Posted on Sep 3, 2013 in Must see, News, Things to do |
Tokyo Tower is doing its part to get the city into the spirit of the Games. Check it out after dark to see it lit up in the Olympic colours of green, yellow, blue and red, with the shut-off observatory lights representing black to complete the set. Catch it while you can – the lights will only be on until the announce date (September 7).
Details
Open Until Sep 7
Time 5-10pm
Venue Tokyo Tower
Address 4-2-8 Shiba-Koen, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Transport Kamiyacho station (Hibiya line), exit 1 or Onarimon station (Mita line), exit A1 or Akabanebashi station (Oedo line), Akabanebashi exit.
Thatta: Boys be Commercial Tour Final
J-rockers Thatta will conclude their release tour for new album Boys Be Commercial in Shibuya tonight. Sporting a sound that’s heavily influenced by Madchester and the ’90s music scene in both the US and UK, you can expect an energetic live show when they take the stage at Club Asia.
Details
Open Sep 4
Time Doors 6pm
Admission ¥2,500 (including one drink)
Venue Club Asia
Address 1-8 Maruyamacho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Transport Shibuya station (Yamanote, Ginza lines), Hachiko exit; (Hanzomon line), exit 3A.
Ukiyoe: Floating World from the Saito Collection
Though it’s restricted itself mostly to 19th century European art thus far, the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum will be plunging headfirst into the world of ukiyoe woodblock prints this summer, with a show so sprawling that it’s had to be divided into three parts. There’ll be a total of 600 pieces on display during the exhibition, starting with the late-18th century ‘golden age’ (June 22-July 15), moving through the print series of Hokusai, Hiroshige, et al. (July 17-August 11), then finishing with the rush to modernism of the late Edo and early Meiji eras (August 13-September 8).
Details
Open June 22-September 8 Closed Mon (Tue if Mon is a holiday)
Time Tue, Wed, Sun & hols 10am-6pm, Thu-Sat 10am-8pm
Admission Adults ¥1,300, students ¥1,000, junior high & elementary students ¥500
Venue Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo
Address 2-6-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo
Transport Tokyo station (JR, Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Lines), Marunouchi South exit
MHD malt whisky tasting
Get acquainted with the Glens at this malt whisky tasting session held by MDH. This year’s lineup includes quality single malts from 12 distilleries, including Talisker, Lagavulin and Glenmorangie (see the full list below). Bookings must be made in advance, and the event is limited to 300 people. Don’t forget your ID…
Exhibitors
Talisker (Isle of Skye)
Glenmorangie (North Highland)
Ardbeg (Islay)
Lagavulin (Islay)
Caol Ila (Islay)
Glenkinchie (Lowland)
Dalwhinnie (Highland)
Cragganmore (Speyside)
Glen Elgin (Speyside)
Knockando (Speyside)
Clynelish (North Highland)
Oban (West Highland)
Details
Admission ¥3,000 men, ¥2,500 women, couple’s ticket ¥5,000
Venue Shoto Gallery
Address 1-5-4 Shoto, Shibuya, Tokyo
Transport Shibuya Station (Yamanote, Ginza, Hanzomon, Fukutoshin, Denentoshi, Tokyu Toyoko, Keio Inokashira lines)
Tokyo Jazz Festival 2013
Japan’s biggest jazz event is also its least catholic. The three-day Tokyo Jazz Festival doesn’t balk at booking crooners (Burt Bacharach last year, Tony Bennett this year), and each indisputably great musician on the lineup seems to be counterbalanced by a soporifically smooth operator (we’re looking at you, Bob James and David Sanborn). After seeing de facto headliner Ornette Coleman pull out of last year’s event at the last minute, the organisers are probably praying that the same thing doesn’t happen with the 86-year-old Bennett or saxophonist Lee Konitz (85). Also look out for appearances by Chick Corea, Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club, Bobby McFerrin and the hugely gifted Ai Kuwabara. The main concerts are complemented by more intimate shows across the road at the
Cotton Club, plus free gigs held in TIF’s open-air plaza.
Details
Open September 6-8
Time Various times
Admission The Hall: ¥6,500-¥9,500 (one-day pass ¥18,000); The Club: ¥3,000; The Plaza: free
Venue Tokyo International Forum Cotton Club
Address 3-5-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Transport Yurakucho station (Yamanote, Yurakucho lines), Tokyo International Forum exit.
Hibiya Oktoberfest 2013
Tokyo has gone into Oktoberfest overdrive this year, with no less than ten Bavarian bacchanales taking place over the summer months – only one of which actually coincides with the original festival in Munich. Hibiya Park’s second session of the year promises to lure back the same throngs of office workers, fräuleins and
men with impressive beards with the promise of sausages, oom-pah music and quality German beer served from hefty glass tankards (note that you’ll have to pay a refundable ¥1,000 deposit each time you order one). There’s always a strong showing by German breweries, plus local heavyweights like Sankt Gallen and Fujizakura Heights, with a few beers that aren’t available anywhere else… well, except in Munich.
Details
Open September 6-16
Time TBA
Venue Hibiya Park
Address 1-6 Hibiya Koen, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Transport Hibiya Station (Tokyo Metro Marunouchi/Chiyoda Lines, Kasumigaseki Station; Toei Subway Hibiya Line)
Belgian Beer Weekend (2013)
Just when Tokyo’s Oktoberfest onslaught was beginning to get too much, along comes an alternative. Compared to its Munich forebear, the Belgian Beer Weekend is a recent invention: the first edition was held in 1999, at the Grand Place in Brussels. Tokyo became home to the Weekend’s first international offshoot in 2010, and it’s been getting bigger and better ever since. Expect a vast selection of beers, including fruit beers (Boon Kriek, Redbocq), white beers (Hoegaarden, Pater Lievin Wit) and golden ales (Duval), among others. The Tokyo line-up is yet to be announced, but if last year’s is anything to go by you can expect some big-name Belgian acts.
Details
Open September 6-16
Time TBC
Venue Roppongi Hills Arena
Address 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Transport Roppongi Station (Hiroo, Oedo lines)
Omohara Beer Forest
It’s starting to feel like every department store in Tokyo is turning its rooftop into a beer garden this summer, and Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku clearly isn’t immune. Thankfully, they’re doing things a little differently: rather than encouraging visitors to get royally sloshed on all-you-can-drink Super Dry, they’ll be serving a classier lineup of microbrew beer, courtesy of Kanagawa’s Sankt Gallen – and all for the reasonable price of ¥500 a glass. Expect a rotating selection of tipples, plus offbeat concoctions like a ‘beer punch’ made with fruit beer and sliced fruit.
Details
Open July 13-September 8
Time Mon-Fri 5pm-9pm, Sat, Sun, hols & Aug 12-16 noon-9pm
Venue Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku
Address 4-39-3 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Transport Meiji-Jingumae Station (Chiyoda, Fukutoshin lines)
Fashion’s Night Out 2013
Sat Sep 7, 2013
Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour conceived Fashion’s Night Out as a globe-straddling nocturnal celebration of the glories of haute couture (and its related pastime, shopping). This year, the after-hours shopathon will run from 6-11pm, with more than 400 stores and boutiques in Harajuku, Omotesando and Aoyama getting in on the act. There’ll be DJs playing throughout the night, and hardened shopaholics can clock up stamps in the official guidebook to take part in a raffle for all kinds of covetable goodies. This year, you’ll be spending for a good cause – a selection of T-shirts and bags designed by Souun Takeda will be on sale, with proceeds going towards earthquake relief activities.
Details
Open Sep 7
Time Opening ceremony 5pm, closing ceremony 11pm
The Power of Manga: Osamu Tezuka and Shotaro Ishinomori
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo pays tribute to two of Japan’s great manga pioneers in its summer show. Osamu Tezuka and Shotaro Ishinomori weren’t just ground-breaking innovators in the world of Japanese comics – they were also colleagues, working together on Shonen Mangamagazine in the early 1950s. The Power of Manga charts the careers of both men, from early drawings to seminal works like Tezuka’s Atom Boyand Ishinomori’s Cyborg 009. In testament to their lasting impact, it also includes homages from young Japanese and international artists who’ve been influenced by these two manga giants – and we’re guessing there have been quite a few.
Details
Open June 29-September 8 Closed Mon (except July 15), July 16
Time Tue-Sun 10am-6pm
Admission Adults ¥1,200, students & over 65s ¥900, high school & junior high school students ¥700
Venue Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo
Address 4-1-1 Miyoshi, Koto-ku, Tokyo
Transport Kiyosumi-Shirakawa station (Hanzomon line), exit B2 then 9mins walk. Kiyosumi-Shirakawa station (Oedo line), exit A3 then 13mins walk.
Francis Alÿs: Gibraltar Focus
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo has been giving some generous exposure to Francis Alÿs this spring and summer, with two shows devoted to the oeuvre of the Belgian-born, Mexico-based conceptual artist. Following on from the career-spanning
Mexico Survey, the museum now hosts a more recent work.
Don’t Cross the Bridge Before You Get to the River revolves around a massive performance art piece that Alÿs orchestrated on both sides of the Gibraltar Strait in 2008, documented across a hundred-odd pieces of video, photos, drawings, paintings, sculptures and installations.
Details
Open June 29-September 8 Closed Mon (except July 15), July 16
Time Tue-Sun 10am-6pm
Admission Adults ¥1,100, students & over 65s ¥800, high school & junior high students ¥600
Venue Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo
Address 4-1-1 Miyoshi, Koto-ku, Tokyo
Transport Kiyosumi-Shirakawa station (Hanzomon line), exit B2 then 9mins walk. Kiyosumi-Shirakawa station (Oedo line), exit A3 then 13mins walk.
