What to do and see in Tokyo, Kanto: The Best Cultural Events

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.

One of Japan's largest and oldest festivals, dating back to the 1600s, the Sanno Matsuri is held every other year. Its main procession, the jinkosai, starts in the early morning at the Hie-jinja shrine and returns in the evening, after traversing much of central Tokyo. It includes hundreds of people in traditional dress and ancient costume in a parade of portable shrines (mikoshi) emblazoned with phoenixes, alongside people on horseback, floats, drummers, and more. Enjoy cultural activities like tea ceremony and flower arrangement around town, purify yourself by walking through a thatched circlet at a temple, and beware the Tengu goblins!

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.

Since its founding in 1630, Chokokuji temple has been holding the Tori no Ichi outdoor market. It has been nicknamed "Asakusa Tori Temple" since the Edo Period. The temple's Asakusa Tori no Ichi market has stalls selling decorative bamboo rakes (called "kumade") in a wide variety of sizes and designs. When a large rake is sold, the seller gives the customer a loud cheer for family safety and business prosperity and claps his hands. Right next to Chokokuji temple is Otori Shrine. Worshippers can thereby pray to both the Buddhist Otorisama deity at Chokokuji and the Shinto Otorisama deity at Otori Shrine. The stalls line the Kokusai-dori road from Minowabashi Station in a lively atmosphere.

Along the Meguro River, trees burn bright blue and pink for the Illumination festivities. Crafted to turn the drab winter scenery into a dreamscape that delights the imagination and charms the senses, thousands of LED lights are used to brighten the river walk during the Meguro Illumination. Most impressive of all the displays is the "Sakura Namiki" Illumination, which singularly utilizes nearly 160,000 LEDs to recreate the springtime burst of delicate magenta cherry blossoms. Also unmissable is the "Kodomotachi no Yume Tree", or Children's Dream Tree, constructed from recycled bottles and lit by the green energy created by passing foot traffic.