A pop-culture festival in Tokyo, Tokyo Comic Con focuses on American comics and Hollywood cinema, featuring celebrity guests, cosplay zones, and authentic movie props.
A memorial festival at Sengakuji Temple on December 14th commemorates the 47 ronin. The event features a parade of participants dressed in traditional warrior attire.
A year-end fair in Tokyo at Sensoji Temple sells decorative wooden paddles called hagoita. The paddles are used as ornamental good luck charms to ward off evil.
A dojinshi convention in Tokyo, Comic Market (Comiket) is a biannual event where creators sell self-published comic books and attendees participate in cosplay.
A collegiate road relay between Tokyo and Hakone, the Hakone Ekiden is a 217.1 km race held annually on January 2-3, featuring university teams competing over ten sections.
A firefighter festival in Tokyo, the dezome-shiki includes acrobatic displays, emergency drills, and parades by the fire department, some in historical costumes.
A purification festival in Tokyo, the Dondo-yaki involves burning New Year decorations. Participants roast rice cakes over the bonfire for protection from illness in the coming year.
A sumo tournament in Tokyo, the January Hatsu Basho is the first of six professional competitions. The fifteen-day event occurs at the national sumo arena.
The Daruma market in Ome is an annual event held on January 12. The market sells traditional dolls and commemorates the city’s former silk farming industry.
