Japan Travel News ☀️ September 2025: New Attractions, Shops, Tokyo Events & Exhibitions

Japan Travel News ☀️ September 2025: New Attractions, Shops, Tokyo Events & Exhibitions

Today we’ve got a creepy yokai exhibition, a Kirby train, matcha pizza and matcha French fries and something for you if you miss the kawaii monster cafe that used to be in Harajuku. In fact, two things. I’m Amy from Cakes with Faces. Welcome back to Japan Travel News about all the new things that are opening in Japan and what’s coming up. Even if you don’t have a trip booked, hopefully it’ll give you an idea of what’s going on at each time of year and when’s a good time to go. First, some quick news for me. The tariffs in the USA have been causing huge problems for small businesses all around the world. Previously only shipments over $800 got tariffs. That’s just been removed. So now every single parcel, however small, gets tariffs. I don’t know if you saw my short videos, but I had to stop shipping to the USA for a while while this got sorted. But US shipping is now back on cakeswithfaces.co.uk. And the really good news is that books are exempt from tariffs. So if you want to order my Japan guide book or my recipe comic books or my Mini Guide to Kawaii Tokyo, you can order them just the same as before. And there’s no tariffs to pay. On my site, cakeswithfaces.co.uk tariffs are paid in advance at checkout, so you can go to the shopping cart to check how much they’re going to be, and you won’t get any unexpected charges or customs bills when you receive your parcel. The tariffs vary by product. Some of them aren’t too bad, like for my Japan trip planning decks, they’re about $6.70. And the worst one is dresses, which is almost $18. This has been a real pain. It took me all day to sort this out the other day, and I really hate that you have to pay extra if you’re in the USA. I don’t receive any part of the tariffs. They go straight to the US government And this was the only way I could continue shipping to the USA. 30% of my orders come from the US. So if this puts people in the USA off ordering, it’s going to be a real problem for me and could make it hard for me to continue doing what I do and making my videos. So I really hope it doesn’t put people off too much. And thank you to everyone for your support. On to something more positive now: attraction news. There’s a campaign this autumn and winter in Tokyo to encourage people to visit sento. Sento are public bathhouses. They’re a bit like onsen, but usually they use just tap water instead of natural hot spring water. Although some do. The campaign’s called Welcome Sento. There’s a discount at 63 bathhouses around Tokyo, and it’s on until the 28th of February, 2026. Now, I don’t think they’re really that expensive to get into anyway, but instead of ¥550 to get in, it’s only ¥300 with the discount. They put together a list of tourist friendly sento. That doesn’t mean the other bathhouses aren’t tourist friendly. These ones just have signs in multiple languages. They take card payments, and they’re particularly easy for tourists to access. So if you’re only staying in Tokyo or if you’re on a budget, this is a way to have an experience that’s like an onsen. Some sento are quite plain, some are quite retro with those murals of Mount Fuji, and some are more like an onsen. The set up’s very similar to an onsen with the lockers when you go in, and the changing rooms and the showers before you go in the bath. Some of them have multiple baths with different types of water, and some even have saunas. If you have tattoos, you need to check beforehand if tattoos are allowed. Just like with onsen, most places don’t allow them, but there are a few that do. You can get the discount coupon from various hotels in Tokyo, from tourist information centers and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku. There’s a list on WelcomeSento.com and if you complete a survey at any of the sentos, you get a free towel. Now I always knew the kawaii Monster cafe in Harajuku wasn’t gone forever. They’ve been keeping the brand alive online. They’ve had several pop ups and now it’s coming back permanently, but in a slightly different form as Kawaii Monster Land. It’s going to be in Harajuku. Where else could it be? It’ll be on Takeshita Street, the main street in the basement of Harajuku Alta. Which I was very surprised to see has closed down. The story goes long ago there was a huge amusement park beneath Harajuku. They’ve excavated and reopened it, and it’s going to be really colorful and themed with rides, food, live shows and games. It opens winter 2025. We don’t have a date yet. Currently, they’re recruiting monster girls to work there, like at the cafe. They always have such amazing outfits. Of course, I’ll keep you updated when we have an opening date. Japan News is now every month, so subscribe if you want to catch that. And I’ve got something else coming up from Sebastian Masuda a bit later in this Japan news. It seems like he’s been really busy lately. Next, toy story is taking over the Tokyo Skytree until the 31st of October, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the film. Just like the Konan collab that was on when I filmed my video there, it’s included in your regular ticket. There are lots of decorations and photo spots. The lights on the sky tree will match the colors of the characters, so see if you can spot that. And there’s a special menu in the cafe. When I went, there was more often the collaboration on the upper deck as well as the lower deck. So if you’re a Toy Story fan, it might be worth visiting both. Next, there’s a new Godzilla ride at Seibuen, which is a theme park in Saitama. You can go there on a day trip from Tokyo. It’s called Godzilla the Ride: Great Clash. It features a battle between Godzilla and Mechagodzilla. It replaces the previous Godzilla ride, so maybe it’s more of an update than something completely new. Seibuen has lots of retro Showa era areas. Be aware if you want to go. They don’t allow tattoos, which is fairly unusual for a theme park in Japan, but those are the rules. On to serious travel news. Recently, there’s been some stories about tourists leaving old suitcases in their hotel rooms. Mostly it’s when their suitcase breaks and they buy a new one and leave the old one in their hotel room, or abandon it somewhere. Sometimes even at the airport. As I’m sure you know, this is not an okay thing to do in Japan. You have to pay to dispose of bulky items. And in fact, this year I did notice more signs in my hotel rooms about this sort of thing. If your suitcase breaks, or if you have any kind of large, oversize trash you need to get rid of. The best thing to do is ask your hotel’s front desk. They’ll know what to do, and they’ll be able to help you sort it out. If you buy a new suitcase, some shops may be able to help you dispose of the old one. But I think with the language barrier, the easiest thing to do is ask your hotel front desk. If you’re staying at an Airbnb, the owner may be able to help you. But I think that really is a benefit of staying at a hotel: the front desk always right there for you. On to train news. There’s a Kirby train in Kansai with Kirby decorations all over the outside of the train, and little details to spot. It’s running from now until the 17th of March, 2026 on all three Hankyu lines. That’s between Kobe and Osaka, between Osaka and Kyoto, and the Takarazuka line in Osaka. There’s a schedule on the Hankyu Railways website. Hankyu buses are also decorated. There’s special merch and snacks and a stamp rally until the 24th of November. There’s also a Kuromi train in Kyoto Prefecture. That’s not Kyoto city, it’s Kyoto Prefecture. From the 6th of September to the 5th of December. It’s on the Kyoto Tango Railway between Nishi Maizuru and Tokyo, which is only a few stops away from lovely Kinosaki Onsen that you might have seen in my videos. It also goes past Amanohashidate with the sandbar, which is one of the top scenic spots in Japan. Kuromi’s dressed up as the seven princesses of tango. Tango is the historical name for the region. The seven princesses were poets, noble women and mythical figures from the area. So it’s good. It has local significance. There’s a special one day pass for the railway for ¥2,000. That comes in a Kuromi ticket case, and there’s a digital stamp rally. Although I do feel like digital stamp rallies just aren’t quite the same as physical stamps. If you want to collect souvenir stamps in Japan, I have a video all about how to find them and where to get a stamp book. Next, Hiroshima Station’s had a renovation over the last few years, and in August a new tram terminal opened inside the station building. That makes it easier to transfer from trains to the trams to get into the city, and next year there’s a new tram loop line opening. Three of the trains on the system are historic trams from 1942 that survived the atomic bomb, and you can still go on them today. Amazingly, the tram system in Hiroshima started running again just three days after the bomb. That’s so efficient at getting things up and running. Next is food and restaurants. There’s a new permanent themed restaurant in Kyoto from Sebastian Masuda called Future Train Kyoto Diner and Cafe. Sebastian Masuda is the creator of Harajuku band 6% Doki Doki and the Kawaii Monster Cafe. They also have a sushi restaurant in New York. Everything they do is so colorful and quirky, and this restaurant is in an old train carriage. It’s a retired Thunderbird Express train. It’s on an abandoned, elevated train line. So it’s a really unique location. It’s in Kyoto, really close to the railway museum. There are three carriages. Two of them are open now in a soft opening. And the third one opens on the 20th of September. It says that one will have interactive features, so I wonder what that will be It looks very colorful and stylish. There are cocktails and milkshakes, a kid’s meal and a train plate bento boxes, a five story pagoda parfait, and some interesting dishes like matcha guacamole cubes, clam chowder with miso and sake lees, and French fries with matcha and red bean paste whip. I’m not sure if that’s a dessert or not. Tell me in the comments if you think that it tastes good. Speaking of matcha fries, would you eat a matcha pizza? Pizza Hut Japan has a new dessert. It’s like a folded over pizza slice with matcha in the base. Sweet red bean paste, mozzarella cheese. shiratama Dango, which is chewy mochi and kuromitsu brown sugar syrup. That is available until the 26th of October. It’s not just a gimmick (although it probably is!); the matcha’s from Gion Tsjuiri, which is in 165 year old tea shop from Kyoto. It also has a couple of branches in London. I think mochi goes really well with cheese when it’s all melty, but I’m not sure about it being a dessert. Would you try it? Tell me in the comments. Next is shop news. Now, you often hear about things closing down in Akihabara. But here’s something that’s opening up. There’s a new branch of Mandarake called Mandarake, Complex 2. It’s in the back streets, just a few buildings away from their current store. It’s got nine floors. It looks huge. There’s cards, games, CDs, DVDs, figures and model cars and trains. There’s a new Bandai Namco Cross store in Tokyo in Magnet, which is a shopping mall in Shibuya, right on the famous Shibuya Crossing. Bandai Namco Cross stores are part arcade, part shop. It’s like an otaku department store with gachapon, figures, sweets, One Piece card games, and it’s given cute, which is where you buy a ticket and get a random prize. There used to be just a couple of these cross stores that were all really huge. But over the last few years, they’ve expanded and now there’s more and more of them. It’s like Bandai Namco are thinking, why have just an arcade when you could have shops in it as well? Also in Shibuya, there’s the first shop for the anime JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. It’s called Jojo World. It’s in Parco department store, which seems to be going from strength to strength. Recently the Sega store opened there and now this. It’s also got the Capcom store, the Nintendo Store, and the Pokemon Center. It’s definitely a destination if you like anime and games. As well as merchandise, of course, Jojo World will have mini games, interactive experiences, performances and a cafe with themed sweets and drinks. As it’s new and popular, when it’s busy, they’ll be giving out numbered tickets to come back later, so don’t leave it till the end of your last day in Japan, There’ll also be a new One Piece shop in Shinjuku called One Piece Base Shop. It’s a new flagship, so it should be bigger than the current stores. It’s opening this winter in Shinjuku, in Shinjuku Maru main building. There are several Maruis around Shinjuku, so make sure you get the right one. And finally, in shop news, there’s a new Sirotan store in Harajuku on the main street to catch the street. Sirotan is a cute seal character, so it will be a kawaii character goods shop. It opens on the 5th of September. It’s on the second floor and it looks so cute. Next is events. Now September in Japan is known for Tsukimi, which is moon viewing. Tsuki means moon and mi is to look at. So viewing. Moon viewing. Traditionally, people celebrated the harvest at this time of year, and the harvest moon is thought to be the largest and most beautiful. This year to is actually on the 6th of October, but towards the end of September look out for Tsukimi festivals and events, and ceremonies at temples and shrines. Japanese festivals throughout the year are all on my calendar. I’m working on the artwork for next year’s one right now, and I’ll be opening pre-orders soon. If you want a link when preorders open, join my email newsletter at cakeswithfaces.co.uk/newsletter. Now the traditional food of tsukimi dango or tsukimi udon, because the egg supposed to look like the moon. But in recent years, fast food restaurants in Japan have started doing tsukimi burgers with egg in them. So if you like eggs, look out for them. KFC Japan even has a mochi custard pie with kiwi and an extreme triple tsukimi burger with three egg omelette layers. That is too much. Now, you might remember that pop up shop in Japan earlier this year where you could steal whatever you wanted as long as you were absolutely silent and didn’t make any noise. There’s something similar coming up in Tokyo in Parco department store in Ikebukuro called ESC or ESC. The aim is to avoid talking to the overly friendly shop assistants. You can be in a team of up to three, and you get five minutes to browse the store and get to the checkout. But if any of the staff talk to you, you have to leave immediately. Now, you might remember before in Japan news, there was a Jujitsu Kaisen event in Osaka that’s now coming back as a store called Jujutsu Kaisen Journey with events in five cities. There’ll be a pop up shop with special merch, mini games where you can win prizes and themed cafes. The tour runs from September to December. Here are the dates and the venues. It’s going to Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Koka and Sendai. Next in Fukuoka Ohori Park is extra magical at the moment with a special light up event called Japanese Garden Sora. It combines Japanese gardens with digital art and projection mapping, based on the Japanese idea that gods reside in everything. As the lighting brings everything to life. Ohori Park is a lovely park around a lake. For the event, there’s a giant moon and traditional Japanese bamboo lights. It looks beautiful. That’s on until the end of September. If you’re out in Fukuoka in the evening, don’t miss the Nakatsukasa Magotaro Inari Shrine, nicknamed the Cyber Shrine, which has neon lights on the stone lanterns. Next is exhibition news. Sumikko Gurashi, whose store I went to in last week’s video, are having a collaboration with an exhibition in Tokyo. It’s about extinction and the big five extinction events at the National Museum of Science in Ueno Park from the 1st of November to the 23rd of February. After that, it will be touring to Nagoya in spring 2026, and then Osaka in the summer. As always, the characters are dressed for the occasion. They’re dressed up as prehistoric creatures. Instead of Mount Fuji, there’s an active volcano. Although Mount Fuji is an active volcano… Maybe this is just their prehistoric form. This fits in really well with the Sumikko Gurashi Evolution series that was out earlier this year, where they imagined what the characters would look like if they evolved. Next, 1999: Memories of a Day That Never Existed is an immersive horror exhibition in Tokyo. What if Nostradamus prophecy came true and the world ended in 1999? That’s at Roppongi Museum until the 27th of September. There’s an immersive exhibition about yokai in Nagoya with projections. Yokai are a Japanese monsters. So this could be really creepy. That’s until the 23rd of September. There’s an Evangelion exhibition in Tokyo at Space Galleria, which is inside Animate, the world’s largest anime store in Ikebukuro. That’s from the 12th of September to the 13th of October. After that, it’s going to Osaka and then Kyoto. This one looks really cute. There’s a Sylvanian Families exhibition for their 40th anniversary in Nagoya from the 8th to the 30th of November. If you like history, there’s an exhibition of National Treasures of the Tokugawa Shogun with lots of armor in Sendai from the 12th of September to the 9th of November. And in Hokkaido, there’s an exhibition about special effects in the Godzilla films, particularly miniatures and dioramas used in the 1954 film and special filming techniques. It sounds interesting. That’s the Asahikawa until the 23rd of September. Finally, there’s an Astro Boy exhibition until the 24th of November at Tokiwaso Manga museum in Tokyo, which is a museum inside the manga artist’s former home. So that’s it for Japan News. We’ve had a kawaii train restaurant, discounts at the bathhouse, and a magical light up event in the park. Japan News is now monthly and there are new Japan travel videos right here every Thursday, so I’ll see you next week. Bye bye.

What’s on this autumn in Japan, including events, exhibitions, new shops and updates on attractions.

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Even though Japan Travel News is now monthly, there’s always so much new stuff in Japan! It’s not just for Tokyo – there are updates from all around Japan. There’s a campaign to encourage people to visit sento (public bathhouses), Toy Story’s taking over the Tokyo SkyTree, a new Godzilla ride at Seibuen theme park, themed trains, new shops in Shibuya, seasonal events (and special burgers!) for Tsukimi this September and lots of exhibitions. If you miss the Kawaii Monster Cafe, there’s a new Kawaii Monster Land announced for Harajuku and a new train theme cafe in Kyoto from Sebastian Masuda. Tell me what you’re most excited about in the comments!

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00:00 Intro
00:30 US tariffs
02:13 Welcome Sento
03:57 Kawaii Monster Land
05:04 Toy Story x Tokyo SkyTree
05:37 New Godzilla ride
06:09 What to do with broken suitcases
07:11 Kirby train
07:44 Kuromi train
08:46 Hiroshima trams
09:20 Future Train Kyoto
10:40 Matcha pizza
11:22 New Mandarake in Akihabara
11:46 Bandai Namco Cross Store Shibuya
12:25 Jojo World
13:08 One Piece flagship store
13:28 Sirotan store
13:45 Tsukimi
14:59 esc
15:33 Jujutsu Kaisen Journey
16:00 Ohori Park Light-up
16:42 Exhibitions

#japan #japantravel #tokyo #tokyotravel