Discover insider tips, travel guides, and inspiring stories for your next adventure in Japan
On Wednesday, November 11, 2026, the World Heritage temple Enryaku-ji (比叡山延暦寺) on Mt. Hiei in Shiga will hold a one-day special program. It combines a tour of the Konpon Chudo (根本中堂) renovation site, a shojin kaiseki lunch, a viewing of the normally closed Daishoin (大書院), and zazen.
Hita Illuminage 2026, a winter illumination event making its Kyushu debut, runs for 93 days from October 31, 2026 to January 31, 2027 at the Sapporo Breweries Kyushu Hita Plant in Hita, Oita, with six highlight areas including a corridor tunnel and a space-themed plaza.
HOCHO KNIFE, an online shop that has delivered more than 200,000 Japanese-made knives to over 80 countries, opens its first physical store on the first floor of Center Plaza West Building in Sannomiya, Kobe, on November 14 (Sat), 2026, with about 700 knives and related items on display.
Starting November 7, 2026, Hokokuji Temple in Kamakura will hold special night visits in cooperation with Kamakura Park Hotel, Hotel Metropolitan Kamakura and local partners, with a lit-up bamboo grove, matcha and rakugan sweets, and a seasonal goshuin, limited to 80 guests per session.
HOSOO GALLERY in Kyoto presents "The White of Consciousness" (意識の白), a new installation by artist and asa cloth collector Shinichiro Yoshida, from November 6, 2026 to March 20, 2027. Admission is free.
From November 21 to December 25, 2026, Dessert Cafe Chourakukan in Kyoto's Higashiyama serves a Christmas afternoon tea in the "Geihin-no-Ma" reception room of an Important Cultural Property, with a reindeer-shaped mousse and a fir tree nut verrine for ¥7,480.
From November 7 to December 27, 2026, Hotel Kanazawa's first-floor restaurant DINING TSUZUMI serves two à la carte kobako crab dishes, a spaghetti at ¥3,600 and a crab shell plate at ¥3,500, timed to the start of crab season.
From November 13, 2026, Hotel Metropolitan in Ikebukuro is decked out in Christmas decorations, including a 5-meter tree in the 1F lobby, and holds free opera "Christmas Night Concert" performances on December 19, 20, 24, and 25.
A 15th anniversary original art exhibition for the manga Hozuki's Coolheadedness will run from February 4 to 23, 2027 at WHAT CAFE in Tokyo, with tickets, including a commemorative goods ticket with a photo frame and postcard set, going on sale on November 6, 2026.
いだ天別邸 高山でこなる店, the second location of a Japanese restaurant born at Lake Kawaguchi, opened on October 23, 2026, in Takayama, Gifu. It serves tempura, toban-yaki, hot pot, and wagyu ramen, and has a simple prayer space inside the restaurant.
From November 2026 through January 2027, InterContinental Sapporo is serving seasonal dishes inspired by Hokkaido produce and Sapporo's winter scenery, including a Christmas market buffet at AuBlanc, a white afternoon tea at Norva, and Christmas and New Year courses at SAWAKA.
Painter Iori Nagashima presents new paintings that reframe the misalignments of repainting as positive traces, shown at GINZA ATRIUM in Ginza Tsutaya Books from November 6 to 25, 2026.