Yesterday's Weather - June 2026

Here’s the third “Yesterday’s Weather”: a short round-up of things worth eating, reading, watching, or buying in and around Tokyo - borrowing the spirit of Swissmiss’s Friday Link Pack. Enjoy!

(Check out May as well, some of it is still on)

Museum stuff

The Architecture of Sou Fujimoto: Primordial Future Forest exhibition starts at Mori Museum on July 2. I recently saw the impressive ring Fujimoto built at the Osaka Expo and am very much looking forward to this exhibition!

Credit: Fujimoto Sōsuke on x.com

Exciting on a different level: The Gacha Gacha Exhibition at the Marunouchi Building celebrates sixty years of capsule toy madness. The charm of gachagacha (capsule toys) lies (in case you don’t know) in its lottery logic: you insert a coin (okay, usually 300 to 500 yen), turn the knob, and brace yourself. Will it be the one you wanted? Probably not. Will you try again? Absolutely. It’s Schrödinger’s souvenir - cheap, cheerful, and lighter than a key-chain. There are people who collect them. I hoard them as gifts. They’re the perfect blend of whimsy and "I didn’t know what to get you, so here’s a tiny squirrel riding a tiny acorn-tank."

The exhibition runs from July 26 (Saturday) to August 15 (Friday), 2025. Yes, I’m going. And no, I will not leave until I’ve walked out with something that makes me laugh and question my life choices in equal measure (no clue whether the squirrels will be there).

Train stuff

If your idea of “train travel” (at home) involves delays, cryptic timetables, a faint smell of panic, and the low-level anxiety of bag theft - breathe. You’ve made it. Welcome to the calm, clockwork wonderland that is Japanese rail.

The ride from Nagoya to Kii-Katsuura is four hours of uninterrupted mountainous serenity (some tunnels and ocean included) - in short, the kind of scenery that gently convinces you to throw away your return ticket and start a new life involving pickled plums and quiet mornings.

And if you’re short on time (or yen), here’s the YouTube version. Costs nothing but your patience for pre-roll ads.

Rummage stuff

Not so much a “what to buy” as a “where to rummage” tip: if you like your souvenirs dusty, storied, and possibly haunted, head to the Oedo Kottōichi - Japan’s largest* outdoor antique market. It pops up on the first and third Sunday of each month (mark July 6th and 20th), from 9:00 to 16:00 - unless it rains, in which case the antiques remain mysterious and unbought.

It’s held right inside the Tokyo International Forum, a stone’s throw from Yurakuchō Station. Part treasure hunt, part open-air museum, part “why did I just buy this?” Ceramics, vintage kimono, retro glassware, slightly suspicious jewellery, hand-painted signs, and maybe even a taxidermied something?

Entry is free, the crowds are friendly (tourists and Tokyoites alike), and whether you leave with an Edo-period tansu or just a good story, it’s well worth the wander.

(*Allegedly. I’ve seen bigger. But still - very much worth a look.)

Credit: Tokyo International Forum
If you're after a flea market with a side of incense and history, try the Takahata Fudō Gozare-ichi 高幡不動ござれ市. Held monthly on the scenic grounds of Takahata Fudōson Temple, this market has strong “anything goes” energy - and in fact, that's exactly what its name promises: 何でもござれ. Ceramics, kimono, folk crafts, retro knickknacks, obscure tools you’ll never use but can’t leave behind - it’s all there.

It takes place every third Sunday of the month from 7:00 to 16:00. Getting there is easy, especially if you stay at a hotel in Shinjuku: hop on the Keio Line from Shinjuku and get off at Takahatafudō Station, right by the temple.

Credit: Kottouichi.jp

Bonus: the temple grounds are stunning. So even if you leave empty-handed (unlikely), you’ll still have soaked up some local flavour. For lovers of the odd, the old, and the unexpectedly perfect, it’s worth the trip.

Films

And now for something entirely unexpected: turns out some Japanese films are screened with English subtitles - right here in Tokyo. Who knew? (Well, probably tourists. And language nerds. But still.)

Case in point: Detective Conan: The One-Eyed Flashback with English subtitles. Yes, the film premiered back in May, but if the subtitle gods are kind, you might still catch a showing somewhere, click through the above list.

It’s a rare chance to watch a Japanese film in a Japanese cinema without playing plot-guessing charades. Worth checking local listings if you’re in town - and into murder mysteries solved by eternally seven-year-old genius detectives.
I'll try to keep an eye out on other Japanese films shown with English subtitles (outside the film festivals).