“TOKYO CREATIVE SALON 2026” Confirmed for March 13–22: A 10-Day, City-Wide Creative Festival Transforming Tokyo with Art and Fashion
From March 13 to 22, 2026, TOKYO CREATIVE SALON 2026 will be held over ten days across the entire city of Tokyo. Now in its seventh year, the event is recognized as one of Japan’s largest creative festivals, featuring a wide range of programs spanning fashion, art, and design across nine major areas of the city, including Marunouchi, Shibuya, and Shinjuku.
This article highlights the key attractions of TOKYO CREATIVE SALON 2026, which is organized around the theme “FUTURE VINTAGE,” exploring how memories of the past are carried forward into new forms of creativity for the future.
TOKYO CREATIVE SALON 2026: Nine Areas Across Tokyo, Including Marunouchi, Ginza, Shibuya, and Shinjuku, Serve as the Stage
TOKYO CREATIVE SALON (TCS) is one of Japan’s largest creative festivals, launched in 2020 with the aim of sharing Tokyo’s creative potential with the world. Timed to coincide with the cherry blossom season, the event spreads expressions from a wide range of fields—including fashion, design, art, technology, and crafts—throughout the city.
The theme for the 2026 edition is “FUTURE VINTAGE — Creating New Expressions That Carry Memories of the Past into the Future.” The concept focuses on interpreting the layers of culture accumulated within the city and presenting creative works from Tokyo that are intended to resonate with the next era on a global stage. The event will take place across nine areas—Marunouchi, Nihonbashi, Ginza, Akasaka, Roppongi, Shibuya, Harajuku, Shinjuku, and Haneda—and admission is free of charge.
For further details, see the official website of TOKYO CREATIVE SALON.
“City Wide Program,” Where the Entire City Becomes a Museum
One of the highlights of this edition is the “City Wide Program,” which unfolds across multiple districts throughout Tokyo. By drawing on the history, culture, and distinct character of each area, the program extends a wide range of creative content into the urban environment. Visitors can explore Tokyo while engaging with creative works in context, experiencing each location’s unique atmosphere alongside the programs presented there. The initiative offers an opportunity to experience the resonance between the city and creativity.
Among the exhibitions drawing particular attention is the Focus Exhibition “Tokyo Trace,” to be held at Shinjuku Sumitomo Building Sankaku Hiroba. The exhibition focuses on specific brands or designers and examines traces of Tokyo embedded in the background of their creative processes. In its inaugural year, the spotlight is placed on NOMARHYTHM TEXTILE, a brand with a global following.
“Tokyo Vintage Fashion Week,” the World’s First Vintage Fashion Week
One of the most closely watched related programs is Tokyo Vintage Fashion Week, held as an official content program of TOKYO CREATIVE SALON. Positioned as a new fashion initiative focused on vintage culture, the event reflects TCS’s ambition to stand alongside the world’s leading fashion weeks through a distinct approach rooted in heritage and reuse.
The event will take place over three days, from March 13 to 15, 2026, at Shinjuku Sumitomo Building Sankaku Hiroba. A Vintage Market featuring approximately 100 vendors from Japan and overseas will be staged at the venue, offering a wide range of items—from rare vintage pieces to secondhand clothing suitable for everyday wear.
Fashion shows will also be held to express the historical context and stories embedded in vintage clothing through contemporary styling. On March 13, the “Regular Vintage Fashion Show” is scheduled, followed by the “Future Vintage Fashion Show” on March 14. Through these programs, past designs are reinterpreted with a modern perspective and presented as styles that may shape future trends. Japan’s distinctive vintage culture has attracted growing attention internationally, and this event provides an opportunity to communicate its value to a global audience.
Scenes from “TCS 2025,” Which Attracted 1.25 Million Visitors
Let us look back at TOKYO CREATIVE SALON 2025. The 2025 edition was held under the theme “QUEST,” with programs 펼 across ten areas of Tokyo. Over the course of the event, total attendance exceeded 1.25 million visits, drawing significant attention from both domestic and international audiences.
The opening event in 2025 took place at Tokyu Plaza Harajuku “Harakado,” where the festival began in an atmosphere reminiscent of a large-scale cultural festival. Across the various areas, more than 120 programs were presented, including runway shows that reflected the character of each district and exhibitions of remade fashion works created by students from fashion schools.
As a distinctive initiative, a city-circulating program titled “Tokyo QUEST Gacha” was also implemented. Capsule toy machines were installed containing recommendations for local spots collected from people around the city. Through these chance encounters, participants were encouraged to discover new facets of Tokyo.
Each year, TCS continues to offer experiences that allow participants to engage with creativity in an enjoyable and accessible way, integrating exploration and play into the festival format.
A Spring Opportunity to Experience Tokyo’s Evolving Creativity
Under the theme “FUTURE VINTAGE,” TOKYO CREATIVE SALON 2026 presents new perspectives that connect the past with the future. From the Tokyo Vintage Fashion Week in Shinjuku to a wide range of programs unfolding across nine areas of the city, the festival offers opportunities for discovery and reflection through diverse creative expressions.
As spring arrives, Tokyo itself becomes a canvas for creativity over these ten days. By visiting different areas of the city, participants can experience firsthand how Tokyo’s culture continues to evolve, shaped by both its history and its forward-looking imagination.
