This Week in Tokyo – 7 August 2018

The latest edition of This Week in Tokyo – a review of the Maction Planet week that was and a look ahead to what’s coming up in and beyond the city. Check out photos from our tours and read insights into our explorations as we get under the skin of the World’s Greatest Metropolis. This week’s edition is hosted by Mac, Founder and Lead Guide of Maction Planet. This week: Mesmerised by (teamLab) Planets, Tohaku Beer Night, Jiyugaoka Bon Odori, Nakameguro Yosakoi and Tokyo Money Goals!   

Featured image: Jack, my 3 and a half year old guest from London, is completely mesmerised by the wonder that is TeamLab Planets. Hot off the heels of the incredible teamLab Borderless comes this temporary digital art museum, open until Autumn 2020 . It is an extension of sorts of teamLab’s collaboration with e-commerce business DMM.com to create the sublime DMM.Planets exhibition in 2016. Spread out over 10,000m2, the seven exhibits are immersive and enthralling for visitors of all ages!

For more teamLab goodness, check out our video of teamLab Borderless here – one of the very first videos of this landmark Tokyo museum put up online!

The Tokyo National Museum held ‘Tohaku Beer Night’ for a couple of weekends this summer. There was no English language information about these event, but that never stops Maction Planet! Food trucks set up in the outer courtyard of the TNM selling delicious grub alongside craft beers which had been selected to tie in with the museum’s current blockbuster Jomon Art exhibition. If you look closely enough we even gave a beer to Tohaku-kun, one of the museum’s mascots, complete with limited edition Jomon designed cup! A wonderfully chilled early evening was had by all before my guests and I headed to enjoy day three of the Tsukiji Bon Odori on Friday 3 August!

Bon Odori season is (literally) in full swing. Obon (お盆) is a Buddhist custom to honour the spirits of one’s ancestors. Bon Odori dancing to famous local min’yō folk songs is performed at festivals during Obon. On Saturday 3 August I was with guests at the Jiyugaoka Bon Odori and they loved it!

It really was a big weekend for festivals in Tokyo, and our guests got to enjoy as many of them as we could fit in! On Sunday 5 August we were at the 53rd Nakameguro Summer Festival to watch the Yosakoi, one of my favourite of all the festival dance styles.

And finally… Tokyo Money Goals! I absolutely love this poster for Nomura Securities, advertising two of their Fund Wrap products, currently adorning their shops around the country. It features a Daruma Doll. Modelled after Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism, the dolls are avatars of goal setting. We have several in the Maction Planet offices and they seemed to have worked in helping us in our goals to the highest possible evaluations from our guests!

Maction Planet runs bespoke Tokyo Private Tours and Experiences. To book yours, contact us on info@mactionplanet.com