✨ What’s new in Japan, July/August 2025 ✨ Summer Festivals, New Attractions & Anime Exhibitions

✨ What’s new in Japan, July/August 2025 ✨ Summer Festivals, New Attractions & Anime Exhibitions

Welcome back to Japan travel news about new things that are opening in Japan and what’s coming up today. We’ve got a new overnight sleeper train, zombies at Samrio Purand, possible changes to travel insurance requirements, so many exhibitions, and lots more. I’m Amy from Cakes Faces. If you’re planning a trip to Japan, have a look through the playlist for lots more Japan videos. My Japan guide book has lots more practical tips than you’d usually find in a guide book. and my trip planning deck is here to help you get your itinerary under control. So, let’s get started with Japan news. First, Sega is opening an official store in Tokyo. Now, doesn’t it seem like they should have had one already? I’m sure it’ll be really popular, just like the Nintendo stores. It opens on the 18th of July in Parkco Department Store in Shabuya, which is already such a destination. It’s already got the Pokémon Center, the Nintendo store, and an official Capcom shop. The Sega store will have lots of exclusive merch, and I’m sure we can expect all the Sonic the Hedgehog plushies. It’s actually their second flagship store. The first one opened in Shanghai earlier this year. Next, Chiaoa is one of the most popular kawaii characters in Japan at the moment when I was in Character Street in Tokyo Station. Their shop had such a long queue before it even opened. At the moment, they’re doing a collab with Kura Sushi, my favorite conveyor belt sushi chain restaurant, until the 6th of August. I’m sure it’s going to be really popular. Recently, they had Chico Toys in Happy Meals at McDonald’s, and it was so popular they had to cancel it. Scalpers were going in and buying loads of them to sell on and leaving the Happy Meals in the restaurant, so all the food went to waste. Anyway, at Kurasushi, there’ll be a couple of special dishes that aren’t all that themed, and there’ll be some special Gachapon prizes. At Kurasushi, for every five plates you eat, you get a chance to win a Gachapon prize. For the collab, the special Chikawa keychains, badges, and magnets. There are also extra gifts if your bill comes to more than 2,500 yen. The best one is this Chikawa themed sushi plate. What a great gift. and Kurasushi’s flagship stores in Osaka in Nambber Park South and Harajuku, which you might have seen in my video a few weeks back, will be decorated with Chicoa artwork. It makes sense the Harajuku branch would have all the Kawaii stuff. Next, this isn’t something that’s happened yet, but it’s under discussion. They’re considering making it mandatory for visitors to Japan to have travel insurance with medical cover. They’re looking into how many unpaid medical bills there have been from visitors who’ve received treatment and then not paid. So, they’re considering making it compulsory to have insurance to cover it. I don’t think this is a big deal because it’s a good idea to have travel insurance anyway. Fun fact, my first part-time job at school was in a travel insurance office. But apart from the medical cover, it’s good to have cancellation cover for your trip and luggage cover in case your stuff gets lost or all the stuff you bought gets lost on the way home. I get mine through a credit card. You have to pay a monthly fee, but you get travel insurance and a few other benefits and it works out. But otherwise, it’s a good idea to buy your travel insurance quite soon after you’ve booked your trip because you’re covered for cancellation from the date you buy the policy. Next, in the Nintendo Museum in Kyoto, there’s a new section opening on the 3rd of September. It’s an art gallery with video game art, character illustrations, and concept art. If you want to go to the Nintendo Museum, it’s really popular, so read up on how to get tickets. They do a lottery for tickets 3 months in advance. So mark the dates on your calendar. It’s not the sort of place you can just turn up on the day. Now, if you’re going to Japan over the next month or two, have a look at what summer festivals and fireworks are on. Every year, I make a calendar with the dates of Japanese festivals. And every time in July and August, I struggle to fit them all on because there are so many. It’s not just the major festivals like Tanabata and Oon. There are so many regional festivals all around Japan and it’s always worth going along. If you’d like my calendar next year, pre-orders open towards the end of the year. If you join my email newsletter at katesfaces.co.uk/newsletter, I’ll send you a link when the pre-orders open. Next is exhibition news. And this time there are loads of them. Now, if you don’t like insects, this first one might not be for you. There’s an exhibition of insects in the dark called Insect Night Wonderland at Sunshine City in Iik Bikaro in Tokyo. It seems like you get a torch or a flashlight to hunt for insects. There’s stag beetles, tarantulas, and scorpions that glow under black light. That’s on from the 8th to the 31st of August. Next is an exhibition of the work of Isa Takahhata, co-founder of Studio Gibli. That’s from the 27th of June to the 15th of September at Azabuai Hills Gallery in Tokyo. Azabuai Hills is where Timla Borderless is. It’s a retrospective of his work. Afterwards, it’ll be touring to Paris in the autumn. There’s a fun exhibition about cats in Ukio traditional woodlock prints. I love the look of this. It’s called Ukio Cat Encyclopedia at Soore Museum of Art in Yokohama, which is a really easy afternoon trip from Tokyo. That’s on from the 19th of July to the 2nd of September. I don’t know if they’re also doing this in Yokohama, but previously when the exhibition was in Hiroshima, you got a discount on your ticket if you were wearing any cat items. So much fun. The Clamp manga art exhibition that we had before on Japan News has now moved to Hokkaido in Sapo until the 28th of July. The Demon Slayer anime exhibition is touring. It finishes in Shizuoka this week. Then it’s in Kyoto from the 18th of July to the 17th of August. It has interactive exhibits. You can try out swordsmithing and arm wrestle with the characters. There’s an exhibition about the anime Furun Furun. It’s currently in Fukuoka until the 21st of July, then Kazawa from the 7th of August to the 6th of September. The great Capcom exhibition is now in Nagoya at Nagoya City Art Museum until the 7th of September. It’s about the creation of Capcom games, including Street Fighter, Resident Evil, and Monster Hunter. There’s a Miffy exhibition for their 70th anniversary. It’s in Coobe from the 23rd of July to the 11th of August, then Osaka from the 14th of August to the 1st of September. There’s original drawings and sketches. You can really see how Miffy would be popular in Japan. There’s a Sha the Sheep exhibition for Sha’s 30th anniversary with concept art and diaramas from the films. It’s in Kagoshima right at the bottom of Kyushu from the 12th of July to the 24th of August. The Kaiju number eight exhibition that was in Tokyo is moving to Nigata from the 2nd of August to the 15th of September. And it’s worth mentioning that if you like the sound of any of these exhibitions, but the dates don’t work out for you, it’s worth looking them up because some of them tour around Japan, so you might be able to catch them somewhere else. Next one. Naruto Shippeden Ninja Scout Caravan is in Tokyo in Shibuya until the 4th of August. It’s more of an attraction than an exhibition. You can try out activities like throwing ninja stars, ninja poses, calligraphy, and there’s lots of photo spots. The Hello Kitty exhibition that was in Tokyo is now in Fukuroka until the 31st of August. Then it moves to Kyoto from the 25th of September to the 7th of December. I would love to see this. It’s the largest collection of Hello Kitty merch ever on display. There’s also a San Mirror event in Okyama from the 25th of July to the 31st of August. It’s called the Heartful Festival. There’s character meet and greets, an art exhibition, lots of places to take photos, and workshops including pottery painting so you can paint your own Hello Kitty statue. The Ukio in action exhibition that was in Tokyo is now in Fukuroka until the 17th of August. It’s an immersive art show with projections all around you. There’s a Gachapon exhibition in Tokyo at the Marinucci building near Tokyo Station from the 26th of July to the 15th of August. It’s about the cultural evolution of Gachapon. Now, that’s my kind of culture. It’s to celebrate Gachapon’s 60th anniversary. There’s a Lei Matsumoto exhibition at Tokyo City View in Rapongi in Tokyo, which is also an observation deck with a fantastic view of Tokyo Tower. Li Matsumoto was an artist best known for sci-fi anime like Space Battleship Yamato and Galaxy Express 999. They also designed the Himiko, Hot Luna, and Emmeraldas boats. My favorites, also known as the space boats. After that, at Tokyo City View, there’s an Evangelion art exhibition from the 14th of November to the 12th of January. It’s for the 30th anniversary of the franchise. And finally, in exhibition news, there’s a My Hero Academia art exhibition at Creative Museum Tokyo until the 31st of August. There’s also a theme cafe. And if you want to know what other pop-up theme cafes are on, there’s a list on cakes with faces.co.uk in the blog section. I update it every week or so. There’s always so many, so check back before your trip. Next, the Studio Gibli Park near Nagoya will be open in the evenings for the first time on select dates in August. Usually, the park closes at 5:00 p.m., but on these dates, it’s open till 8:00 p.m. And because Japan doesn’t have daylight savings time, it’ll be getting dark about 7:00 p.m. So, you’ll be able to see the Valley of Witches and two other areas after dark. Places are always so much more atmospheric at nighttime with the lights on. There’s a new Team Lab attraction opening in Kyoto in autumn 2025. It’s called Team Lab Bio Vortex Kyoto and it’s permanent. It looks like it’ll mostly have different rooms to the others. There’s a giant cloud of bubbles, twinkly lights, of course, sculptures similar to the ones in the garden at Team Lab Planets, but indoors and see-through, and the room with the lamps, but to me, it mostly looks unique to Kyoto. There’s no opening date announced yet, just autumn 2025. Until then, if you’re not sure whether to go to Team Lab Borderless or Team Lab Planets in Tokyo, I’ve got a blog post for you comparing the two. That’s on cakesisfaces.co.uk. And I’ll have an updated tour of Team Lab Planets with lots of tips, including the new expansion that opened earlier this year. So, make sure you’re subscribed if you want to catch that. Next is train news. The redevelopment of Shibuya Station has now entered its final phase. If you’ve been there over the last couple of years, you’ll have seen there’s construction walls everywhere. I found it quite a confusing station to navigate while the work’s going on. So, I’m looking forward to when it’s complete, but that’s not going to be anytime soon. It’s scheduled to be done in 2034, but hopefully it’ll be an improvement. They’re adding two more skyscrapers to the station complex and they’re improving pedestrian access from all sides, including a nice wide passageway that goes from the east to the west side, which should improve it a lot, I think. At the moment, it doesn’t really feel like the station has a main concourse, just a lot of construction walls. Next, there’ll be a new overnight sleeper train running through northern Japan. There used to be more overnight trains in Japan, but now the Shinkansen network so comprehensive, there aren’t so many because you can get around quickly anyway. It’ll have private compartments with seats that fold down into beds and a shared lounge. There’s not many details yet. It’ll be run by JR East. And as an example, if you leave Tokyo at 9:00 p.m. in the evening, you’ll be arriving in Almori at 9:00 a.m. in the morning. Like when I took the night ferry, traveling overnight saves time because it means you don’t lose any of your days to traveling time and it saves you the cost of a hotel for the night. That starts running in spring 2027. Next, there’ll be a new sightseeing train on the Koa line which goes to Koasan, Mount Koa in Wakyama. It used to be a destination for pilgrimages, so there are lots of mysterious temples in the woods. The new train looks luxurious. It has large windows so you can enjoy the scenic views as you approach the mountain. They’ll also serve meals made with local ingredients from the region. It’s run by Nankai Electric Railway. It’s due to start running at the end of the financial year, which I’m guessing would be spring 2026. Next, there’ll be a new train on the Sageno Scenic Railway, also known as the Sageno Romantic Train in Arashyama in Kyoto. I have a video about it, but what I enjoyed even more than the train was the boat on the way back. So, make sure you check that one out, too. There’s not many details yet, but the new design will be in black, which is quite different from the current red and orange design. It’s going to be more comfortable with wider seats and big windows to enjoy the views. That’ll start running in spring 2027. There’s a new rail pass from JR East. It’s called the JR East Nonburi Tabby Pass or JRE East Laidback Journey Pass. It’s valid in the whole JRE East area for 3 days for 9,000 yen. It’s called the laid-back journey pass because it’s not valid on the Shinkansen or the faster Super Express trains. So, you’re traveling at a more laid-back pace. So, it’s probably not for you if you’re doing long distances around Tohoku, but it could work out for some itineraries or if you’re on a budget cuz it’s only 9,000 yen. Compared to the JRE East Tohoku area pass, which does include the Shinkansen, that one is 30,000 yen for 5 days or 48,000 yen for 10 days. And that 5-day pass costs less than a return trip on the Shinkansen between Tokyo and Ali. So, that one is good value. The new pass is only available on Echet, which is JRE’s official ticket website. You can buy it a month in advance, and it’s available from now until the 26th of December. Now, I know you love souvenir stamps. I have a video all about where to find them. And there’s a new special layered stamp at the train museum in Nagoya, the SC Maglev and Railway Park. It’s to celebrate the installation of Dr. Yellow that recently retired. Now, this isn’t a stamp for your stamp book. You get a special card to make it line up perfectly and there’s a stamp for each color to print a picture of dots of yellow. That would be a great one for your collection. Next is themed hotel rooms. And the first one is a train themed hotel carrying us smoothly from train news to hotel news. The Prince Hotel in Shinjiku in Tokyo has a new train themed room. There’s a train driving simulator that you can play on all night. themed decorations around the room. I like the handles on the clothes rail. You can try on train driver uniforms and your room key looks like a train ticket. That’s available from now until the 30th of September. The Prince Hotel has a great location really close to Shinjuku Station. It’s actually the hotel I booked for my canceled 2020 trip, so I can’t speak from experience of staying there, but it certainly looks like a great option. There’s also a new themed room at the Hotel Gracery in Kabuki Cho in Shinjiku that you might have seen in my videos. It’s the Godzilla Hotel. It’s called the Godzilla versus King Gdora room to celebrate the hotel’s 10th anniversary. The rooms on the top floor, floor 30. There are stoalls designed like skyscrapers so you can pretend you’re a giant monster. A director’s chair so you can direct the movie. Even the bathroom’s themed. And the scale models of Godzilla and King Gadora were made just for the hotel. It’s not cheap. Starting at 122,400 yen for the night. If you want just a little bit of theming for more of a budget price, the rooms on the Godzilla floor have less theming, but they are more affordable. Now, congratulations to Pom Pomon Purin for winning the Sano character ranking this year. Of course, I voted for Guda Tama, but I do like Pom Pomon Purin as well. To celebrate, there’s a new themed hotel room at the hotel new Otani Hakata in Fukuoka. There are two rooms. One is the Pom Pomon Perini room, which means full of pom pom pun room. There are characters everywhere, even the ceiling. The other’s the inventing cuteness lab room with Pom Pomon Perin and friends creating cuteness in a kawaii lab. I like these little UFO catcher style claws on the wall. And doesn’t pon look cute peeping in the window? Next, there are new Gundam themed rooms at three hotels. The Tokyo Bay Are Aryak Washington Hotel, the Hotel Grocery, Tamachi in Tokyo, that’s not the Godzilla Hotel, it’s another hotel grocery, and Canal City Fukoka Washington Hotel in Foruka. The rooms are decorated like a Gundam suit cockpit. There are displays of completed models, a desk for building kits, and if you stay there, you get a special gumbler kit. To promote sustainability, they’re putting recycling boxes into 32 WHG hotels to collect the little bits of scrap plastic from the model kits. They’ll be recycled into Ecolar Gundam kits that will be given to kids staying at the hotels. I think it is good really that a company that produces so much plastic is promoting recycling. And if you like Gundam and plastic models, you might want to go to Shizua. There’s a new Bandai Museum opening there on the 2nd of September. It’s called the Bandai Hobby Center Playo Design Industrial Institute or BHCPDI for short. It’s at the Bandai Spirits Factory, so you can learn about the world of plastic model design and manufacturing. If you get the right train, Shizuoka is only an hour from Tokyo by Shinkansen. Shizuoka is the center of plastic model manufacturing in Japan. If you go, you’re also going to want to visit the exhibitions at Shizuoka Hobby Square, which is right by the station. And look out for special post boxes, benches, and phone boxes around the city designed like unassembled plastic kits to celebrate what the city’s known for. Next, there are new regulations for the Mario Kart style go-karts in Shabuya because there’s been so many complaints about them because of the noise, the fumes, and unsafe driving because of people not paying attention or not following the rules of the road. There have also been problems with people getting out of the carts to take photos at intersections, and you can imagine how many problems that causes the traffic, especially in a busy city like Tokyo. The crackdown isn’t really all that harsh. New locations that want to rent out carts have to submit paperwork about their safety regulations and their driving routes. They have to have a phone number for complaints and a consultation with local residents. Now, this summer, zombies are taking over Sanrio Purand. What a combination, the most kawaii place in Japan, and zombies. It’s a special after hours event this summer. In Japan, summertime’s associated with ghost stories and scary things, a bit like Halloween. The idea is they give you the chills and cool you down in the intense summer heat. It’s a bit like an escape room. There’s seven zones with missions to complete while you’re being played by zombies. It’s an interesting contrast, and I’m wondering, will there be a zombie Hello Kitty? So, that’s it for Japan news this time. Tell me in the comments what you’re most excited about. Could it be Chikawa at Kurasushi, that Godzilla themed hotel room? Or maybe Team Lab in Kyoto? And I’ll see you next week with more Japan videos on Thursday. Bye-bye.

New attractions and stores opening in Japan, special events and what’s on this summer – it’s all in Japan Travel News!

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There are so many exhibitions in Japan this summer, including the work of a co-founder of Studio Ghibli, cats in ukiyo-e, CLAMP manga art, Demon Slayer, Capcom, Miffy, Shaun the Sheep, Naruto, the largest collection of Hello Kitty merch ever on display, and many more. The first official Sega store’s opening in Shibuya, and Kura Sushi has a very kawaii collab with Chiikawa, the most popular cute character in Japan at the moment. The Nintendo Museum’s announced a new art gallery section, and the Ghibli Park will be opening late on select evenings, so you can experience it after dark. There’s a new TeamLab attraction in Kyoto called TeamLab Biovortex and in train news there’s a new overnight sleeper train in Tohoku and north Japan. A new Bandai Museum’s opening in Shizuoka, and Gundam fans will also be interested in new themed hotel rooms. There’s also news about the new regulations for MarioKart style go karts in Tokyo, and possible changes to travel insurance requirements. And finally, there’ll be zombies at Sanrio Puroland, at a special after hours event this summer!

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00:00 Intro
00:35 Sega Store
01:09 Kura Sushi x Chiikawa
02:24 Travel insurance requirements
03:19 Nintendo Museum
03:43 Summer festivals
04:19 Exhibition News
09:33 Ghibli Park evening opening
10:00 TeamLab Biovortex Kyoto
10:53 Train News
14:55 Themed Hotels
17:49 Bandai Museum
18:39 MarioKart crackdown
19:20 Zombies at Sanrio Puroland

#japan #japantravel #tokyo #tokyotravel