art Night 2026
Tokyo's all-night art festival returns, running from 5pm on 31 October to 6am on 1 November 2026.
Nov12026
Kabuki at Kabuki-za: November 2026 Programme
Kabuki-za's November programme runs 1 to 25 November 2026 with matinee and evening performances.
Nov12026
Naoshima New Museum of Art and Benesse Art Site Naoshima (ongoing programme)
The tenth Tadao Ando building on Naoshima and the first focused on Asian contemporary art (Murakami, Cai Guo-Qiang, Do Ho Suh), anchoring the Benesse Art Site islands between Triennale years.
Nov42026
Art Week Tokyo 2026
Art Basel-partnered citywide week linking 42 galleries and 13 institutional shows via free shuttle buses, with ten AWT Focus curator-led spaces. Tokyo's key annual contemporary-art moment.
Nov72026
Art Collaboration Kyoto 2026
Japan's leading collaborative contemporary art fair, pairing Japanese galleries with international partners (Hauser & Wirth, Jeffrey Deitch and others in 2026) inside Otani Sachio's brutalist conference hall, backed by Kyoto Prefecture.
Nov142026
Design Festa vol.64
Asia's largest freestyle art event: about 6,500 booths of independent artists, illustrators, craft makers and performers over one weekend, held each May and November.
Nov222026
Takachiho Yokagura Festival (Shinwa no Takachiho Yokagura Matsuri)
Opening showcase of Takachiho's yokagura season: all 33 dances of the UNESCO-inscribed (2024) Takachiho night kagura, including Tajikarao hauling open the rock cave, performed over two days at the shrine.
Dec22026
Kabuki at Kabuki-za: December Grand Kabuki 2026
The December Grand Kabuki runs 2 to 25 December 2026 in three parts a day.
Dec122026
Takarazuka Revue: Tenku no Artemis and Belle Epoque (Moon Troupe)
The Moon Troupe's musical Tenku no Artemis and revue Belle Epoque run at Takarazuka Grand Theatre from 12 December 2026 to 24 January 2027.
Dec262026
Countdown Japan 26/27
Japan's year-end indoor rock festival at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, closing with the New Year countdown.
Jan22027
Kabuki at Kabuki-za: January 2027 New Year Programme
Kabuki-za's January New Year programme is expected to open on 2 January 2027; the programme was not yet announced at verification.
Jan162027
Sapporo International Art Festival 2027 (SIAF2027)
Sapporo's international art festival takes over the snow-covered city from 16 January to 21 February 2027.
Jan192027
Special Exhibition: The Tale of Genji, Splendour of the Heian Court (Tokyo National Museum)
Major winter special exhibition at the Tokyo National Museum devoted to the Tale of Genji and Heian court culture, with national-treasure scrolls and screens.
Jan212027
Tokyo Art Book Fair 2026 (16th edition)
The 16th Tokyo Art Book Fair runs at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo over two blocks in January 2027.
Feb172027
Hachinohe Enburi
A 800-year-old rice-planting prayer dance where groups in horse-head headdresses sweep the ground to wake the earth; some 30 troupes parade on the first morning and perform across the city for four days.
Mar112027
Art Fair Tokyo 2027 (21st edition)
Japan's largest art fair holds its 21st edition at Tokyo International Forum, 11 to 14 March 2027.
Mar242027
DIVA (National Art Center Tokyo x V&A)
The V&A's blockbuster DIVA exhibition comes to Tokyo, tracing 100 singers and performers from opera to pop, co-organised with Sony Music Entertainment in NACT's 20th-anniversary year.
Apr102027
KYOTOGRAPHIE International Photography Festival 2027
Kyoto's spring photography festival since 2013, staging international exhibitions in historic buildings normally closed to the public, with the KG+ open-call programme spread over 100+ small venues.
Apr232027
9th Yokohama Triennale
Japan's longest-running international contemporary art triennale, 124 days under artistic directors Cosmin Costinaș and Inti Guerrero, centred on the Yokohama Museum of Art.
Apr242027
ARABAKI ROCK FEST.27
Tohoku's largest rock festival, around 50,000 fans over two days in a national park setting at the foot of Mt Zao, mixing major Japanese rock acts with regional artists.
Jul12027
Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale 2027
The 10th Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale is expected across the Niigata countryside from July to November 2027.
Jul102027
Gujo Odori (incl. Tetsuya all-night dances)
UNESCO-listed (Furyu-odori) bon dance season of some 30 nights, culminating in four all-night dances from 20:00 to 05:00 over Obon when 250,000 visitors dance in geta through the water-town streets.
Jul232027
Fuji Rock Festival
Three-day outdoor rock festival at Naeba Ski Resort in Yuzawa, Niigata, organised by SMASH Corporation.
Jul302027
TOKYO IDOL FESTIVAL
Three-day idol music festival across stages in Tokyo's Odaiba and Aomi waterfront area.
Jul302027
World Cosplay Summit
International cosplay festival across central Nagoya, centred on Oasis 21 and the Aichi Arts Center.
Aug132027
Rising Sun Rock Festival in EZO
Hokkaido's outdoor rock festival, held on a special stage at Ishikari Bay New Port near Sapporo.
Aug132027
Summer Sonic Osaka
Osaka edition of Summer Sonic, held at the Expo '70 Commemorative Park in Suita, Osaka.
Aug132027
Summer Sonic Tokyo
Tokyo edition of Creativeman's Summer Sonic festival, at ZOZO Marine Stadium and Makuhari Messe in Chiba City.
Aug202027
WILD BUNCH FEST. 2027
The Chugoku region's biggest outdoor rock festival, a three-day beach-park event with Japan's top rock and pop acts and a closing fireworks each night.
Aug272027
Animelo Summer Live
The world's largest anime song festival, expected to return to Saitama Super Arena in 2027.
Aug272027
Sweet Love Shower
Three-day outdoor festival by Lake Yamanaka in Yamanashi, organised by Space Shower TV.
Sep112027
Jozenji Streetjazz Festival
Some 700 amateur and professional bands play free on dozens of open-air stages under the zelkova trees of central Sendai over one September weekend.
Sep112027
Rock in Japan Festival
Large outdoor rock festival at Soga Sports Park in Chiba City, organised by rockin'on.
Sep182027
Ultra Japan
Japanese edition of the Ultra Music Festival electronic dance music event, at Tokyo Odaiba Ultra Park in Koto City, Tokyo.
Oct72027
Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2027 (YIDFF)
Asia's leading documentary film festival returns to Yamagata City from 7 to 14 October 2027.
Oct252027
Tokyo International Film Festival 2027 (40th TIFF)
The 40th, anniversary edition of TIFF is expected in late October 2027; dates not yet announced.
Oct302027
Roppongi Art Night 2027
The 2027 edition of Tokyo's all-night art festival is expected on the last weekend of October 2027.