Japan Travel News ☀️ August 2025: Summer Events in Tokyo, Japanese Festivals, New Attractions & more

Japan Travel News ☀️ August 2025: Summer Events in Tokyo, Japanese Festivals, New Attractions & more

Welcome back to Japan Travel News about all the new things that are opening in Japan and what’s coming up. Now, usually Japan news is every two months, but because there’s always way too much news, I’m trying out making it monthly at the start of every month. So let me know what you think about that in the comments. I’m also giving it a bit of a revamp this time. We’ve got new attractions, then food and restaurants, train news, a bit of serious travel news that everyone needs to know seasonal things for this time of year, new shops, exhibitions, events and at the end hotels including the new Cutest Place to Stay in Tokyo. My new series of Japan travel vlogs has just started. I know they don’t always pop up in everyone’s feed, so so far there’s a travel day, there’s the Tokyo Skytree and Akihabara and there’s so much more to come, so make sure you’re subscribed if you want to catch them. First up is Attraction News. A major arcade in Akihabara is sadly closing. If you’ve been there, you’ll definitely have seen this one. It’s on the main street. It’s one of those iconic, colourful buildings. It feels like it’s only just been taken over by Gigo, so it seems kind of strange they’re closing it down already. Its last day is the 31st of August 2025. There have been a lot of dramatic headlines about this one recently. The actual reason they’re closing is because the lease is finishing, which is a really common reason for places closing in Japan. However, what most people aren’t talking about is that it’s being taken over by another company and it’s going to continue to be an amusement facility. We don’t know exactly what that means, but there’s a chance it could still be an arcade just run by another company. Gigo is still opening new arcades around Japan, so they’re not in any way closing down. And as you can see in my video from last week, there are still plenty of arcades in Akihabara. Next, there’ll be a new Pokemon themed area at a theme park near Tokyo. It’s PokePark Kanto at Yomiuri Land, and it’s only half an hour from Shinjuku Station by train. Then you take a ropeway up to the theme park. There’ll be two areas: Pokemon Forest with a nature trail where you can spot Pokemon and Sedge Town with shops, a Pokemon gym meet and greets, and two small rides. It’ll be where the temporary Pokémon Wonder attraction was, but PokePark will be permanent. It’s set to open in spring 2026, and if you’re wondering whether Yomiuri Land’s worth a visit otherwise, it also has a hyper coaster, a waterpark, and best of all, a cup noodle themed rapids ride. Next Junglia has now opened in Okinawa. You might remember from before on Japan News when it was first announced. It’s a new theme park in Okinawa with a tropical jungle safari theme plus dinosaurs. It’s not really a roller coaster theme park, it’s more of a jungle adventure park with some rides like a hot air balloon and zip lines, an off road driving experience giant swings and bungee jumps. It’s also quite luxurious, with a spa and an infinity pool. Junglia is in the north of the main island of Okinawa, not too far from the big aquarium. You can get there by bus in two hours, 20 minutes from Naha, which is the main city. Chiikawa is the most popular kawaii character in Japan at the moment and they’re getting their own Chiikawa Park in Tokyo. It opened this week at Sunshine City Mall in Ikebukuro. It’s part shop, part attraction with a film, places to take photos. You can go inside Chiikawa’s house. There’s a few games like the Meatball Rolling Challenge and of course, lots of merch because Chiikawa’s so popular at the moment, there’s a lottery to get in, so check up on that if you want to go. Next is Food and Restaurants. Now you know I love Coco Curry and their new store has to be their best one. It’s just opened in Nagoya at Maker’s Pier, which is just outside Legoland. It’s also right next to the SC Maglev and Railway Park, which is the train museum. It’s been transformed with the Neko Ichi mascots. I love these guys. They’re the Coco Curry cat mascots. They’re so cute. We got keychains of them recently. Look how cute it is. There are cat tables, there’s a kids area, special meals and merchandise. Also in Nagoya, there’s a new permanent theme cafe called Osu Dungeon Cafe and Bar. It’s a standing bar that’s really well themed. The theme is fantasy adventures, dragons, heroes, caves, and dungeons. There’s a wall of small gold treasure chests. It seems like you can pick one and you get whatever’s inside. You can have dragon meat on the bone, which is turkey. There’s drinks in tankards, dry ice… It looks really fun. Next conveyor belt sushi chain Sushiro is currently doing a collab with Sanrio featuring Happidanbui which is these six characters. There are special dishes on the menu. Some of them come with stickers or a zip pouch, and there’s drinks that come with a blind bag plushie charm. Next is train news. Soon you’ll be able to pay for the Tokyo Metro by tapping your credit or debit card at the ticket gates. Contactless payment will be available by spring 2026. It’s designed to be easier for foreign tourists. You don’t have to worry about getting an IC card or a ticket. You can just tap your card at the gates. They’re currently installing the card readers at every station, and it’ll be in operation by spring 2026. It’s worth remembering that Tokyo Metro isn’t all the underground metro lines in Tokyo. Some of them are run by Toei Subway, but as it happens, Toei Subway is also trialing contactless payments already. It’s only at 26 stations so far, so if you want to use it, you need to check that your exit station also has card readers. So for now, I think Suica or IC card is still the easiest and most convenient way to pay for your trains because it’s valid for everything, so you don’t need to worry about any of that. Your journey around Tokyo could easily include lines from both the Tokyo Metro and the Toei Subway. And then there’s JR lines like the Yamanote line and other lines like the Yurikamome that goes over to Odaiba. It seems like contactless payments will become more widespread in the future, but for now, Suica is still the easiest. There’s more about how to get around on the train and how to use the Shinkansen. In my Japan guidebook, you can get it from cakeswithfaces.co.uk Next, you might have seen headlines about Namba Station in Osaka introducing a platform for tourists which make it sound like tourists are being segregated or something. So here’s what’s actually happening. In spring 2026, there’ll be a new sightseeing train going from Osaka to Koyasan, Mount Koya, which is a mountain with temples in the forest. The new train looks luxurious in traditional Japanese style, with a fancy bar on board. It looks lovely. It’s run by Nankai Electric Railway in Osaka. It will run from Namba Station, which is a huge and very busy station. They’re creating a new platform for the new train to run from, which will be called platform Zero. It looks very stylish. So tourists aren’t being segregated onto some sort of gaijin section. It’s just a new platform for the sightseeing train. Next is travel news. There are new rules about taking power banks or portable battery packs on the plane with Japanese airlines. Now I always take one with me. It’s really useful for charging my camera, batteries and bikes and of course, your phone. Earlier this year, there was a fire on a South Korean plane caused by a powerbank in the overhead locker. So these new rules are, in effect, immediately. If you take a powerbank on the plane with you, you’re not allowed to put it in the overhead locker anymore. You have to put it in your bag under the seat in front or in the seat back pocket. It’s just for safety. So if there is a fire, it can be identified more quickly. And if you’re using the powerbank to charge something or if it’s being charged, you have to be able to keep an eye on it. You can’t leave it charging inside your bag. You also can’t put a powerbank inside your checked luggage. These new rules are for all Japanese airlines, including Japan Airlines, that’s JAL, and ANA, and they cover both flights to and from Japan and domestic flights within Japan. Next, there’s been lots of stories about foreign tourists misbehaving in Japan, defacing shrines and acting disrespectfully. And recently, there’s also been stories about how the rise of the far right in Japan is partly been fuelled by people disliking foreign tourists. Now, I don’t follow politics, so I can’t say too much about it, and I am getting kind of fed up about how many stories there have been about tourists behaving badly. Obviously, not everyone in Japan likes tourists, just like everywhere. If you think about what it’s like for people who live in touristy places in your country, it can be annoying. But please don’t read these stories and think that’s how everyone is in Japan. The spirit of omotenashi is strong. A omotenashi is about hospitality and being welcoming. In all the times I’ve been to Japan, both to touristy places and less touristy places, on the whole, I’ve found most people to be really friendly, maybe a bit reserved, but friendly and polite. And that’s part of what makes it such a lovely place to be. It is important to be mindful of all the little unwritten rules about how you should behave, like not being noisy on trains, being mindful of others, not getting in the way especially when you’re traveling with luggage and being polite and respectful. But I’m sure all you guys already know about because you’re decent people. You can be forgiven for not knowing every nuance of the etiquette. But I think as long as you read the room and try not to bother other people, that goes a long way. And a quick sumimasen is always useful. Next is seasonal events. Now Japan has seasonal flowers all year round. It’s not just about the cherry blossoms and August is known for sunflowers. One of my favourites! If you’re going this month, look out the best spots to see them wherever you’re going to be and look out for sunflower festivals like the Zama Sunflower Festival, which has 550,000 sunflowers. That’s 45 minutes from Tokyo by train. If you’re going to Nagoya, be sure to check out this spot, which is right by Nagoya Station. It’s called Himawari Sky garden and it’s free! Himawari means sunflower in Japanese. There are displays of sunflowers and this sunflower igloo so you can enjoy the seasonal flowers even if you’re in the city that’s on the fifth floor of Dai Nagoya building. Now, there are lots and lots of festivals in the summer in Japan, probably more than any time of year. There’s fireworks, fire festivals, lantern festivals and ones like Fukuoka Hatchiman Matsuri in Tokyo, which is basically like a big water fight. The most important festival this month is Obon, on the 13th to 16th of August, in which spirits are thought to return to visit relatives. It’s a large summer festival with really big group dances that you’ll welcome to join in with if you want to. During that time, lots of people are off work, so it can also be quite busy. So book your train tickets in advance and consider booking tickets for any major attractions you want to go to on the Shinkansen. From the 8th to the 17th of August, Nozomi trains are reservation only. There’s no unreserved car that’s the fastest one. Other services do still have an unreserved car. As usual, the dates of Japanese festivals throughout the year are all on my calendar. If you want one, join my email newsletter at cakeswithfaces.co.uk/newsletter and they’ll send you a link when the pre-orders open. It’s all my artwork in the calendar. This month it’s a category shaved ice stand, just like you get at summer festivals. That’s on my thank you cards at the moment. You get one with every order from cakeswithfaces.co.uk to say thank you. Next is Shop news. Now Kiddyland is a must visit shop if you like cute stuff. It has official merch from all sorts of characters. The largest one has always been in Harajuku, but now it has a rival. There’s a new flagship Kiddyland store in Shinjuku. It’s really close to the 3D cat billboard by Shinjuku Station. And thinking about it, when I was last staying round there at the Hotel Gracery, the Godzilla Hotel, there was a building site in that exact spot. The new store is huge with four floors. It has all the Japanese characters, you know: Rilakkuma, Sumikko Gurashi, Chiikawa Koupenchan, Kirby, as well as Miffy and Snoopy. And the fun thing about browsing Kiddyland is there’s always bound to be new Japanese characters you haven’t discovered yet that haven’t made it abroad. Next is exhibition news and I’m going to keep it really short this time. Last time there were way too many exhibitions and many of them are still on, so go back and check that one as well if you haven’t seen it. There’s a Moomin exhibition at the Mori Art Center Gallery in Roppongi until the 17th of September. That one also has a theme cafe. And a Neo Heisei Retro exhibition in Shibuya until the 31st of August. This one looks really cute. The Heisei era is the 90s until 2019, so you can enjoy some nostalgia for the 90s and early 2000. Next up, we’ve got events. Kyoto Botanical Garden is now open in the evenings with a special music and light show experience. A bit like Teamlab. It’s all indoors in the conservatory, so even if it’s raining you can still enjoy it. It’s similar to Light Cycles Kyoto, which is on last year for just two months. That went so well that they’ve decided to run it continuously every day until the 31st of March 2026. It is closed on Mondays, which is a reminder to always check the opening hours for things in Japan because things can be closed on random days. Nijo Castle in Kyoto is also open in the evening with projections. It’s called Naked Meet Nijo Castle: A Summer Flow of Light. Naked is another company a bit like TeamLab. It looks really fun and magical. There’s projections on the water, festival food stalls, sideshow games, fake fireflies in the gardens and you can rent a lantern to take around with you. That’s on until the 24th of August. Kyoto Summer Special Openings is also on where you can visit temples and special sites that aren’t usually open to the public. That’s on until the 30th of September. You can look around some temple buildings that aren’t usually open, and see all the statues and artwork, and you can go inside a theatre in Pontocho where geisha perform, including having a look backstage. So if you’re in Kyoto this summer, make the most of the opportunity to see some things you wouldn’t usually be able to. Next, the observation deck at the Umeda Sky building in Osaka has an underwater ocean theme until the end of August. It’s called Floating Deep Blue. I really like this observation deck. They say it’s the deep sea 173m above ground. It’s decorated with jellyfish and bubbles like you’re underwater. It looks really pretty. And there’s a blue lagoon parfait in the cafe. One of my favourite shops is B-side Label. They sell mainly stickers and other small merch items. I always end up getting something from their store. They’re holding an art fair called B-side Label Art Fes on the 27th and 28th of September at Tokyo Tower. There will be stores from artists, including some of the designers of stickers at B-side label. It looks really good. Next, there’s a Pokemon Stamp rally from JR East. For a limited time, there are special Pokemon stamps at stations around Tokyo and the surrounding area. You can of course just collect the stamps for fun, but if you want to do the rally, you can get some prizes. The easiest one is you have to collect six stamps to get a special Pokemon card. There’s also a Shinkansen level where you collect stamps from Shinkansen stations around northern Honshu. You can buy the Stamp ready book from New Days convenience stores. There’s also a Pokemon event around Osaka. It’s called Operation Mega Evolution. It’s a bit like a treasure hunt with puzzles to solve. I’m not sure if there’s an English language version, but there are lots of photo opportunities and characters which could be fun to spot anyway. And there’s a giant Pokeball like a mini version of the Sphere in Las Vegas, in the station in Osaka, Kyoto and Hiroshima. Even if you’re not doing the rally, if you’re a Pokemon fan, that could be fun. Anyway, that’s on until the 31st of October. Finally, it’s hotel news. The Sunshine City Prince Hotel in Ikebukuro often has anime themed rooms, and now they’ve got 20 Evangelion themed rooms. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the anime, the hallways will also be decorated and there are shared lounges. Next is something slightly different. Q-Pot Cafe is a really elegant and cute cafe in Harajuku. They serve fancy desserts and afternoon teas. They also have a shop with lolita style accessories. They’ve just opened a small boutique hotel which has got to be the most Harajuku place to stay in Tokyo. There are three rooms, all with a chocolate theme. There’s bitter chocolate, strawberry, chocolate and mint chocolate. Now when I say they have chocolate patterned wallpaper, it might sound a bit tacky, but they’re actually really stylish and elegant, just like everything from Q-pot. I like how there are biscuits around the mirror. And look at this strawberry wallpaper. Each one has a bedroom and a living room for up to four people, but it’s not cheap. It’s from ¥88,000 a night to stay there, so it’s definitely a special treat. So that’s it for Japan News. We’ve had a dinosaur safari half a million sunflowers and a Pokémon stamp rally. I hope you enjoyed it. I’ll see you next week with more Japan videos on Thursday. Bye bye!

What’s new in Japan, including new attractions, new shops, seasonal events for summer, exhibitions and lots more!

✨ Get my Japan guide book here: https://cakeswithfaces.co.uk/product/japan-travel-guide-book/

This time I’ve organised Japan Travel News into: new attractions, food and restaurants, train news, serious travel updates, seasonal events, new shops, exhibitions, events and hotel news. There are some exciting announcements about new attractions, including PokePark Kanto, Junglia and Chiikawa Park. There are updates to rules about powerbanks (portable battery packs) on Japanese airlines, and I discuss whether tourists are still welcome in Japan. There are always lots of seasonal festivals and matsuri in summer, including fireworks and sunflower festivals. And several places in Kyoto are open in the evenings, with special illuminations including Nijo Castle and Kyoto Botanical Gardens. You can also visit several temples and buildings in Kyoto that aren’t usually open to the public! Finally there’s news about themed hotels, including the new Q-Rooms in Harajuku, run by Q-Pot, which are ultra kawaii!

▶️ SUBSCRIBE for Japan travel vlogs every Thursday.

🌈 MY SHOP (my designs/books): https://www.cakeswithfaces.co.uk

✨ FOLLOW CAKES WITH FACES:
http://instagram.com/cakeswithfaces
https://bsky.app/profile/cakeswithfaces.co.uk
https://www.threads.net/@cakeswithfaces
https://www.facebook.com/cakeswithfaces

00:00 Intro
00:55 Arcade closing
01:53 PokePark Kanto
02:38 Junglia
03:20 Chiikawa Park
03:50 Coco Curry
04:25 Osu Dungeon Café
04:54 Sushiro x Sanrio
05:11 Tokyo Metro contactless payment
06:36 Tourist-only platform
07:28 Powerbank rules
08:31 Are tourists welcome?
10:04 Seasonal events
10:52 Festivals
12:14 Kiddyland Shinjuku
13:04 Exhibitions
13:39 Light Cycles Kyoto
14:13 Nijo Castle Evening Opening
14:39 Kyoto Summer Special Openings
15:08 Umeda Sky Building
15:33 B-Side Label Art Fes
15:57 Pokémon Stamp Rally
16:31 Pokémon Operation Mega Evolution
16:59 Evangelion Hotel Rooms
17:17 Q-Rooms Harajuku

#japan #japantravel #tokyo #tokyotravel