Discover insider tips, travel guides, and inspiring stories for your next adventure in Japan
From July 17 to August 30, 2026, Sunshine Aquarium in Ikebukuro will hold its "Refreshing Summer Festival 2026," featuring an upgraded sea lion splash show, an outdoor mist squad, seasonal octopus and penguin displays, and new early-morning-only events with a discounted ticket.
SURFEEL HOTEL WAKKANAI in Hokkaido has begun selling a new summer-only sweet, the Yubari Melon Shortcake, generously filled with Hokkaido's signature Yubari melon.
From July 3, SUSHIRO Cafe revives its annual collaboration with Kyoto's 190-year-old tea purveyor Morihan, launching a Matcha Crème Brûlée Rare Cheesecake supervised by one of Japan's leading tea masters and torched to order for a crackly caramelized top at SUSHIRO locations nationwide.
TAKARA BELMONT CORPORATION is relocating part of "Quantum Leap for Beauty World," the exhibit it showed at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, to its Tokyo head office, opening it to the public free of charge for one day only on Saturday, August 8, alongside uniform try-on photo sessions and talk shows.
The Body Shop is adding Body Yogurt STM, a fast-absorbing gel body lotion, to its citrus-scented Satsuma body care line, launching nationwide on July 16, 2026, with in-store pre-orders opening early on June 25.
THE ELEMENTAL, an inn on the shores of Lake Kussharo in Teshikaga Town, Hokkaido, is starting a French full-course lunch limited to two groups per day, celebrating the bounty of eastern Hokkaido alongside seasonal ingredients from across Japan.
The free-to-play TPS loot shooter The First Descendant marked its 2nd anniversary with the livestreamed Descendant Fest 2026, unveiling a Season 4 story trailer, a detailed roadmap through the rest of 2026, new Descendant Raven, and a lineup of in-game and real-world anniversary campaigns.
Starting July 4, 2026, THE KIZAKI CAMP & LAKE RESORT on the shore of Lake Kizaki in Omachi, Nagano, is serving MT. DESERT ISLAND ICE CREAM's popular soft serve made with local pasteurized milk, along with three ice cream cup flavors, at THE KIZAKI cafe on Thursdays through Sundays.
From July 1, 2026, TIAD, Autograph Collection in Nagoya introduces a new add-on for its afternoon tea, letting guests personalize their visit with a colored stick balloon and a message plate for birthdays, anniversaries, and other special occasions.
Time Out Market Osaka in Grand Green Osaka is hosting two summer-only sweets pop-ups this July, featuring The Westin Osaka's new "Onikuri Chiffon" chiffon cake and "Canele to, Shaved Ice.," a seasonal brand from canelé specialty shop "Canele to," that pairs freshly baked canelé with seasonal shaved ice.
Four Japanese raccoon dog pups born on May 8, 2026, at Tokushima Zoo STELLA PRESCHOOL ANIMAL KINGDOM will go on public display starting July 4, appearing in the Temperate Promenade alongside their mother, Momiji.
For three days during Nagasaki Kunchi, Tototei, an auberge set in a renovated 118-year-old Japanese house, is again offering a one-night, two-meal stay plan with a reserved box-seat ticket for the dance offerings at Suwa Shrine, paired with a seasonal Italian dinner course at its restaurant HAJIME.