Tokyo Christmas Market
Embrace the spirit of gemütlichkeit (cosiness and good cheer) at Tokyo’s largest Christmas market, where you’ll find vendors offering stollen (fruit bread), mulled wine, artisanal gifts and European-style ornaments from cutely designed alpine-style stalls.
Add in handicraft workshops, musical performances, sparkly illuminations and a 14-metre-high wooden installation—depicting scenes from the Grimm’s Fairy Tales— imported from Seiffen, Germany and you’ll be in the yuletide spirit in a flash.
The market is held at the Meiji Jingū Gaien Rubber Baseball Field in Meiji Jingu Gaien from the 21st of November to the 25th of December, running from 11 am to 8.30 pm daily.
Tokyo Comic Con
Tokyo’s pop culture calendar is always popping with anime, manga and cosplay conventions, so this event pulls out the big guns to attract the locals with American movie stars, celebrity meet-and-greets and Marvel and DC pop-up stores selling limited-edition figurines and wearable merchandise.
As well as appearances by Lord of the Rings stars Elijah Wood and Sean Astin, this year to mark the 40th anniversary of Back to the Future, Tokyo Comic Con is flying in Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson for autograph sessions and photos in front of the DeLorean.
Head to Makuhari Messe for the event (Kaihimmakuhari Station, Chiba) on the 5th to the 7th of December.
Tokyo Whisky Festival
You’ll quickly forget the 5,000 yen entry fee to Japan’s best whisky festival once you’re inside the venue being offered free tastings by emerging local whisky brands and international distilleries.
After taking multiple nips of whisky, single malts, bourbon and rye at just some of the 100 booths, you may even be able to understand the seminars (conducted in Japanese) that are held over the two-day event!
The festival is held at Bellesalle Takadanobaba Event Hall (Takadanobaba) on the 6th and 7th of December.
Tokyo Art Book Fair
The Tokyo Art Book Fair is a must-visit destination for all visual design creatives. Over 300 local and international artists, photographers and publishers set up booths to sell their small press publications and one-off zines and to interact directly with their customers.
Book signings, music shows, hands-on zine tutorials, live drawing shows and kids craft workshops are held throughout the fair, and there’s also a ‘Guest Country’ program that sheds light on the publishing culture of one country through exhibitions and artist talks.
The fair takes place at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo on the 11th to the 14th, and the 19th to the 21st of December.
Setagaya Boroichi Market
Tokyo’s oldest continuously running street market, that has been in operation since 1578, is so revered that it’s been designated as an ‘Intangible Folk Cultural Property’ that’s a precious legacy for the Japanese people.
Centuries ago the majority of the market’s merchandise consisted of boro (fabric scraps) for reinforcing zori (straw sandals) and mending work clothes for the local farming community.
Now you’ll find over 700 vendors selling vintage kimonos, secondhand toys, antiques and traditional snacks like freshly pounded daikan mochi (freshly-made rice cakes) and warm amazake (a sweet, non-alcoholic rice drink).
The market takes place on the 15th and 16th December from 9 am to 8 pm at Boroichi Street, Setagaya.
Comic Market
Tokyo’s biannual comic book market is a jamboree of otaku (geek) subculture that celebrates manga and anime comics as well as cosplay.
The two-day event specialises in the sale of doujinshi (self-published, fan-fiction manga books). Doujinshi sees some artists experimenting with the canon of existing series to explore alternate realities or romantic pairings, whilst other illustrators create original characters.
Most of these comic books, however, are not for kids as they often portray adults (or monsters, or adults and monsters) in complex, R-rated relationships.
A lot of attendees also cosplay as well-known anime and video game characters, which makes the convention even more colourful. If you intend to dress up, be advised that costumes are not permitted on trains or public transit. Arrive at Tokyo Big Sight wearing your regular clothes and change into your costume in the allocated changing room.
The event is held at Tokyo Big Sight in Odaiba on the 30th and the 31st of December from 10.30 am to 4 pm.
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