Metropolis Japan

Metropolis Japan Based in Tokyo, Metropolis is Japan's No.1 English-language magazine. Welcome to the Metropolis page!
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Whether you're a local resident or an admirer from overseas, our aim is to make it easy for you to keep up-to-date on all things to do with Japan. Tokyo is our home turf, but we update our page with the latest news, trends, photos, travel and events from all around Japan.

September in Tokyo is stacked 🏯From runway shows and riverside fireworks to sumo, shrine festivals and one of the city’s...
27/08/2026

September in Tokyo is stacked 🏯

From runway shows and riverside fireworks to sumo, shrine festivals and one of the city’s biggest electronic music weekends, September has a little bit of everything.

The lineup also brings major art exhibitions, student-made spectacles and international festivals to neighborhoods across the city. Whether you’re after fashion, nightlife or something unmistakably Tokyo, September 2026 is looking busy in the best way.

Tokyo’s art exhibition calendar is stacked right now and you don’t have time to see everything, so here are the 7 worth ...
17/08/2026

Tokyo’s art exhibition calendar is stacked right now and you don’t have time to see everything, so here are the 7 worth prioritizing.

From Lucie Rie’s ceramics fusing East and West to Hiroshi Sugimoto’s stark black and white photography, Picasso meets Paul Smith at The National Art Center and Ettore Sottsass brings maximalist color to Artizon Museum. Add in Japanese women photographers spanning the 1950s to now, Mako Idemitsu’s early video art and Renaissance portraits on loan from the Louvre, and this fall’s lineup covers a lot of ground.

Swipe through for dates and locations.

Sanrio’s Hotel Floria Tokyo is officially open, and yes, you check in 🎀 (you just don’t sleep here.)From July 15, 2026 t...
06/08/2026

Sanrio’s Hotel Floria Tokyo is officially open, and yes, you check in 🎀 (you just don’t sleep here.)

From July 15, 2026 through May 31, 2027, the 4th floor of Tokyu Kabukicho Tower turns into a hotel dreamed up by Hello Kitty, My Melody, Kuromi and Cinnamoroll. Pick up a room key at the front desk, then tour four character suites.

Beyond the rooms: a night garden picnic with Kiki and Lala, Lala’s dancing ballroom, Hangyodon’s underwater pool, Keroppi’s rainy pond, and a beach with real sand under a wall of animated waves 🌊

Scan your key at self-checkout for a free photo card, then hit the exclusive gift shop, most of it is sold nowhere else.

📍 Tokyu Kabukicho Tower, 4F, Shinjuku
🎟️ From ¥1,000 (kids) / ¥2,400 (adults)
🔗 Full guide + ticket link in bio

Which suite would you check into first? Hello Kitty’s piano room, My Melody’s tea party, Cinnamoroll’s bath, or Kuromi’s neon dresser 👇

Tokyo summer festivals are hitting their peak this August, and the city’s matsuri calendar is packed. 🎇Fukagawa Hachiman...
05/08/2026

Tokyo summer festivals are hitting their peak this August, and the city’s matsuri calendar is packed. 🎇Fukagawa Hachiman Matsuri returns in its full honmatsuri form this year (once every three years) with 54 mikoshi carried through Koto-ku on Aug 16, spectators dousing the bearers with water the whole way.

Add in Koenji’s Awa Odori, where roughly 10,000 dancers from about 100 troupes take over the shopping streets, and Azabu Juban’s summer festival, an international food market wedged between Roppongi and Tokyo Tower, and you’ve got a full month of yukata, taiko drums and grilled street food.🍢🍡🍧

Favorite thing about summer in Tokyo?

Looking for an island escape beyond central Tokyo? The Izu Islands are a chain of nine inhabited volcanic islands stretc...
31/07/2026

Looking for an island escape beyond central Tokyo? The Izu Islands are a chain of nine inhabited volcanic islands stretching more than 300 kilometers into the Pacific—all technically part of Tokyo. 🌋🌊

From hiking across Izu Oshima’s black volcanic landscape and soaking in seaside onsen to surfing clear waves, swimming with dolphins and stargazing beneath Kozushima’s dark skies, each island has a completely different character. 🐬♨️✨ Swipe through Oshima, Toshima, Niijima, Shikinejima, Kozushima, Miyakejima, Mikurajima, Hachijojima and Aogashima—then save this for your next island escape. 🗺️

Before it was a global icon, the Shinkansen was Japan’s biggest gamble. 🚄When the Tokaido Shinkansen launched just befor...
29/07/2026

Before it was a global icon, the Shinkansen was Japan’s biggest gamble. 🚄

When the Tokaido Shinkansen launched just before the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, it became the world’s first true high-speed bullet train, a feat few believed Japan could pull off. The project was nearly derailed by land disputes, resignations and a budget crisis so severe it cost the engineer in charge his job before the trains ever ran.

More than 60 years later, the Shinkansen network carries hundreds of millions of passengers a year and has become a national symbol, as recognizable to residents commuting to Osaka as it is to tourists chasing Mt. Fuji views from the window seat.

What started as one of Japan’s most troubled infrastructure projects redefined travel, business and daily life across the country, and set the global standard for high-speed rail.

Ever ridden the Shinkansen?

Article by Jess Carbutt

We spoke to the experts: Japanese claw machines aren’t about luck, they’re about physics. 🕹️ UFO catcher pros shared exa...
21/07/2026

We spoke to the experts: Japanese claw machines aren’t about luck, they’re about physics. 🕹️ UFO catcher pros shared exactly where to push, drag and rotate and why the center is usually the worst spot to aim.

Look for leverage points: a plushie’s neck, a loose tag, the corner of a figure box. Watch a round or two before you play, pick prizes already sitting near the edge, and don’t be afraid to ask staff for a hint when you’re stuck. What’s your go-to trick for winning? Tell us in the comments. 👇

A rare look inside the life of a kabuki actor few outsiders ever get to see.Ichikawa Monnosuke VIII didn’t just become a...
17/07/2026

A rare look inside the life of a kabuki actor few outsiders ever get to see.

Ichikawa Monnosuke VIII didn’t just become a kabuki actor, he inherited the role. His stage name traces back seven generations and over 200 years, passed down through his family until his father’s death in 1990 forced him to decide whether to carry it forward.

In this interview, he shares what it took to step into that legacy, what it’s like playing onnagata (female roles traditionally performed by men in kabuki), and what it felt like taking on a character first written centuries before he was born.

What surprised you more: the inherited stage names, or men playing onnagata roles? Tell us in the comments.
Full story at the link in bio.

Article and interview by Trevor Kew. Originally published in the Spring 2026 Issue of Metropolis.

Mt. Fuji's busiest trail lets exactly 4,000 hikers through its gate each day. Once that number hits, the gate closes—no ...
14/07/2026

Mt. Fuji's busiest trail lets exactly 4,000 hikers through its gate each day. Once that number hits, the gate closes—no matter how far you traveled to get there.

A new overnight bus solves the timing problem. Fujikyu now runs a nightly service straight from Busta Shinjuku to the Yoshida Trail, no transfers, arriving by 2amーa full hour before the gate opens at 3am.

We break down the schedule, the ¥5,800 fare (¥5,500 if you book online), and how it stacks up against a hotel stay near Kawaguchiko. Link in bio

Looking for a nature escape or your next weekend getaway? We rounded up the best glamping spots within easy reach of the...
06/07/2026

Looking for a nature escape or your next weekend getaway? We rounded up the best glamping spots within easy reach of the city. 🏕️ From a private onsen with Mt. Fuji views to dog-friendly cabins in Gunma, these are some of our favorite sites worth the trip. Swipe through all our picks, then save this for later.

Full guide at the link in bio.

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