Spoon & Tamago

The Must-See Public Art on Display in Tokyo During ARTE TOKYO

ARTE TOKYO is a new citywide festival of arts and culture that transforms public spaces across the Japanese capital into an expansive outdoor gallery, bringing together artists, architects, designers, and creative technologists. Running through December 31, the festival centers on three major areas: the waterfront district around Odaiba, the business and cultural hub of Hibiya and Marunouchi, and the creative neighborhoods of Yoyogi and Shibuya.

Although the festival opened on October 10, many of our must-see picks don’t open until December, which makes this the perfect time for this mini-guide to help you encounter unexpected installations while walking through parks, crossing bridges, or exploring the city’s waterfront. And the best part is it’s all free.

Japan’s Jimi ‘Mundane’ Halloween Costumes of 2026

October 31, 2026 / Johnny / 0 Comments

Happy Jimi Halloween to everyone who celebrates. It’s that wonderful time of year when our favorite Japanese festival, Jimi Halloween, is on full display. Mundane Halloween, as we coined it back in 2018, is when people dress up in costumes so mundane they have to be explained.

The tradition was started in 2014 by a group of adults at Daily Portal Z who kind of wanted to participate in the festivities of Halloween, but were too embarrassed to go all out in witch or zombie costumes. So instead of the flashy and flamboyant costumes they had been seeing gain popularity in Japan, they decided to dress up in mundane, everyday costumes.

You can comb through social media using the hashtag #地味ハロウィン but below we present to you some of our favorites from this year’s festivities. We’ve been covering this event since 2018 so you can also take a look at some past years too!

OrySnack: The Bar Where Bartenders Work From Home

October 1, 2026 / Johnny / Comments Off

As the sun sets in Tokyo, its alleyways become illuminated by the lights of “sunakku” snack bars. But OrySnack is illuminated by something entirely different: the gentle, glowing eyes of six small humanoid robots that are pouring drinks and interacting with customers. But you would be mistaken to assume that the robots have replaced human workers. They’re actually allowing people to work when they otherwise might not be able to.

Winners of Japan’s 2027 Packaging Design Awards

September 19, 2026 / Johnny / Comments Off

Japan has a rich history of packaging design that dates back hundreds of years and rooted in a tradition of gift-giving. Before industrial materials like plastic and cardboard, gifts were wrapped in straw, bamboo, leaves and paper: an art unto itself that lives on today in the form of products often wrapped in as many physical as symbolic layers.

Every two years the JPDA (Japan Packaging Design Association) combs through over 1000 submissions to celebrate excellence in packaging design. Here are the winners for 2027.

Yuka Numata’s Haunting Sculptures of Children, Made from Fishing Line and Beads, Installed at Abandoned Elementary School

September 17, 2026 / Johnny / Comments Off

When you enter the classroom of an elementary school, you might expect to hear laughter and yelps of excitement. But at the former Yuya Elementary School in Gifu, you’ll instead encounter hundreds of beads hanging from the ceiling by fishing line. As you walk through the classroom, the beads slowly align, forming translucent and haunting sculptures of children.

Tadao Ando Designed & Donated a Floating Library that Delivers Books to Children

September 15, 2026 / Johnny / Comments Off

Cutting through the white-capped waves of the Seto Inland Sea is a one-of-kind “floating library”. This is Hon no Mori-go (ほんのもり号) created to give children living on remote islands the opportunity to discover books and nurture their creativity.

Candidates Announced for Suica Penguin’s Successor. A Public Vote Will Decide the Outcome

September 8, 2026 / Johnny / Comments Off

Last year, JR East announced that their beloved mascot, the Suica penguin, will retire after 25 years of serving as the iconic face of IC cards. Today, the company has unveiled three candidates to succeed the beloved Suica Penguin, which will officially retire at the end of March 2027. The three designs—created by young Japanese creators—offer a decidedly different take on what Suica might look like in its next chapter. And JR East is putting the final decision up to a public vote.

Tokyo is Gearing Up for an Art-Filled Fall. And the Entire City is Here for It

September 6, 2026 / Johnny / Comments Off

They say autumn is the season for art. In Japan, fall symbolizes freshness and new endeavors. The season’s clearer skies and brighter moons gives renewed enthusiasm to encounter artistic inspiration. And the entire city of Tokyo is not only here for it, but sponsoring it. From museums extending their hours and all-night art exhibitions to outdoor art festivals, Fall of 2026 is going to be one of the best chances to let art take your hand and guide you around Tokyo.

Kawaii Buildings, as Seen Through the Lens of Urban Photographer Ken Ohyama

August 30, 2026 / Johnny / Comments Off

Urban photographer Ken Ohyama is passionate about cities and the various structures that form them. The Japanese photographer has a knack for taking oft-overlooked elements of urban environments like highways and housing projects, and highlighting their beauty by forcing us to look at them in ways we never have.

Minecraft Characters Emerge in the Fields for Gaming-Inspired Gyoda Rice Paddy Art

August 29, 2026 / Johnny / Comments Off

Every summer, the city of Gyoda in Saitama Prefecture turns rice paddies into giant canvases, planting colorful rice varieties to form massive works of art. Known as tanbo art, these living murals stretch across nearly three hectares and can only be fully appreciated from above. Gyoda’s rice paddy art holds the Guinness World Record for the largest of its kind, and each year it draws visitors eager to see what design will emerge from the fields.