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Japan in 2024: New and Upcoming Attractions

Dan Beauchamp

Discover the nation’s new and updated highlights.

Cover photo: Samurai Restaurant Time performance at show bar Gira Gira Girls, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan (2023). Photo by Danny With Love.

Promotional image for the reopening of Kobe Port Tower (2024). Via the landmark’s official website.

Intro

With foreign tourists to Japan returning to pre-pandemic levels, 2024 is a year of reintroduction. Previously closed attractions are back in new forms and facilities, like Robot Restaurant’s successor Samurai Restaurant Time and the second edition of photogenic digital art museum TeamLab Borderless.

This year marks the long-awaited extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen (bullet train) to Fukui Prefecture, which offers seafood, beaches, and one of the largest dinosaur museums in the world! 2024 will also see the reopening of landmark Kobe Port Tower, with rotating observation deck.

Notable trends include new mixed-use commercial developments such as Azabudai Hills — featuring Japan’s tallest building — and the renewed Chuinichi Building in Nagoya, a resurgence in bathhouses, and expansions at theme parks DisneySea, Ghibli Park, and Universal Studios Japan.

See below for a full list of attractions in Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, and Osaka.

UPDATED NOVEMBER

Visitors are immersed in the Light Sculpture at teamLab Borderless, Azabudai Hills, Minato City, Tokyo, Japan (2024). Photo by Danny With Love.

Tokyo (東京)

Promotional image for the Valley of Witches at Ghibli Park outside Nagoya, in Nakagute, Aichi Prefecture, Japan (circa 2023). Via Ghibli Park (cropped).

Nagoya (名古屋)

Statue of video game character Mario at the entrance to Takashimaya SC T8, Kyoto, Japan (2023). Photo by Danny With Love.

Kyoto (京都)

Promotional image for Grand Green Osaka / Umekita Park, Osaka, Japan (circa 2023). Via Osaka MICE.

Osaka (大阪)