TW Digest

September 10, 2026

Hello everyone,

You might notice the newsletter looks a little different today! We’re shifting the focus slightly. Rather than simply delivering the best stories of the week, I want to add more perspective and personality: the stories and trends we’re currently obsessed with, plus our recommendations for cool things to do in Tokyo and beyond.

Think of it as your insider’s guide to Tokyo and Japan — what people are talking about, what we’re excited about and what we’re actually doing.

This week’s newsletter includes: a shocking update on the Suica Penguin, the art events in Tokyo you absolutely can’t miss, a look into a growing voyeurism problem at summer festivals and a glimpse inside Osaka’s most buzzed-about new hotel.

— Callie Beusman, Editorial Director

The story we can’t stop talking about this week:

A specter is haunting the nation … or actually three specters: a squirrel, an oddly-shaped rabbit and an unidentified creature with a perplexed facial expression. These are the potential replacements for the soon-to-retire Suica Penguin, and they have shocked and outraged the public.

The stories, trends, events, etc. on our minds

☆ Voyeurs are a growing problem at Japanese summer festivals. Female dancers have been speaking out after being surreptitiously filmed, with the sexualized footage shared online, sometimes reaching millions of viewers.

☆ Patina Osaka is now one of the most buzzed-about hotels in the world. In fact, it was recently named the Best Hotel in the World by Travel + Leisure. We stayed there last year and loved it; take a look inside here.

☆ Our monthly round-up of the best exhibitions taking place in Tokyo. Have yourself a beautifully cultured September.

☆ Tokyo Fashion Week has come to an end; these are the standouts among the collections that showed this season.

☆ In case navigating Shinjuku Station wasn’t harrowing enough, there are now robotic trash cans roaming its labyrinthine depths.

What the TW team is checking out this week

It’s a very sultry and damp time in Tokyo, which makes a museum an ideal escape from the elements. Eugenie recommends the Hiroshi Sugimoto exhibition — this is the last week to see it, so hurry over while you still can — and the Masterpieces of the Renaissance from the Musée du Louvre at the National Art Center, which just opened yesterday.

Helen, our resident Kamakura expert, notes that there are two big festivals taking place in Kamakura this coming week: the annual grand festivals for Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine on September 15 and 16 — featuring horseback archery !!! — and Goryo Jinja Shrine on September 18.

As for me, I love beer and anything with a suspicious name, so I’m planning to stop by the recently-ish opened Fetish Club in Azabujuban. On a more wholesome and elegant note, Saturday is the grand opening of Masono, a beautifully designed cafe in Sendagaya specializing in high-grade matcha; I’m really excited to see the interior in person.

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