ARTE TOKYO: Explore Tokyo's New International Festival of Arts and Culture

This autumn, Tokyo transforms into a stage for art. ARTE TOKYO is a brand-new city-wide festival bringing together a diverse range of programs spanning art, architecture, theater, music and illumination events. Instead of confining culture to galleries and theaters, it spreads across the city, centering on three main areas: the waterfront, Hibiya and Marunouchi, and Yoyogi and Shibuya.

The event opened to a warm reception on Saturday October 10th with a performance by the ARTE TOKYO CIRCUS to kick off the festivities in the Odaiba area. Accompanied by a four-piece band against the backdrop of the rainbow bridge under a bright blue sky, the performers blended aerial acts, juggling, the Cyr wheel, and acrobatics. Blending circus, music, and the urban landscape, the show is suited for both adults and families.

Contemporary circus project “ARTE TOKYO CIRCUS”

Encompassing exhibitions, live events, performances, markets, illuminations and more, ARTE TOKYO is designed to be easy to dip into, whether you have one evening or several weeks to explore. The program has three tiers. The Core Program unfolds symbolically in urban spaces such as parks and waterfronts, presenting original works that blend art, architecture and technology. The Highlight Program is coordinated with the Core Program in timing and specifications, expanding the experience and encouraging people to move around within each area. Lastly, the Partner Program consists of events held across Tokyo that together energize ARTE TOKYO, from exhibitions and public art to music, performance, media, and city experiences.

Many programs can be enjoyed outdoors, and at all hours. You might see a waterfront exhibition by day, stroll central Tokyo in the evening, and end at an illuminated park or garden – the possibilities are endless.

Kusama Yayoi: Yayoi-chan, 2021/2023; A Bouquet of Love I Saw in the Universe, 2021
Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, ⒸYAYOI KUSAMA

Waterfront Area | An Immersive Experience Where Tokyo’s Iconic Skyline Meets Art

Covering a stretch of the port area overlooking Tokyo Bay, the Waterfront area unfolds against the dramatic backdrop of the Rainbow Bridge, Tokyo Tower, and the city's skyline. Here, various indoor and outdoor venues, including Odaiba's sandy beach, are bustling with events.

The festival's Core Program brings together sculptors like Yasuhiro Suzuki and architect Yuko Nagayama, among many more artists who will use the area's scale and open landscape to present immersive, large format works that offer a space for contemplation.

A notable event within the Highlight Program is TOKYO ATLAS International Art Exhibition (October 10–December 20). Installations and sculptures by artists from Japan and abroad—including Yayoi Kusama—will be displayed both indoors and outdoors throughout the area, allowing visitors to discover new attractions as they explore the neighborhood with a map in hand. Other highlights include a towering six-meter sculpture by Leiko Ikemura on the waterfront at Odaiba Marine Park and a video installation by Yuriko Sasaoka at Isle Shinagawa, a former waste facility reborn as community space. Elsewhere, Thai artist Kawita Vatanajyankur presents a thought-provoking video of her latest performance piece in an underground parking lot within Aomi South Pier Park.

Also not to be missed is Tokyo Aqua Symphony, a world-class fountain show that opened in March 2026 as the waterfront's newest landmark. Jets rise to 150 meters high across a 250-meter span, in a layout inspired by Yoshino – Tokyo's official cherry blossom – with music ranging from classical works to video game scores.

Waterfront Area: “ARTE TOKYO CRUISE” links the Odaiba waterfront and Tennozu by water, with views of the bay along the way

Hibiya-Marunouchi Area | Where Art Melts Into Everyday Scenes

Once home to the shogunate's elite, the wide plazas and glistening high-rises of Hibiya and Marunouchi are built on centuries of feudal history. Today, the area is globally known as Japan's flagship business district, carrying the dynamism of thousands of businesses, restaurants, hotels, and retail services that populate its streets.

Over a million people pass through this district every day, but during ARTE TOKYO their streetscapes will transform. The installations and sculptures of the Core Program — artist duo exonemo, Yasuhiro Suzuki, Asako Fujikura, and others – transform a zone of business and transit into a place to gather around art.

Tokyo International Film Festival (October 26–November 4) also takes place in this area as part of the Highlight Program. As Asia's leading film festival, it will host world premieres as well as free outdoor screenings in the area’s wide-open plazas — an easy way to soak up the festival atmosphere.

Also connected to ARTE TOKYO is ‘Flower and Light Movement’ at Hibiya Park. It is Japan's first Western-style park, opened in 1903 and designed by the "father of Japanese parks" and mastermind behind the Meiji-Jingu forest, Seiroku Honda. Between November 13-29, the park’s seasonal flowers and artworks will be illuminated by lighting displays, adding a new dimension to one of Tokyo's most historic public spaces.

In Hibiya-Marunouchi Area, art slips into everyday city life, creating unexpected encounters

Yoyogi-Shibuya Area | A Creative Oasis With a Sense of Discovery Waiting at Every Corner

Shibuya has long been a hub for the city’s creative community, and its centerpiece, Yoyogi Park, is the green oasis where they gather to meet. On any given day the park is full of buskers, dancers, food trucks, families, and tourists, and for ARTE TOKYO season, its diverse program encourages visitors to roam the streets and let new, surprising creations find them.

The Highlight and Partner Programs boast many free events, one of them being the Art Brut 2026 Touring Exhibition "Sozo Training! —Drawing Out Imagination and Creation, Connecting, Being Here —" (October 10–December 27) co-curated by Hajimari Art Center in Fukushima Prefecture, a specialist in Art Brut – a genre marked by highly original ideas and forms of expression, often created outside the formal art-school system.

The exhibition of seven artists takes place across two indoor exhibition rooms at Tokyo Shibuya Koen-dori Gallery, located on the first floor of Shibuya Workers’ Welfare Hall. Visitors are first greeted by an interactive art piece that invites participants to “lift a light barbell as if it were heavy”. Opposite is a selection of vibrant paintings by Haruka Mori. Born with cerebral palsy, Mori paints from her wheelchair by holding a brush between her toes.

Scattered throughout the rest of Yoyogi and Shibuya are sculptures and installations of the Core Program, which draw on the area’s spirit of discovery. These include a giant floating human face by the artist collective [mé], a dramatic large-scale installation by Shinji Ohmaki, and a smoking area created for Okayama Art Summit 2022 by celebrated architect Sou Fujimoto, who is globally known for his 2013 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London.

Whether you come for a single evening or return throughout the season, ARTE TOKYO invites you to experience many faces of the city as a canvas for art and new experiences.

In the Yoyogi-Shibuya Area, youth culture and creativity intersect

ARTE TOKYO

Dates	October 10 – December 31, 2026
URL	ARTE TOKYO

For updated information on opening hours, days closed, prices, and more, please check the official website.