There’s plenty to keep you occupied in Tokyo this week, including winter illuminations, a ramen festival, art exhibitions, an Italian dinner with live music and more.

1. Tokyo Mega Illuminations at Oi Racecourse

A winter illumination will be held at Oi Racecourse on race-free days. In addition to a breathtaking fountain show and aurora borealis illumination, visitors can enjoy interacting with the miniature horses and ponies. They will be able to go on pony rides in the pasture during the weekends and holidays.

When: Until Jan 10 | See more information about this event

2. Tokyo Ramen Festa 2022

Tokyo Ramen Festa is the largest outdoor ramen event in Japan. It’s a great chance to taste local ramen from different prefectures in one place.

One of the ramen restaurants taking part this year is Ezo from Hokkaido that specializes in Sapporo miso ramen with pork slices and potatoes. Another ramen shop worth mentioning is Akita’s renowned Nishiki, a ramen restaurant that always has lines outside. It serves delicious toro pork bone marrow broth ramen, made with the prefecture’s finest ingredients.

When: Until Nov 6 | See more information about this event

3. Bunka Fashion College Festival

For the first time in three years, Bunka Fashion College’s annual festival will be held in person again. The event will include a fashion show, departmental exhibitions, a select store and a bazaar to showcase the works of students at Bunka Fashion College.

Boasting 20,000 visitors every year, it’s a must-see event that is unique to Bunka Fashion College. Students handle everything from planning and direction to production, modeling, makeup, venue creation and management.

When: November 3–5 | See more information about this event

4. Sunday Dinners: Italian Night by More Than Music

Sundays are for winding down after a hectic week and sometimes an even more hectic weekend. MTM love organizing the occasional Sunday dinner combining tasty food, great live music and amazing people to bring forth the atmosphere of a family Sunday dinner.

The next dinner event goes Italian. The menu includes bruschetta with fresh tomatoes and basil on toast, Italian wedding soup, creamy mushroom pasta with spinach and bacon and tiramisu for dessert. The music is by Tama Tsuboi from Shamanz.

When: Nov 6 | See more information about this event

Animate girls

5. Animate Girls Festival 2022

Appealing to a female fanbase, the Animate Girls Festival 2022 has anime, comics, voice actors, merchandise, otome games and cosplay. At the main venue, visitors can purchase products from more than 70 booths that will change periodically. There will also be well-known performers playing popular anime songs.

When: Nov 5-6 | See more information about this event

6. Peep & Friends Zine Party

Peep is a bilingual movie magazine that focuses on movies and social issues. The theme of the second issue is villains. There are articles about hot topics such as overpopulation, militarization and demon babies. Some movies discussed are Avengers: Infinity War, Bright Future, Children of Men, Gundam, Evangelion and Rosemary’s Baby. It features art and articles by 18 different artists and writers, from eight different countries.

On November 3, Peep will be having an art fair event for artists to show off their artwork. Second-hand books, postcards, posters and prints will be sold.

When: Nov 3 | See more information about this event