The special holiday-related events taking place over the next few weeks makes for an exciting Japanese Events calendar in December.
First, for those looking for Christmas shopping ideas, Japan House London will be holding Christmas Late Night Shopping & Workshops on the 1st. You can get a 15% discount on all purchases, and there will be Japanese cake and sake tasting along with a Japanese gift wrapping Furoshiki workshop plus a Japanese-style Christmas dessert making demonstration.
Head to Yokimono Japanese Christmas Market held at The Factory on the 3rd and 4th to experience Japanese live music & performances as well as Japanese food, art, craft, etc. Their sister event – Yatai Mura in Tottenham last month was busy from the start, so make sure you go early in order not to miss out on the food stalls which have long queues by 1pm.
If you would like to try something new for this holiday season, there are many options like creating a Shimekazari Japanese New Year Wreath (Dec. 1st, 10th and 11th) at Pantechnicon, making your own Japanese New Year Card (Dec 11th) at Japan Society, a Japanese Furoshiki Wrapping Workshop with Tamakurya at the Barbican (Dec 7th and 14th), and a demonstration of Chado, the Japanese Way of Tea demonstration (Dec 17th) at Japan House London.
For the Sake lovers, there are a couple of events held at West London Wine School, Premium Sparkling Sake Tasting & Masterclass (Dec 8th) & Sake and Cheese Pairing Evening (Dec 14th). If you haven’t tried Sake yet, don’t worry, you can join an intimate workshop – Introduction to Sake with Natsuki Kikuya (Dec 9th) at Sakaya, Pantechnicon.
We’re sure you’ll find some interesting Japanese Events in December in the list below and have a wonderful holiday season everyone!
December 1st – Shop Experience | Christmas Late Night Shopping & Workshops
- Date: Thursday, December1st 2022
- Time: 18:00 – 21:00
- Admission: Free (Just Drop In)
- Location: The Shop, Japan House, 101-111 Kensington High Street, London, W8 5SA
Guests can browse their curated product collection after hours, including a variety of Christmas gift boxes, and will receive a 15% discount on all purchases.
This event includes a range of demonstrations, workshops and tastings to introduce you to a variety of Japanese food and drink, and gives you a chance to learn about and practice Japanese card making and gift wrapping in the run up to Christmas.
The following workshops and demonstrations will also take place in The Shop:
*Sake tasting
*Japanese-style Christmas dessert making demonstration
*Christmas card making workshop
*Traditional Japanese gift wrapping (furoshiki & tenugui) workshop
*Japanese cake tasting
For more information, please check the Japan House Shop Experience page.
December 1st, 10th and 11th: Create a Japanese New Year Wreath
- Date & Time: Thursday, December 1st at 18:30 – 19:30 | Saturday, December 10th & Sunday, December 11th at 11:00 – 12:00 & 14:00 – 15:00
- Workshop Fee: £65.00
- Location: The Studio (1F), at Pantechnicon, 19 Motcomb St, London, SW1X 8LB
Join a workshop at Pantechnicon with Japanese floral designer Mariko Kinoshita of Matsurika Flowers to create your own shimekazari New Year wreath.
In Japan, the key festive celebration is Shogatsu, the New Year. Preparations begin in December with the display of shimekazari wreaths to bring good fortune for the coming year. The wreaths include auspicious symbols to welcome the New Year’s kami (gods or holy powers) along with prosperity and good luck, while at the same time warding off evil spirits and bad luck.
The workshops will last 60 minutes and all materials will be provided for you to create your own wreath to take home. The base of shimekazari is made from shimenawa (a sacred rice straw rope), with ours specially sourced from Shimane in Japan. Mariko will guide you through making the wreath and decorating it with Japanese symbols of prosperity, good luck charms and adornments.
For more information and booking, please check the Create a Japanese New Year Wreath Experience page .
December 3rd & 4th: Yokimono Japanese Xmas Market
- Date: Saturday, December 3rd & Sunday, December 4th 2022
- Time: 11:00 – 18:00
- Free Entry & Family Friendly
- Location: The Factory, 21-31 Shacklewell Lane, Dalston, Hackney, London, E8 2DA
Explore traditional and contemporary Japanese arts & crafts, culture and food, and find unique and authentic gifts for Christmas!
YOKIMONO (よきもの, meaning ‘good things’ in Japanese) Market is a Japanese-themed market and cultural event in East London. Traders will be offering; delicious Japanese food, sweets and tea, vintage kimono, ceramics and other handcrafts, illustrations, stationary, clothing, jewellery and much much more – made in Japan or produced by Japanese artists in London. As well as a wide variety of market stalls, there will be live performances from Japanese musicians, Furoshiki eco-wrapping, Kimono dressing and Tea ceremony demonstrations!
🎵 LIVE PERFORMANCES (Day1) :
Hibiki Ichikawa and Josh Green from DENSHONEN ( Tsugaru Shamisen and guitar), KEIKO UCHIDA (Japanese Tea Ceremony demonstration), TAMAKURYA (Furoshiki eco wrapping demonstration), Kimono Talk and Presentation
👘 LIVE PERFORMANCES (Day2) :
ZASHIKI WARASHI (Taiko drum & flute duo), MAMIKO SATO from Kimonodego (Kimono Dressing demonstration )in collaboration with Furuki Yo-Kimono Vintage, TAMAKURYA (Furoshiki eco wrapping demonstration)
MARKET STALLS
🍣 Japanese food (savoury and sweet, and drink) :
OKAN (Okonomiyaki Japanese savoury pancake), Aun (DAY 2 ONLY : Yakisoba noodles, Karaage chicken and Japanese street food), SushiHeads (DAY 1: ramen / DAY2: Sushi ), Drumsco (DAY 1 ONLY : Sushi) , Gu Choki Pan (Japanese bakery) , OTABE (Brown rice Bento boxes), HIDEN (Japanese style curry), JINJIN (Japanese style Koso Enzyme Drink) and Kichiya Pattiserie (Japanese cakes and ice cream), Aktchen (DAY 2 ONLY; Japanese Fermented Food products), STARRY MART (Japanese grocery, cosmetics and figures), SAKURA JUNCTION (Wagashi, traditonal sweets)
👘Vintage kimono: Furuki Yo-Kimono Vintage
🍶 Ceramics : Reiko Kaneko and Ikuko Iwamoto (Day 2 only)
🌊 Illustrations & paintings: Saki, Takako Copeland
💎 Jewellery: Momocureatura , Kei Tominaga (Day 2 only), Mystic Forms (Day 1 only)
✂︎ Paper craft & toys: Sato Hisao (Day 2 Only )
📘 Japanese paper, stationery, haberdashery and talismans: Bungu Store (Day 2 Only )
🧢 Clothing; Kaori Yastumoto & KocoKids (handmade clothing for kids and adult) , Sujaku Collections (up-cycled kimono dress: DAY 2 ONLY)
🧢 Fashion accessories & Life Style Goods : (ki:ts) , Hanamizuki London, Connyz Japan, Nishura East (DAY 1 only)
🖼️ Ukiyoe & Old Woodblock Prints products: Ezen (Japanese Gallery in Angel) , Edo Art
🎀 Furoshiki eco wrap: Tamakurya Boutique
You can find more event information on the Eventbrite page.
December 4th: Nihongo Yoga (with Japanese and English) & Social Meeting
- Date: Sunday, December 4th 2022
- Time: 11:00 – 12:30
- Duration: 90 mins (about 45min yoga practice and 45 min for tea time)
- Event fees: £10 although if you bring snacks to share with everyone it is half price.
- Location: Yoga Studio Art and Spirituality, 6-8 Alexander Drive, Gorgie, Edinburgh, EH11 2RH
This is a unique class for people who study Japanese or like Japanese culture and allows them to have the chance to meet new like-minded people. The event includes a tea break after the yoga class where tea and snacks are included in the participation fee. Don’t worry even if you have never studied Japanese before or are not familiar with Japanese culture as instructor Kotomi will conduct the class in both English and Japanese.
Nihongo Yoga classes are not only for Yoga practice but also to provide the opportunity to speak Japanese in a social situation where you can use Japanese in an enjoyable and natural way. Kotomi mentions that she enjoys spending time with class participants after sessions and for everyone to socialise and get to know each other. Unlike many yoga classes and Japanese classes where you have to leave immediately after the class finishes, at Nihongo Yoga, you can get plenty of opportunity to talk after.
You can find more event information here: Nihongo Yoga with Japanese and English & Social Meeting.
December 5th: The BSA Christmas Event: Zaku Masterclass Dinner
- Date: Monday, December 5th 2022
- Time: 19:00 – 22:15
- Duration: 3 hours 15 minutes
- Dinner: £97 per person for BSA members, £117 per person for Guests
- Location: The Farmers Club, 3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 3EL
- Booking deadline: Friday December 2nd
The BSA will hold their 2022 Christmas Event at the historic Farmers Club. In a room overlooking the embankment of the River Thames, members and guests will enjoy a champagne reception with the Shimizu Seizaburo Shoten Brewery President who is travelling specially over from Japan for the event, followed by a seasonal three course menu of British food paired to three award-winning ‘Zaku’ sakes not yet available in the UK.
To give a quick introduction for those not familiar with the BSA, they are a not-for-profit organisation (est. in 2006) run by volunteers to provides opportunities for people to taste a wide range of sake, and to meet brewers (Toji/杜氏) and others in the sake world. They hope that you can join them for what promises to be a superb selection of sakes, flown in freshly from Japan for this special dinner.
Here are the 3 Zaku Sakes which will be paired with each course:
Paired with our starter:
Zaku Naguwashi Suzuka Kaminoho (Junmai Daiginjo)
This exquisite sake — which earned a Platinum Medal (top 14 overall) at the 2022 Milano Sake Challenge, and a Gold Medal at the 2022 U.S. National Sake Appraisal — borrows the old Japanese adjective naguwashi for its name, conveying notions of beauty and wonder for land and its bounties. Made from Kaminoho rice grown at selected sites near to the brewery, this Junmai Daiginjo was carefully brewed to allow the rich character of this local rice variety to shine through.
Paired with our main course:
Zaku Kaizan Ittekisui (Junmai Daiginjo)
A repeat winner of Gold at the International Wine Challenge in the 2019 and 2021 competitions, and winner of Gold in the 2022 U.S. National Sake Appraisal, this is a truly elegant, yet generous and ripe Junmai Daiginjo, after the classic Zaku style. With notes of melon, nashi pear, and custard-filled sponge cake, Kenichi Ohashi (Japan’s only resident Master of Wine, and one of only around 200 Masters of Sake globally) described it to be ‘the pinnacle of junmai-shu’, ‘its superb grace epitomising the charm of Japanese tradition’.
Paired with our dessert:
Zaku Gen no Tomo (Junmai)
Selected as one of the top 16 sake at the Kura Master competition in 2022, and once again winner of Gold in the 2022 U.S. National Sake Appraisal, this dry sake pursues a relatively traditional flavour profile without sacrificing approachability. Aromas of white peach, flowers, and notes of high quality steamed rice balance this sake’s subtle umami.
For more information and booking, please check the The BSA Christmas Event page .
December 7th and 14th: Japanese Furoshiki Wrapping Workshop with Tamakurya
- Date : Wednesday, December 7th 2022 | Wednesday, December 14th 2022
- Time : 19:00 (Please arrive at 18:45 and staff will direct you to the workshop space.)
- Workshop fee: £40 per person
- Location: Barbican Shop, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS
Tamakurya Boutique is a forward thinking business partnership that fuses Japanese traditions, practices and creativity centred around the ancient Art of Furoshiki. They produce a range of up-cycled hair accessories from vintage kimono silks which are not impactful on the environment.
Founders, Takako & Maurya, are craft-loving mums who started our business ‘in the kitchen’ (玉厨) during our maternity leave on 2014. They both live by and bring their children up by the ‘Mottainai’ principle which simply means ‘not to waste’. Our goal is to share the Art of Furoshiki and to encourage people to think carefully and thoughtfully about what they waste everyday.
A Furoshiki is a single square of fabric which, when folded, becomes a functional and adaptable tool for wrapping, carrying and storing a wide variety of objects; from delicate glass bottles and gifts, to books and larger household objects. Furoshiki are a reusable and eco-friendly alternative to paper gift-wrap.
Workshop details:
– Includes a short history of Furoshiki and uses
– Practice a range of wrapping styles with different sized Furoshiki
– Ticket price includes one Furoshiki wrap for you to take home with you on the day to practice, and there will be other sizes & accessories available to purchase in the shop on the day.
Please note that this workshop will be standing, however if you would like a chair please let us know and we will make sure there are seating arrangements ready for you on the day.
For more information and booking, please check the Eventbrite Link.
December 8th: Premium Sparkling Sake Tasting & Masterclass
- Date: Thursday, December 8th 2022
- Time: 19:00 – 21:00
- Entrance cost: £65 per person
- Location: West London Wine School, located inside The Wine Cellars (access via the Big Yellow Storage Company entrance) 71 Townmead Road, Fulham, London SW6 2SG
The popularity of sparkling sake is skyrocketing in Japan and overseas. You can explore this delicious new sake style that is creating enthusiastic new sake fans at West London Wine School, and discover your new favourite beverage to celebrate with over the holidays!
You will be able to taste seven premium sparkling sake from a variety of styles, accompanied by festive fine cheeses and Japanese-influenced nibbles. There will be a tutored tasting on the world of sparking sake including history and production methods, with a full Powerpoint presentation and tasting sheets. The UK is also leading the way in sparkling sake production outside of Japan, with Cambridgeshire’s Sparkling Sake Brewery – their award-winning cuvee “Awa” will be one of the sparkling sake tasted on the night.
For more information and booking, please visit the West London Wine School Premium Sparkling Sake page.
December 9th: Introduction To Sake with Natsuki Kikuya
- Date: Friday, December 9th 2022
- Time: 18:00 – 19:00 | 19:15 – 20:15 | 20:30 – 21:30
- Introduction to Sake Workshop Experience Fee: £65.00
- Location: Sakaya at Pantechnicon, 19 Motcomb St, London, SW1X 8LB
Join an intimate workshop and tasting with Sake Samurai Natsuki Kikuya and take your first step to becoming a sake-drinking pro. Running on the second Friday of every month in our bottle shop and bar Sakaya, there’s three sessions per day to choose from at 6pm, 7:15pm and 8:30pm.
Each tasting has just four places and is priced at £65 per person, which includes the tasting of four sake plus Japanese snacks and a 6-piece Maki roll to share.
For more information and booking, please check the Introduction to Sake Workshop Experience page.
December 11th: Make Your Own Japanese New Year Card
- Date: Sunday, December 11th 2022
- Time: 11:00 – 12:00 | 13:00 – 14:00
- Cost: £10 per person (Member) | £12 per person (Non-member)
- Location: The Japan Society, 13 / 14 Cornwall Terrace, London NW1 4QP
As 2022 draws to an end and the new year hurtles towards us, what better way to prepare than creating your own Japanese Nengajo?
Nengajo are greeting cards sent during the New Year in Japan. They are commonly exchanged between friends, family, colleagues, and businesses to express gratitude for help in the past year and a wish to continue the good relationship in the year ahead.
In this workshop, artist Aya Burbanks will show participants a selection of her original designs, featuring typical motifs used in Nengajo. She will then teach you the techniques of boku-ga (ink wash painting) before you create your own new year card to mark the start of 2023, the year of the rabbit.
For more information and booking, please visit the Make Your Own Japanese New Year Card page .
December 11th: City Pop Christmas with Japan Nakama
- Date: Sunday, December 11th 2022
- Time: 19:30 – 00:30
- Tickets: Free
- Location: Genesis Cinema 93-95 Mile End Road London E1 4UJ
Japan Nakama will be bringing a Japanese City Pop Night to the Genesis Cinema. Join Japan Nakama with DJ Natsu for the best in Japanese city pop, disco, funk and boogie.
DJ Natsu
London-based DJ Natsu fell in love with City Pop after a trip around Japan in 2014 and has been digging for treasure since. With hordes of incredible musicians and pioneering production that still sounds fresh today, City Pop holds a mirror to 70s and 80s Japan and reflects post-war optimism, the final years of Showa and the progression, glamour and opulence of the soon-to-burst bubble era.
City Pop makes us yearn to return somewhere we’ve never even known. In a 21st century determined to lob us endless challenges, it lets us cocoon ourselves in the comfort of nostalgia and escape to a safer, simpler and more sincere place. The only essentials to pack? Your dancing shoes, of course.
For more information and booking, please check the Eventbrite Link.
December 14th: Sake and Cheese Pairing Evening
- Date: Wednesday, December 14th 2022
- Time: 19:00 – 21:00
- Entrance cost: £50 per person
- Location: West London Wine School, located inside The Wine Cellars (access via the Big Yellow Storage Company entrance) 71 Townmead Road, Fulham, London SW6 2SG
Looking for something different to enhance your holiday cheeseboard this year? Sake and cheese pairing is rapidly gaining popularity in Japan and abroad. You can have an experience this winning combination for yourself at West London Wine School for an evening introduction to sake and cheese pairing, and then put your newfound knowledge to great use over the holiday season.
You will taste some special sake styles (junmai, koshu, kimoto/yamahai) that have lots of umami savouriness and and pair beautifully with cheese. You will also learn about sake and food pairing principles – sake of course goes perfectly with Japanese food, but did you know it is a great match for Western cuisine too? You’ll pick up lots of useful information to help you choose your perfect sake and cheese match and discover which sake styles you enjoy most. On the evening, you will taste six different premium sake across a range of styles, accompanied by six artisanal cheeses from local cheesemonger Hamish Johnston.
For more information and booking, please visit the Sake and Cheese Pairing Evening page.
December 22nd: Christmas Style Ikebana Workshop @ Snow Peak London
- Date: Thursday, December 22nd 2022
- Times: Session 1 starts at 18:00 and Session 2 starts at 19:00
- Workshop Fee: £65.27 per person
- Location: Snow Peak Store, 16A Regent Street, St. James, London, SW1Y 4PH
Join Yuki at Snow Peak London St. James for an introduction into the Japanese artform of Ikebana! In this festive themed workshop you’ll have the opportunity to learn the history and significance of Ikebana as one of the three classical Japanese arts of refinement.
There will be 2 sessions (18:00 to 19:00 & 19:00 to 20:00) of 1 hour each where Yuki will guide you as you build your own Ikebana style Christmas centrepiece using seasonal materials that you’ll be able to take home and enjoy!
The workshop will cost £65.27 and include all materials including kenzan and pot as well as complimentary refreshments, including tea, coffee and matcha from the Snow Peak Café.
You’re also welcome to bring your own materials / stems you’d like to incorporate into your design.
Limited spaces available – Booking required.
For more information and booking a spot, please check out the Eventbrite page.
Ongoing Japanese Events in December
Chado Demonstrations by Tankokai UK
- Date: Saturday, September 24th 2022 to Wednesday, January 18th 2023
- Time: For Saturday 17 December, 16:00 & 17:00 (Booking open 25 November) | For Wednesday 18 January, 14:00 & 15:00 (Booking open 4 January)
- Admission: Free but booking essential (*Spaces for each demonstration are limited)
- Location: The Hall and the Ground Floor, Japan House London, 101-111 Kensington High St, London, W8 5SA
Chadō, the Japanese Way of Tea, is a Japanese tradition with more than 400 years of history with many practitioners not only in Japan, but all over the world. Considered a way to socialise, this act of preparing and serving matcha tea to guests is a practice that involves a deep attention to single movements and gestures, an appreciation of the craft objects and their role in the process and an awareness of the surrounding environment.
Demonstrations are held monthly by chadō practitioners from Tankokai UK, an association connected to Urasenke, one of the largest tea schools in Japan. Each event offers guests an opportunity to experience first-hand the values and significance of the Way of Tea in everyday life. During each event there is also the possibility to ask questions to the practitioners and enjoy a bowl of matcha along with chagashi sweets.
For more information and booking, please visit the Japan House London Chado Demonstrations page.
Kasama Potters Project Popup at Islington Square
- Date: Saturday, September 17th 2022 to Thursday, December 29th 2022 (extended to early 2023)
- Time: Tuesday – Sunday 11:00 – 18:00 (Closed from 25 December to 27 December/ Opening hours on 24 December may vary)
- Location: Kasama Potters Showcase, Unit 2.2 Islington Square, 116 Upper Street, London,N1 1AB
Bringing together thirty-two Japanese ceramicists from the city of Kasama, the showcase will celebrate the 250-year anniversary of Kasama ware. Visitors will have the rare chance to purchase limited pieces by each potter whilst discovering the history of the region’s myriad of ceramic techniques including the launch of Kasama Choseki (Kasama Glaze) a new glazing technique unique to the region.
For more information, please visit the Kasama Potters website .
My Neighbour Totoro at Barbican Theatre
- Date: Saturday, October 8th 2022 to Saturday, January 21st 2023
- Time: 19:00 Monday – Saturday | 14:00 Thursday & Saturday (More details here)
- Ticket: From £25 (Sold out but returned tickets may be for sale at any time)
- Location: Barbican Theatre, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS
Due to high demand, this production is now sold out. Tickets returned by customers may be released back online for sale at any time. Please click on the ‘Check dates & book’ link to check for any current availability; any returns will appear online here.
Experience the “utterly beguiling” (The Stage) and “awe-inspiring” (Time Out) global stage premiere of My Neighbour Totoro at London’s Barbican this winter, for a limited season only.
This five-star, “dazzling staging” (Guardian) of Studio Ghibli’s celebrated 1988 animated feature film transports you to a long-forgotten realm of spirits, sprites, and natural wonder. Original composer and Executive Producer Joe Hisaishi and the Royal Shakespeare Company bring this enchanting tale to life in a “delightful” (The Times) production that has been hailed as “a triumph” (Telegraph) and “theatre at its most magical” (LondonTheatre.co.uk).
A “tender and remarkably beautiful show” (Financial Times), this landmark new adaptation, written by Tom Morton-Smith (Oppenheimer), explores the magical fantasy world of childhood and the transformative power of imagination, as it follows one extraordinary summer in the lives of sisters Satsuki and Mei.
Find your spirit with a “huge, healing hug of a show” (The Stage). My Neighbour Totoro plays at the Barbican until 21 January only.
For more information and booking tickets, please visit the My Neighbour Totoro page .
Your reviews of Japanese Events December 2022
We hope you found our Japanese Events for December round up helpful, and you’re able to check out some of these fantastic events!
We’ll be updating this event page as we get more info, so please do come back to check it from time to time.
Please feel free to comment below on your experience if you were able to attend! This will give our readers a better idea of what to expect and may encourage them to join future events by the same organizers. Also if you’d like to submit information for your Japanese event coming up in January, please get in touch with us through our contact form.
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[…] We hope that you will join the BSA Christmas Event. If you are looking for additional Japanese events to join in December, please take a look at our Japanese Events Calendar. […]
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