With spring just around the corner, March is a great time to head back outdoors and check out all the festivals and markets in Tokyo. From festive dragon dances in downtown Tokyo to boozy shōchū and food festivals, there’s sure to be something for everyone this month.
Plum blossoms at Yushima Tenjin Shrine © y kawahara
1 February-6 April 2025
Event: Yomiuri Land Jewellumination
Location: Yomiuri Land
Time: 4:00pm-8:30pm
Admission: From ¥1800
Website: Official website (Japanese)
If you subscribe to the idea that bigger is better, there’s no larger light show than Yomiuri Land’s annual winter illumination extravaganza. As the name suggests, it’s all about evoking jewels and gems, and there are ten themed areas covered with blindingly bright LEDs. There’s the Crystal Passage and Celebration Promenade, as well as an epileptic fountain show with illuminated jets of water, flames, and lasers, all set to music. It does make one wonder about the state of their electricity bills.
7 February-7 March 2025
Event: Bunkyo Ume Matsuri
Location: Yushima Tenjin Shrine
Time: 6:00am-8:00pm
Admission: Free
Website: Official website (Japanese)
With around 300 trees in white and pink - mainly Shirokaga white plums - Yushima Tenjin is one of Tokyo’s most beloved plum blossom-viewing spots. Yushima Tenjin enshrines Sugawara no Michizane, the deity of scholarship, making it a popular spot for students to pray for good results in their exams or studies. Fewer know that when exiled to Dazaifu in Kyushu, he also wrote a famous poem referencing the beauty and fragrance of the plum blossoms.
The best time for the plum blossoms is really around the second half of February, but they’ve been known to linger on till the first week of March. Besides the plum blossoms, you’ll also be able to enjoy some performances and tea ceremonies.
Plum blossoms at Hanegi Park © yy
8 February-2 March 2025
Event: Setagaya Plum Blossom Festival
Location: Hanegi Park
Time: 10:00am-4:00pm
Admission: Free
Website: Official website (Japanese)
If Yushima Tenjin doesn’t feel green enough for you, hit up the Setagaya Plum Blossom Festival at Hanegi Park. 650 plum trees in this little green space makes it gorgeously fragrant and wonderland-like. To experience the full festival atmosphere, you’ll want to visit on the weekends when the vendors set up their stalls. Most things on sale are plum-themed: plum jam, pickled plums, red-bean-and-plum jellies, sweet plum crackers, plum kombucha, even a handbook stuffed with information about plums.
Hanazono Shrine © Guilhem Vellut
2 March 2025
Event: Hanazono Shrine Antique Market
Location: Hanazono Shrine
Time: 6:30am-4:00pm
Admission: Free
Website: Official website (Japanese)
Here’s another fun reason to visit Hanazono Shrine in Shinjuku: there’s a small but regular antique fair happening there almost every Sunday. The Hanazono Shrine Blue Sky Antique Fair - which is the full name in Japanese, roughly translated - is not exactly endless sprawl and shopping, since there are only 25-30 stalls maximum at any given time. Smaller items are the focus here, rather than large furniture or statement pieces.
The market runs from sunrise to sunset, though visiting in the morning is best since many stalls tend to close around 3:00pm. (Come around then for the best bargains.) Check the calendar above before you go. This month, it’s being held on 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30 March. If it rains, expect it not to run.
3-4 March 2025
Event: Jindaiji Temple Daruma Doll Fair
Location: Jindaiji Temple
Time: 9:00am-5:00pm
Admission: Free
Website: Official website (Japanese)
Dating all the way back to the Edo period, this is one of Japan’s three largest daruma doll markets, with some 300 stalls selling the dolls and other related items. At Jindaiji Temple, it usually coincides with the peak blooming of the red and white plum blossoms at the temple gates. Daruma are fierce-looking red, white, and black “wish-making” dolls, usually without eyes painted in. You usually pick one out and take it to a monk, who will write a special character in the left eye to indicate that you’ve made a wish. If your wish is fulfilled within or after a year, you’ll bring it back to the temple and have them fill in the right eye.
7-9 March 2025
Event: Art Fair Tokyo
Location: Tokyo International Forum
Time: 11:00am-7:00pm (11:00am-5:00pm on 9 March)
Admission: From ¥3500
Website: Official website (English)
Japan’s largest international art event is back! This year’s theme is ‘Art Life,’ which means you can expect a broad-ranging variety of art works across all manner of subjects and media. Anyone with the remotest interest in art should not miss this event.
7 March-15 June 2025
Event: The Art of the RAMEN Bowl
Location: 21_21 Design Sight
Time: 10:00am-7:00pm (Closed Tuesdays; open 29 April and 6 May)
Admission: ¥1600
Website: Official website (English)
Ramen has come a long way from its working-class roots. Not only do ramen shops now receive Michelin mentions on the regular, ramen bowls now merit their own art exhibitions. Curated by graphic designer Taku Satoh and writer Mari Hashimoto, the exhibition showcases 40 original works largely comprising Minio ceramics from the western Tono region. It’s a great opportunity to see a different side of the beloved noodle dish – and at the very least, the wacky designs might spark quite a few conversations with your travelling companions.
At the fire-walking festival © technostan
9 March 2025
Event: Mt. Takao Hiwatari-sai (Fire-walking Festival)
Location: Mt. Takao
Time: 1:00pm-5:00pm
Admission: Free
Website: Official website (Japanese)
Hiwatari-sai - a fire-walking festival - is an annual event taking place on the day of the winter solstice at Mt. Takao. The venue is actually at the foot of the mountain near Takaosanguchi Station, rather than at the top of the mountain where Yakuo-in Temple is located. The festival sees the yamabushi monks (those who practice Shugendo ascetic Buddhism) chanting and walking through the smoldering holy fires to purify their body, followed by believers after the prayers have been donated. It’s an awesome, much-photographed sight. Afterwards, spectators can also try walking barefoot in the coals after the fire has been put out. The path is moderately warm, with no chance of burning one’s feet.
9-10 March 2025 (To be confirmed)
Event: Furusato Festival Tokyo
Location: Tokyo Dome City
Time: 10:00am-9:00pm
Admission: TBC
Website: Official website (Japanese)
If you’ve ever wanted to travel across the whole of Japan but lacked the time and money, hit up the Furusato Festival Tokyo in Tokyo Dome City. Stalls here serve a variety of local dishes from the north to the south of the country, so you can eat your way across Japan without spending time on trains or planes. Besides the food, though, you’ll get to see and experience the most vibrant festivals and performances from across Japan here. Eat, drink, and party your way across the nation - all in one place!
14-16 March 2025
Event: Heiwajima Antique Fair
Location: Heiwajima Ryutsu Center Building
Time: 10:00am-5:00pm (until 4:00pm on the last day)
Admission: Free
Website: Official website (English)
This is, apparently, one of the largest and oldest antique fairs in Japan. It also attracts several hundred antiques dealers from all over the nation, so this bazaar is really less about sifting through the junk for deals, and more about quality antique pieces. Serious shoppers and lovers of all things old should go. You’re likely to score the best deals on the final day of this three-day event.
In 2025, the Heiwajima Antique Fair will be held 4 times a year in March, May, September, and December. In the event you miss this month’s fair, you can plan ahead for another one in the coming months.
Rikugien nighttime cherry blossom illuminations © Marufish
14-30 March 2025
Event: Rikugien Cherry Blossom Lightup
Location: Komagome
Time: 6:30pm-9:00pm (Last admission: 8:30pm)
Admission: ¥1100
Website: Official website (Japanese)
Around late March to early April, everyone can enjoy one of Tokyo’s most beautiful Japanese landscape gardens after dark. Rikugien’s annual celebrations mean the return of the spring illuminations, when the park and its cherry trees will be lit up when evening falls. Bring your friends after work and enjoy some matcha and Japanese sweets at the teahouse (last orders are at around 7:30pm). You’re sure to have a magical hanami party here.
15-16 March 2025
Event: Salsa Street Festival
Location: Keyaki Street, Yoyogi Park
Time: 10:00am-7:00pm
Admission: Free
Website: Official website (English)
If you ever needed an excuse to get your salsa on, this is it. Put on your best dancing shoes and head over to Yoyogi Park for an entire weekend of sexy shimmying to sultry Latin tunes. Intersperse all that dancing with food from all the Latin American stalls – think tacos, mojitos, tequila shots, and more. You’ll be too busy having fun to feel self-conscious about your moves. If nothing else, go for a fantastically festive atmosphere that’ll leave you buzzing with pure joy!
15 March-7 April 2025 (To be confirmed)
Event: Sakura Fes Nihonbashi (Nihonbashi Sakura Festival)
Location: Coredo Muromachi; Nihonbashi, Yaesu, and Kyobashi areas
Time: All day
Admission: Free
Website: Official website (Japanese)
The Nihonbashi area doesn’t have quite as many cherry trees as some other parts of Tokyo, but it does put on all sorts of sakura-themed installations and events every year. Think a cherry blossom noren (fabric divider) avenue, food stalls, music, art exhibitions, and illuminated landmarks. At the very least, it’s a great way to kill a bit of time around Tokyo Station or around your hotel in Nihonbashi.
16 March 2025
Event: Oedo Antique Market
Location: Tokyo International Forum
Time: 9:00am-4:00pm
Admission: Free
Website: Official website (English)
Billed as the largest outdoor antique market in Japan, the event attracts shoppers from all walks of life. There is quite literally everything and anything old here: Taisho-period glassware, ceramics, rusty coins, gorgeous jewelry, secondhand kimono ranging from dirt cheap to a few hundred dollars… Whether you’re looking for a cheap bargain or a rare gem from the 1880s, you’re sure to find something for your budget. Haggling is best very early in the morning or towards the end of the day, though you can spend the whole day browsing.
The market is closed in case of rain, but this market is held twice or thrice a month. So, if that happens, you can try your luck again on 30 March.
18 March 2025
Event: Senso-ji Honzon Jigen-e
Location: Senso-ji Temple
Time: 9:15am-5:00pm
Admission: Free
Website: Official website (Japanese)
Senso-ji Honzon Jigen-e is a festival in honor of the three men who founded Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa over a thousand years ago. As is the case with most festivals, it sees the portable mikoshi enshrining them being carried from neighbouring Asakusa Shrine around the neighborhood to the temple’s main hall, and back again. The ritual actually starts in the previous evening with the transferring of the spirits to the portable shrines, but the procession itself takes place from the morning of 18 March.
If you’re pressed for time, you can also just come for the kinryu no mai or golden dragon dances taking place at 11:30am, 2:00pm, and 3:30pm respectively. Legend has it that the golden dragon is one of the manifestations of the Bodhisattva Kannon, to which Senso-ji Temple is dedicated. In any case, at 18 meters long, the golden dragon snaking and weaving around to festive music is an unmissable spectacle.
Flamingos at Ueno Zoo © Kanegen
20 March 2025
Event: Ueno Zoo - Free Admission Day
Location: Ueno Zoo
Time: 9:00am-5:00pm
Admission: Free
Website: Official website (English)
Ueno Zoo is a beloved institution in Tokyo, not least because it is home to giant pandas from China. This year is also the first time in 29 years that there has been a panda cub born in the zoo resulting from natural mating, making it a rather momentous occasion. Of course, there are numerous kinds of animals to see here.
Come 20 March, visitors can visit Ueno Zoo for free. In fact, there are three days a year when Ueno Zoo opens its doors to the public for free: 20 March (Ueno Zoo’s Anniversary Day), 4 May (Greenery Day), and 1 October (Tokyo Citizen’s Day).
Cosplayers at an event © Dick Thomas Johnson
22-23 March 2025
Event: AnimeJapan 2025
Location: Tokyo Big Sight, Odaiba
Time: 9:00am-5:00pm (Last entry: 4:30pm)
Admission: ¥2500 (concession rates available)
Website: Official website (English)
The world’s largest anime trade show is back! AnimeJapan is an annual two-day anime convention showcasing performances, workshops, seminars, live shows, cosplayers, and appearances by creators and actors in the anime industry. Hundreds of companies attend and set up booths showcasing toys, games, software, and so on. It goes without saying that you can find all kinds of limited edition merchandise here. There’s also an area specifically for cosplayers to show off their outfits.
22-23 March 2025
Event: Family Anime Festa 2025
Location: Tokyo Big Sight, Odaiba
Time: 9:30am-5:00pm
Admission: Free
Website: Official website (English)
Is this the same event as the aforementioned AnimeJapan? Yes, and no. It’s an anime-themed two-day event. But, it’s held in a separate section of the same venue, and only open to elementary school students aged 12 and younger plus their guardians — no other adults allowed. A smart move, as a lot of anime overall can be fairly unsuitable for kids. Expect activities and events themed around child-friendly franchises like Demon Slayer, Moomin, Rilakkuma, and Space Academy.
22 March-21 April 2025 (To be confirmed)
Event: Ukima Park Cherry Blossom and Tulip Illumination
Location: Ukima Park, Itabashi
Time: 5:30pm-9:00pm
Admission: Free
Website: Official website (Japanese)
Kill two birds with one stone this spring by visiting Ukima Park for the stunning sight of tulips and cherry blossoms in full bloom. By day, the park is festooned with cotton candy-pink trees and fields of bold pinks, crimson and white; by nightfall, the flowers glow beautifully under soft LEDs. The park itself isn’t far outside of central Tokyo (around 20 minutes from Shinjuku Station) but it’s generally less crowded than the more popular spots.
23 March 2025
Event: Nogi Shrine Antique Market
Location: Nogi Shrine
Time: 9:00am until nightfall
Admission: Free
Website: Official website (Japanese)
This small-scale, local, and charming antique market takes place along the shrine’s main approach every 4th Sunday. Visit to chat and haggle with sellers over items of all kinds: from secondhand clothing to kokeshi dolls to wooden furniture to stamps from several decades ago, you might find anything and everything here. If it rains, though, consider the event cancelled.
Tokyo Events Month By Month 2025
- Tokyo Events January 2025
- Tokyo Events February 2025
- Tokyo Events March 2025
- Tokyo Events April 2025
- Tokyo Events May 2025
- Tokyo Events June 2025
- Tokyo Events July 2025
- Tokyo Events August 2025
- Tokyo Events September 2025
- Tokyo Events October 2025
- Tokyo Events November 2025
- Tokyo Events December 2025
Tokyo Vacation Checklist
- For all the essentials in a brief overview, see my First Time In Tokyo guide
- Check Tokyo accommodation availability and pricing on Booking.com and Agoda.com - often you can book with no upfront payment and free cancellation
- Need tips on where to stay? See my one page guide Where To Stay In Tokyo
- You can buy shinkansen (bullet train) tickets online from Klook - popular routes include Tokyo to Kyoto, Tokyo to Osaka and Tokyo to Hiroshima
- You can buy an eSim to activate in Japan or buy a Japan SIM card online for collection on arrival at Tokyo Narita or Haneda airports. Or rent an unlimited data pocket wifi router
- See my comprehensive Packing List For Japan
- Compare airline flight prices and timings for the best Japan flight deals. Check my guides to arriving at Narita Airport and at Haneda Airport.
- If you're visiting more than one city, you might save money with a Japan Rail Pass – see if it's worth it for you
- World Nomads offers simple and flexible travel insurance. Buy at home or while traveling and claim online from anywhere in the world
- Do you want help planning your trip? Chris Rowthorn and his team of Japan experts at Japan Travel Consulting can help