The Best Things To Do in Tokyo This Month: June 2026

Soetsu Yanagi and Nihon Mingeikan

In 1926, three friends — Soetsu Yanagi, Kanjiro Kawai and Shoji Hamada — set out to found a new kind of museum, based on the word they had just coined: mingei, meaning “folk craft.” At the time, the idea that everyday objects made by unknown craftspeople held aesthetic value just like fine art was quite revolutionary. Ten years later, in 1936, that vision became tangible when the Japan Folk Crafts Museum (Mingeikan) opened its doors.This exhibition marks two milestones at once: a century since that founding prospectus and 90 years since the museum itself opened. Visitors can trace the long road to that opening and follow Yanagi’s vision — from his designs for the building to the objects he collected and the remarkable care he took with every detail, down to the cases, the wallpaper and the light.

© Kotaro Nukaga

Yohei Chimura: They Stand, Once More, Before the Next Name

When you look into one of Yohei Chimura’s glass works, you’ll see specks of silver suspended in their clear depths: grains of tin sealed inside the glass while both were still molten. The glass itself looks caught mid-movement, its surface rippling and breaking off as though it cooled in an instant.Sealing tin inside glass usually isn’t possible, since two materials that cool at different rates tend to crack apart. In his series The Experiment on the Origin, Chimura works right at that breaking point, letting gravity, heat and spin pull the metal through the glass in unpredictable ways.The exhibition also wraps the entire gallery in a skin of transparent vinyl, another material reshaped by heat, turning the whole room into one continuous piece about how matter meets, responds and settles.

Picasso, Through the Eyes of Paul Smith

Pablo Picasso never settled into a single way of seeing. He moved restlessly — from the deep blues of grief to the splintered geometry of cubism, into ceramics, sculpture, theater and the unflinching protest of “Guernica.”This exhibition looks at all of that through an unexpected lens. British designer Paul Smith, drawing on the collection of the Musée national Picasso-Paris, has designed the layout himself — and the result is full of color and small, delightful surprises. Around 80 works, including “Portrait of a Man” from the Blue Period and “Paul as Harlequin,” unfold in a loose, easy chronology rather than a strict progression.It builds on “Picasso Celebration: The Collection in a New Light!” — the 2023 Paris show marking 50 years since the artist’s death — now traveling internationally, reimagined here as a space that feels playful, personal and alive.

Monsters by Monsters: Now and Then - Pop Mart Exhibition

Pop Mart will hold an exhibition celebrating 10th years of "The Monsters," the series that includes the globally popular character Labubu.

Hiroshi Sugimoto: Extinction Exhibition

The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo will host an exhibition with renowned Japanese photographer and architect Hiroshi Sugimoto.

Glad We Came - Nodoka Yamaura Exhibition

UltraSuperNew Kura art gallery will host a special exhibition with pattern artist Nodoka Yamaura titled, "Glad We Came."

15 untitled works in concrete, 1980–84. Permanent collection, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas. Photo by Florian Holzherr, courtesy The Chinati Foundation. Donald Judd Art © 2026 Judd Foundation/ARS, NY/JASPAR, Tokyo.

Judd | Marfa

Tracing the radical career of Donald Judd (1928-1994), this show dives into how a painter from Missouri ended up redefining 20th-century art through his massive, three-dimensional “stacks” and boxes. It centers on his big move from the New York art scene to the desert of Marfa, Texas, where he turned old buildings into permanent homes for his work. For Judd, art wasn’t just something you hung on a wall. It was about the entire space it lived in — a philosophy that still shakes up the worlds of architecture and design today. Mixing his early 1950s paintings with his famous minimalist structures, the exhibition gives a behind-the-scenes look at Judd’s obsession with spatial integrity through personal drawings, videos and plans. Visitors can also witness Judd’s long-standing connection to Japan, through the section documenting his 1978 show at Watari-um, organized by museum founder Shizuko Watari. 

W. Eugene Smith, "Untitled," from the series "As from My Window I Sometimes Glance...," c.1957-59. Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum ©2026 The Heirs of W. Eugene Smith.

W. Eugene Smith and New York: The Loft Era

A towering figure in 20th-century American photography, W. Eugene Smith produced a body of work that redefined the impact of a single image. While Smith is best known for his assignments as a World War II correspondent for Life magazine, his career actually traces a much broader technical evolution. Venturing beyond traditional news reporting, he was a pioneer of the photo essay — a format that uses a sequence of images and short text to build a complex story. Following his work from the 1940s to later projects like Minamata, the exhibition highlights Smith’s effort to fuse raw journalism with deliberate artistic composition. A major part of the collection covers Smith’s transition away from mainstream news after 1954, specifically his years living in a Manhattan loft. This space became a creative crossroads for jazz legends like Thelonious Monk and artists such as Salvador Dalí. During this era, Smith’s style shifted: he began using the camera as a tool for artistic exploration rather than as a recording device. Capturing the atmospheric, late-night jam sessions that unfolded around him, Smith moved beyond the conventions of his earlier work. 

Dugg Ci Dox (DUGG) by Ousmane Ba Exhibition

Franco-Guinean-Senegalese artist Ousmane Ba's new exhibition at Ultra Super New Kura will feature washi collage and multicultural heritage.

Hiroka Yamashita, "The Arrivals" (2026). © Hiroka Yamashita / Photo: Yuji Taneki

Hiroka Yamashita: White Veils

Mist, steam, incense smoke, snow falling thick enough to blur the world — these fleeting presences move through Hiroka Yamashita’s new paintings, drifting across scenes of sacred dances, figures gathered at festivals, snowy landscapes and serene moments by the water. The white vapors shift their shape and never quite let you see what lies behind them. “White Veils,” her second solo exhibition at Taka Ishii Gallery, gathers 18 new paintings around these themes. Yamashita’s work draws on Japanese mythology and animist traditions, often built from her own visits to local rites and festivals. Many of the new paintings center on kagura, the sacred Shinto dances and ceremonies she’s been studying since 2024. White has long been read as a sign of the divine in Japan, and it enters this body of work alongside deep red and black — colors at the heart of older Japanese painting.

Sanrio Exhibition: The Beginning of Kawaii

Mori Arts Center Gallery will hold a special exhibition celebrating 60 years of the Sanrio brand, kawaii culture and over 200 characters.

Karl Walser, "Girl with a Doll Stroller" (before 1905). NMB New Museum Biel, Switzerland

Karl Walser: Dark Afterglow of the Fin de Siècle

Karl Walser’s paintings have a strange, dreamlike pull to them — somewhere between symbolism and storybook, with a touch of melancholy underneath. Much of his work emerged in Berlin, where he was part of the Secession, a group of artists pushing back against the stiffness of academic painting at the time. But painting was only one part of what he did. He also illustrated books, designed sets and costumes for the theater and spent his later years working on murals. In 1908, Walser traveled to Japan and spent several months sketching whatever caught his eye — kabuki actors, summer riverside platforms in Kyoto, the Gion Festival in full swing. Many of those watercolors have rarely been seen in public, and the colors are still startlingly fresh. This is the first retrospective in Japan of Walser, bringing together around 150 works.

Mathilde Denize, "Contours" (2026). Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin.

Mathilde Denize: Time and Light

French artist Mathilde Denize brings a tactile, physical energy to her first Japanese solo exhibition at Perrotin Tokyo. Known for a process that involves cutting up her old canvases and sewing them back together, Denize treats painting as a form of construction. In her new series, Contours, she moves away from using outside objects like leather or shells to focus on the paint itself, building her surfaces using pigments salvaged from film sets and advertising shoots, layering hazy pinks, golden yellows and rich purples to create a sense of history. The structural thinking behind these works echoes the ideas of Symbolist poet Stéphane Mallarmé, who treated words like physical objects — placing them on a page to fragment the reader’s pace. Denize applies this to the gallery itself, hanging her canvases in a single horizontal line to create a rhythm that feels like a musical score. This approach also connects to the modernism of painter Sonia Delaunay, who used color relationships to create a visual beat. Rather than simply reenacting these historical styles, Denize engages with the questions they left unfinished.

Yokai Immersive Experience Exhibition Tokyo

Warehouse Terrada will host an immersive exhibit inspired by the monsters/spirits of Japanese folklore, combining art with special effects.

Leica Gallery Omotesando © Teresa Freitas

Teresa Freitas: Meeting Point

For Portuguese photographer Teresa Freitas, color is the whole point. It’s the thing that holds her images together — shaping space, drawing the eye and pulling together places that have nothing else in common. Her work moves freely between street, documentary and fine art photography, building a visual language all its own. “Meeting Point,” on view at Leica Gallery Omotesando, pairs photographs taken in distant parts of the world — loosely framed as East and West — and presents them side by side. Each pairing turns on a kind of visual rhyme: a shade of blue in one place echoing the same blue thousands of miles away, a curve of architecture finding its match across an ocean, until the distance between them begins to dissolve. Drawn from years of accumulated images, the work shows how photographic memory builds over time, and how the eye can find unexpected connections across the world.

© Ayaka Endo

Ayaka Endo: Kanoko

In much of her work, Ayaka Endo photographs animals and landscapes, lighting them with a sudden burst of strobe. The effect is striking: Her subjects look at once starkly real and otherworldly, as if caught in a moment that doesn’t quite belong to ordinary time.Endo’s solo exhibition “Kanoko” marks the release of a book: a special edition of Kanoko Okamoto’s “Sushi” (1939), reedited and rebound with Endo’s photographs woven in. The volume is the sixth iteration in an ongoing series that pairs a work of Japanese literature with photography, putting two narratives — one written, one photographic — in conversation. If you’re in the Nakameguro area, pop into the gallery to see these luminescent photos in person. 

Heisei Ren-Ai Exhibition

Roppongi Museum's new Heisei romance exhibition will explore the nostalgic after-school days of the past, with over 3000 displayed items.

Minato City Toy Pictures Exhibition

The Minato City Local History Museum's exhibition on omocha-e, or "Toy Pictures," will show children's artwork from the Edo and Meiji eras.

Urs Fischer, "Mirror" (2026). Installation View. Courtesy of Fergus McCaffrey

Urs Fischer: Spot the Difference

Urs Fischer’s works move between high culture and kitsch, the permanent and the fleeting, the serious and the absurd — often within the same piece. “Spot the Difference,” his first exhibition at Fergus McCaffrey Tokyo, takes its cue from the gallery itself: a finished space upstairs, an unfinished sub-basement below. The split became a way to think about the conscious and unconscious mind. Upstairs, two life-size wax self-portraits face each other through a roughly cut hole in the wall. Lit on opening day, they are slowly melting over the course of the show before being recast and begun again. Downstairs, Rorschach-like wallpaper of concrete holes and patches wraps the entire space, populated with painted bronze sculptures and drawings. Born in Zurich in 1973, Fischer lives and works in Los Angeles. The exhibition marks the first showing of his Candle portraits in Japan.

Andrew Wyeth: Boundaries or Windows

Born in 1917, Andrew Wyeth is widely considered one of America’s most beloved painters. While many artists of his time were chasing bold new movements like Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art, Wyeth went his own way; he stayed close to home, painting the people, houses and fields he knew best in rural Pennsylvania and coastal Maine. But his paintings are never just pretty pictures of the countryside. Look closely, and you’ll find something deeper — everyday moments charged with feeling, memory and a sense of life’s fragility. Wyeth had a particular fascination with windows, doors and other thresholds. These ordinary details became something more in his hands: gentle reminders of the line between the familiar and the unknown, between life and what lies beyond.

Yoko Matsumoto, 'Dark Rock V' (1991) © Yoko Matsumoto. Courtesy of Fuchu Art Museum

Matsumoto Yoko: The Day I Saw The Evening Star

Yoko Matsumoto, who turned 90 this May, has been painting for more than 60 years. Yet remarkably, this is the first time a museum is celebrating her breathtaking canvases with a large-scale solo show. These extraordinary paintings are at once delicate and dynamic; hazy, ethereal washes of color drift and pile up like clouds until the canvas seems to vibrate with energy. The surface seems to fluctuate constantly, never quite settling. Matsumoto’s approach grew out of a year she spent in late-1960s America, where she discovered acrylic paint and raw, unprimed cotton canvas. In the 2000s, she turned to oil paint, working in rich greens, blacks and blues. The show gathers 35 paintings and 15 drawings, curated with help from the artist herself, spanning her earliest work from the late 1950s to brand-new works shown here for the first time. Many are vast, with lengths spanning over 2 meters. *Although the Fuchu Art Museum is not in central Tokyo, it’s not difficult to access; Fuchu Station is roughly 25 minutes by train from Shinjuku, and the museum is a short bus ride away. The museum is set within the peaceful greenery of Fuchu-no-Mori Park, which makes for a pleasant visit in its own right.

Daniel Buren, 'Fibres optiques - Bleu clair J2' (2013). Courtesy of Scai the Bathhouse, Photo by Nobutada Omote

Daniel Buren: Situated Works 1966-2013

Daniel Buren has spent more than 60 years working with one thing: a vertical stripe, 8.7 centimeters wide, white alternating with color. He first spotted the pattern on a bolt of ordinary striped fabric in the mid-1960s, and it has been central to his work ever since. Buren has called the stripe “an invariable sign” in a world that never stops changing — a fixed point for looking at everything else. You’ll find his signature stripes in galleries, museums and streets all over the world, most famously on the black-and-white cylindrical columns at the Palais Royal in Paris. This show brings together pieces from the 1960s and 1980s alongside more recent ones from the 2010s. The former includes “Peinture aux Formes Variables” (1966), made not long after Buren found his striped material. The recent pieces trade paint for light — cloth woven with optical fiber and LEDs, made with manufacturers in Lyon, a city known for textiles.*Please note that some exhibits will be changed during the course of this exhibition. During the first half of the exhibition period, the series Fibres Optiques (2013), composed of optical fiber incorporating LEDs, will be on display. In the second half, the rare 6.5-hour film Beyond Time, as Far as the Eye Can See (2018) will be screened.

Eric Carle, Illustration for "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." Collection of the Eric and Barbara Carle Foundation. © 1969, 1987 Penguin Random House LLC.

Eric Carle: Art, Books and the Caterpillar

Few picture books have been loved by as many children as The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Created by American author Eric Carle, it has been translated into more than 70 languages and passed down through generations. At its heart is a simple but memorable message: a tiny caterpillar nibbles its way through the world and grows into a beautiful butterfly. It’s a story about hope, change and becoming who you’re meant to be. Marking the 50th anniversary of the book’s Japanese publication, this exhibition brings together around 180 works, including precious original illustrations and handmade “book dummies” that show how Carle’s ideas first took shape on paper. You’ll also see early pieces from his days as a graphic designer — the foundation for the playful, interactive picture books he would later become famous for.

Soup As Life Exhibition

21_21 Design Sight Gallery will host an exhibition centered around soup and the origins of food, clothing and shelter.

Grand Van Gogh Exhibition

Van Gogh's timeless masterpiece, "Café Terrace at Night," will come to Japan for the first time in 20 years, exhibiting his art evolution.

Invitation from Hogwarts at Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo

The Making of Harry Potter presents “Invitation from Hogwarts,” a limited-time experience running from March 18 to September 6, 2026.

Rina Banerjee, "A woman must keep moving…" (2022). Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin.

Rina Banerjee: "You made me leave home…

Stepping into Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo feels like entering a series of mystical, layered environments built from an extraordinary array of found objects. Indian-American artist Rina Banerjee gathers items from across the globe — such as ostrich eggs, vintage glass chandeliers, copper threads and medicinal powders — and weaves them into sculptures that feel both ancient and modern. While her work directly confronts the legacies of colonialism, she does so through a lens of humor and striking beauty, creating a space where the viewer is simultaneously charmed and challenged. This exhibition, which marks the 20th anniversary of Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo and a decade of the Fondation’s international “Hors-les-murs” program, features 19 works that explore the fluid nature of identity. A highlight of the show is a monumental installation inspired by Jules Verne’s novel Around the World in Eighty Days, featuring a massive dome from which a cascade of objects is suspended. The exhibition also features Banerjee’s 2025 painting series, which integrates South Asian motifs and iconography to create female figures that echo the presence of Hindu goddesses.

Ron Mueck Exhibition

Ron Mueck, a contemporary artist, will hold an exhibition at the Mori Art Museum with figurative sculptures that reflect life and mortality.

Fujisan Onsen Hotel Kaneyamaen Firefly Festival

Fujisan Onsen Hotel Kaneyamaen in Yamanashi will host a firefly festival along the Katsura River with beautiful views, live music and food.

Kugayama Firefly Festival 2026

The 29th annual Kugayama Firefly Festival will return along the Kanda River and Tamagawa Aqueduct, where around 3,000 fireflies glow.

Hachioji Firefly Nights 2026

Yuyake Koyake Fureai no Sato's Firefly Nights will return with Heike and Genji fireflies in it's village-like Hachioji venue.

Oshikatsu Expo Summer 2026

The 5th Oshikatsu Expo Summer, Japan's only specialized exhibition for fandom-related activities, will take place at Tokyo Big Sight.

Hibiya Mid Summer 2026

Gotemba Kogen Tokinosumika Summer Galaxy and Firefly Den

Gotemba Kogen Tokinosumika park will host the "Summer Galaxy" and "Firefly's Den" events with fantastically illuminated summer nights.

Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo Firefly Fantasy 2026

Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo is a premier firefly viewing location, with illuminations in a peaceful garden and a seasonal buffet.

Yomiuriland Hana Biyori Firefly Days 2026

Hana Biyori, a flower park located inside Yomiuriland theme park, will be holding a firefly viewing event called Hotaru Biyori.

Sea Paradise Fireworks Symphony

Yokohama Sea Paradise's nightly summer fireworks show with music and various areas to enjoy the show with food and drinks.

Satoru Shionoya and Salt Strings in Concert

Step into an evening of refined jazz with Satoru Shionoya and his ensemble, Salt Strings — set in the renowned venue Yamaha Hall.

Tower Records Shibuya Michael Jackson Tribute DJ Party

In commemoration of the Japanese release of the Michael movie, Tower Records Shibuya will host a 2-day Michael Jackson tribute Dj party. 

Global Citizen Live: Tokyo 2026

Global Citizen, the world’s largest initiative to end poverty, will host its first Japan music event with Yuki Chiba, Ai, Yoshiki and &Team.

Samurai Champloo Pop-Up Shop

The anime series Samurai Champloo will open a pop-up shop with a variety of exclusive items inspired by the unique art style of the series.

The Creative Origins of Mamoru Hosoda Exhibition

Creative Museum Tokyo will host a Mamoru Hosoda exhibition featuring the largest ever display of Hosoda's animation production materials.

Initial D Art Exhibition

Street racing series Initial D will have a special exhibition that reimagines Shuichi Shigeno's manga in a new context of contemporary art.

Orb: On the Movements of the Earth Exhibition

Tokyo City View observation deck will collaborate with manga "Orb: On the Movements of the Earth" with artwork, photo spots and projections.

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon -Shining Theater Shinagawa Tokyo-

Shinagawa Prince Hotel will host a brand-new Sailor Moon theater experience with an original story and immersive effects.

Kensington Diamonds Peach and Mango Afternoon Tea

Star Wars Galactic Cafe

Celebrating the release of "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu," Box Cafe & Space will have a cafe inspired by the galactic saga. 

Day Trip BBQ at Botanical Pool Club

Botanical Pool Club has prepared a special lunch-time-only plan where guests can enjoy a BBQ paired with original beer.

Hibiya Toy Story 5 Pop-Up Cafe Stand

Celebrating the release of Disney and Pixar's Toy Story 5, Tokyo Midtown Hibiya will host a pop-up cafe stand with food and drinks.

Niccolino Pop-Up Cafe

Niccolino, the popular gachapon toy series, will have a pop-up cafe at Collabo Index in Ikebukuro with food, drinks and merchandise.

BeBu's Chipotle Mango Glazed Fried Chicken Burger

The American comfort food restaurant BeBu is introducing Chipotle Mango Glazed Fried Chicken Burger for a limited time starting on May 1.

Tokyo DisneySea Food and Wine Festival 2026

The annual Tokyo DisneySea Food & Wine Festival will return with a wide range of limited-time gourmet items across the park.

Le Pristine Presents Italian Regions: Part 2

The Italian Regions series at Le Pristine continues this May and June, turning to the sun-drenched regions of Tuscany and Liguria.

Tour of Japan at The Oak Door

The Oak Door is offering an exclusive dinner course, bringing together premium Japanese ingredients for a dynamic evening at its steakhouse.

Lavender Sweet Afternoon Tea at Shinjuku Prince Hotel

Shinjuku Prince Hotel will offer a "Lavender Sweet Afternoon Tea," an elegant experience with treats inspired by flowers and seasonal colors.

Botanical Pool Club's 'Sunlit Bloom 2026'

Botanical Pool Club (BPC) is currently holding "Sunlit Bloom 2026," a seasonal event to enjoy early summer, that runs until June 30.

Tokyo Matcha Time at Skytree

Tokyo Skytree will host its first-ever Tokyo Matcha Time event, where visitors can enjoy matcha tea at the observation deck. 

Hilton Tokyo Lemon Beach House Sweets Buffet

Hilton Tokyo will host a summer sweets buffet, themed as the "Lemon Beach House," at the hotel's Marble Lounge with over 20 luxurious sweets.

Forest Beer Garden at Meiji Jingu Gaien

A beloved summer tradition in Tokyo, the Forest Beer Garden at Meiji Jingu Gaien is open for its 2026 edition.

(c)Kate Shanasy

Bills' Spring-Summer Menu 2026

Bills (stylized as bills) is currently offering its Spring-Summer 2026 Menu across all eight locations in Japan.

Kissa Monchhichi with Sunday Brunch Kichijoji

Sunday Brunch Kichijoji will collaborate with Monchhichi for a limited-time retro-themed café experience with dishes inspired by the toy.

Hilton Tokyo Odaiba's Exclusive Charcoal-Grill Terrace Dining Experience

A new outdoor charcoal-grill dining experience at Sakura , the Japanese restaurant at Hilton Tokyo Odaiba.

Le Petit Chef & Friends

ANA InterContinental Tokyo is hosting its second chapter of its immersive dining spectacle, Le Petit Chef & Friends.

New Traiteur Semi-Lunch Buffet Begins at Mesm Tokyo

The modern luxury hotel Mesm Tokyo (stylized as mesm Tokyo) is now offering a new style of semi-lunch buffet.

Il Lupino Prime Tokyo's Revamped Happy Hour Set

Il Lupino Prime Tokyo has revamped its popular Happy Hour program, extending service by one hour with last orders now at 6 p.m.

Dissonance — Indie Game Exhibition

A gaming exhibition set in the outskirts of Tokyo featuring unsettling indie games.

Pokémon Pokopia x Raku Spa Collaboration Event

Raku Spa will collaborate with Pokemon Pokopia for a collaboration event at 39 different spa locations, inspired by the popular video game.

© SSFF & ASIA

Short Shorts Film Festival 2026

The Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2026, one of Asia’s largest Academy Award-accredited short film festivals, will return across Tokyo.

Squid Game: The Experience

Tokyu Plaza Shibuya will host an immersive experience inspired by the Emmy Award-winning South Korean series Squid Game.