Things to do in Tokyo, Kanto: The Best Events

The Edogawa Hanabitaikai is a unique firework show. Though fireworks are an extremely popular summertime event across cities in Japan, this particular exhibition pits two cities against one another: Edogawa-ku, and Ichikawa City. The duel show is presented over the river that parts both areas, with each doing their best to be more brilliant than the other. The result is a whopping 90-minute show with music, a feast for the eyes... and for the stomach, too, as many people bring picnics! Locals also tend to wear brilliantly-colored yukata to the event, which is recommended for an authentic night out. It takes place the first sunday of August.

11,000 fireworks light up the night on the Arakawa River during the Itabashi Hanabitaikai. With the Todabashi bridge in the background, the popular summer display attracts a number of visitors eager to see the bright lights and brilliant displays. Many guests don summer yukata, and go early to reserve their viewing spots.

The Illumination along Nakadori in Marunouchi runs from November to February every year and reflects the style and classy atmosphere of the surrounding neighbourhood. There are few gimmicks and the organisers rise above the continuing arms-race in Tokyo Illuminations with an understated display that complements Nakadori's European-style boulevard. The many trees along Nakadori are tastefully lit with eco-friendly LED bulbs, bathing the area in the signature 'champagne gold' colour that says everything about the luxury designer shops and financial powerhouses lining the street. The flagstones and cobbles, the sophisticated sculpture, the myriad of shopping and dining complexes, art galleries, luxury hotels and mixture of glitz with classical facades all conceal what used to be a rather staid and conservative business district. Before that, Marunouchi ('within the enclosure') was within the outer moat of Edo Castle and was the home of the most powerful feudal lords during the Edo period.

Sanja Matsuri is one of Tokyo's three great summer festivals. It takes place late in May and celebrates the founding of Sensoji Temple in Asakusa. The festival has been running for over 700 years and today draws about two million visitors to the neighbourhood over the course of three days of processions and dances leading up to a parade of three enormous Mikoshi (portable shrines) carried precariously on the shoulders of locals. The shrines are ornate with black lacquer and gold leaf and elaborate purple and vermilion ropes, and weigh about 1 ton each. There's an incredibly charged atmosphere as the people carrying them shout in rhythm and bounce and jostle the shrines to wake up the spirits inside and encourage them to spread luck and prosperity throughout the surrounding neighbourhoods. The mood of celebration and street party atmosphere is packed with the sights and sounds of formal processions with ancient costumes and traditional music, geisha and taiko performances, yakuza gangsters showing off their tattoos, all mixed with the aroma of hundreds of impromptu food stands in the streets.

The annual Tokyo Marathon welcomes over 35,000 runners. One of the six World Marathon Majors, participants run a route that takes them whirring past the Tokyo Imperial Palace, around the Tokyo Big Sight, and towards the finish line that awaits in the distance. Whether visiting as a spectator or a runner, fanfare around the event is high, with onlookers in the thousands cheering on racers as they take on 26 miles of open road in under seven hours.

First held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in 1934 with the aim of improving bonsai art and developing traditional Japanese culture, the "Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition" has a history of more than 80 years. On display at the venue are the prized creations of selected bonsai enthusiasts. And after rigorous examination of such factors as beauty and condition, the most outstanding works are presented with the Kokufu Award. The oldest and the largest bonsai exhibition in Japan, it is widely known at home and abroad as the place to see the best bonsai in the world.

Tokyo Koenji Awa Odori is a festival of 10,000 dancers on streets around JR Koenji Station and Tokyo Metro's Shin-Koenji Station. Awa Odori dance troupes called "ren" from Koenji and many other places, including Tokushima where Awa Odori started, converge on Koenji. They dance on the streets and on stage. Koenji Awa Odori was started in 1957 to revitalize the town. The number of participants increased every year and the venue had to be expanded. It is now Tokyo's largest Awa Odori and the second largest in Japan after Tokushima.

The Chiyoda Cherry Blossom Matsuri is held when cherry blossoms are in bloom at Chidorigafuchi Moat, Yasukuni Shrine, and Kanda Shrine, all famous cherry blossom spots. In the evening, the trees are lit up along the Chidorigafuchi walking path and you can rent a rowboat at the Chidorigafuchi boat pier and see the lit-up flowers from the water. Meanwhile, Yasukuni Shrine's Sakura Festival has many stalls, attracting many visitors. On the weekend, free shuttle buses run between the major cherry blossom spots.

The Bunkyo Azalea Matsuri is held annually from early April to early May at Nezu Shrine. This is the only time people can enter the shrine's azalea garden. The large 6,600-square-meter garden is filled with about 3,000 colorful azaleas in red, pink, purple, white, etc. Since the 100 varieties of azalea bloom at different times, the garden looks different each time you visit. There are also unusual species of azalea such as the dark red azalea (karafune) and windmill-shaped flowers (hanaguruma).

Held from early to mid-June, the Bunkyo Hydrangea Matsuri is one of Bunkyo Ward's Big Five Flower Festivals. Over 3,000 hydrangea colorize Hakusan Shrine and neighboring Hakusan Park. People can also climb up the Fuji mound that is normally closed to the public. Also, since Hakusan Shrine is known for the god that stops toothaches, toothbrushes are memorialized during the festival.