World X’mas Festival 2011
December 22, 2011 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
Calling all Santas! If you’re sticking around Tokyo this holiday season, don your red cape and head over to Yoyogi Park for the World X’mas Festival on December 24 and 25.
The best kind of present is the gift of making those around you happy. So say the festival organizers, who are hoping to get as many Tokyoites as possible to become someone’s “Santa Claus” this Christmas.
The event boasts a cute children’s Christmas show, holiday-themed belly dancing, a parade/fashion show of various ethnic costumes, and a “Santa Girl” performance featuring acrobatics, juggling and dance.
Dream Yosakoi Festival
November 2, 2011 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
Known as the “face” of Tokyo’s autumn
matsuri, the Dream Yosakoi Festival regularly attracts over 500,000 spectators
keen to enjoy its vibrant costumes, colorful dances and wide-ranging musical
style.
While one of Japan’s most famous dances,
yosakoi has evolved over the years to fit the changing fashions and dances of
the times. Teams compete not only with choreography, but by rearranging the
traditional “Yosakoi Naruko Odori” song in samba, rock and many other styles.
This year, nearly 100 teams from
across Japan will be bringing their best to the streets of Odaiba, Marunouchi
and Yurakucho.
During the Grand Finale parade,
held nightly from approximately 7:30 – 9 p.m., spectators are encouraged to
jump right in and join the dance.
Tokyo International Film Festival
October 19, 2011 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
The Tokyo International Film
Festival may not have quite the prestige of Venice or Busan, but it never fails
to draw a crowd. This year’s event will feature the traditional “green carpet,”
across which stars of the hundred or so films being presented will walk.
Works in competition include director
Rodrigo Garcia’s (“Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her”) period drama “Albert
Nobbs,” starring Glenn Close in a gender-bending role; as well as the world
premiere of Hong Kong director Oxide Pang’s surreal, 3D thriller “Sleepwalker.”
Japan’s indie film scene is
represented with the Japanese Eyes program. Watch out for the Japan/Kazakhstan
co-production “The First Rains of Spring” and coming-of-age romance “No Reply.”
Nepal Festival & Vietnam Festival
September 15, 2011 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
This month’s back-to-back three-day weekends get off to a cosmopolitan start with two simultaneous cultural events at Yoyogi Park.
Start off at the Nepal Festival’s stage to catch everything from a pro-wrestling exhibition and traditional ethnic fashion show to a Nepalese Quiz show and the festival’s “Handsome Boy Contest.”
Meanwhile the Vietnam Festival will be presenting lots of savory treats from Pho Motiti and other local restaurants, information about relaxation services from Imsi Vietnam Spa, and many more booths.
The main Yoyogi Park stage will play host to a lineup of international artists, including Japanese singer Jyongri and top Vietnamese artists like singer Ho Quynh Huong and idol Hien Thuc.
Charity Japan Beer Festival Yokohama
September 7, 2011 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
Like the Tokyo counterpart that
was held back in June, the Yokohama leg of the Great Japan Beer Festival
provides one of the better suds-fests in Kanto.
From September 17 – 19, step
inside the whale-shaped Osanbashi Hall and discover nearly 200 varieties of
microbrews. This year’s offerings range from local favorites like Coedo and
Baird Beer to more esoteric choices including Taybeh from Palestine.
Unlike other festivals where you
pay by the glass, entrance to this event lets you sample as many beers as your
liver can handle. The first 800 customers will also receive a special “2011 Yokohama”
commemorative glass. Oh, and did we mention it’s for a good cause?
Festival Brasil 2011
September 1, 2011 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
With the cancellation of the
Asakusa Samba Carnival, Tokyoites were robbed of their chance to celebrate in
true Brazilian style. But never fear, because this weekend’s Brazil Festival in
Yoyogi Park will give you a second chance to breathe in the aroma of churrasco
on the grill.
Check out performances by Brazilian
pop-rock icons Banda Blitz; talk show host Ana Maria Braga; and Bloco
Barravento, a Japan-based group playing a fusion of samba and reggae.
For those looking for a more
active festival experience, there will be a series of capoeira workshops going
on all day, sponsored by the Brazilian Embassy.
September 3 – 4, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Yoyogi Park. More info online.
India Festival / Tokyo Africa Festival
August 10, 2011 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
When you ask what’s on this
weekend, the obvious answer is Summer Sonic. Maybe that’s why Yoyogi Park will
be hosting not one, but two simultaneous cultural festivals: the India Festival
and Tokyo Africa Festival.
On the Africa side, visitors can
check out the African fashion show, browse the market and even get their hair
professionally braided. Stage performances include traditional Cameroon dance, Senegalese
drumming, and a dance performance presented by Waseda students from Uganda.
Another highlight this year is the first ever Miss and Mr. Africa Japan pageant.
Fuji Rock Festival 2011: The show must go on
July 19, 2011 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
Spend
time with Masa Hidaka, and you soon realize this is a man who enjoys putting on
a show.
Sometimes,
that consists simply of telling outrageous stories in his office in Tokyo’s Minato
Ward, where he works in a T-shirt, track pants and slippers.
A
more conventional take on his showmanship, however, would be the Fuji Rock
Festival (FRF), where about 120,000 fans (roughly 40,000 per day) are set to
invade the Naeba ski resort in Niigata Prefecture, about three hours’ by road or train north of Tokyo, for their annual slice of paradise on the last weekend of
July.
Commodore Perry Festival Hanabi Taikai
July 16, 2011 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
If you absolutely can’t wait
until August when the hanabi season goes into full swing, then pop over to
Kurihama this Saturday for the Commodore Perry Festival Hanabi Taikai.
Starting from 7:20 p.m. organizers
will be sending up roughly 3,500 fireworks in commemoration of the arrival of
the legendary Black Ships.
The best views can be had from
Perry Koen, Kurihama Kaigan and the Wharf.
During the Yokosuka Kaikoku
Bazaar from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., the shopping arcade will be bustling with flea
market stalls and performances, including a hula dance show at 3 p.m. and a
belly dancing performance from 4 p.m.
Commodore Perry Festival Hanabi Taikai
July 7, 2011 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
If you absolutely can’t wait
until August when the hanabi season goes into full swing, then pop over to
Kurihama this Saturday for the Commodore Perry Festival Hanabi Taikai.
Starting from 7:20 p.m. organizers
will be sending up roughly 3,500 fireworks in commemoration of the arrival of
the legendary Black Ships.
The best views can be had from
Perry Koen, Kurihama Kaigan and the Wharf.
During the Yokosuka Kaikoku
Bazaar from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., the shopping arcade will be bustling with flea
market stalls and performances, including a hula dance show at 3 p.m. and a
belly dancing performance from 4 p.m.
