Japanese Curry Festival 2026 Adds a Third Venue — Toranomon Hills Joins September 11

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"Japanese Curry Festival 2026 in Tokyo," now in its 6th year, runs August 28 through October 4, 2026 — and for the first time, it's added a third Tokyo venue: Toranomon Hills, alongside its established Shibuya and Harajuku locations.

The overall festival theme is "SPICE UP! JAPAN — Japan's Food Culture, Evolving Through Spice," positioning curry as an entry point into Japan's broader, spice-driven food culture rather than treating it as a single, fixed dish.

What's New at Toranomon Hills

The Toranomon Hills component doesn't start with the rest of the festival — it runs specifically September 11 through October 4, at the Toranomon Yokochō space, under the name "SPICE UP! 酒場" (SPICE UP! Sakaba). It's structured as a relay: a rotating series of pop-up appearances from curry and spice-focused shops from across Japan, each paired with drinks in an izakaya-style format.

Confirmed participating shops include Tokyo New Mixture Noodle Yatagarasu Chikarabo, Momo Stand Tokyo, Johnny's Biryani, and regional specialists Paharganj and India Gate.

What's Happening at the Original Venues

Shibuya and Harajuku, the festival's established locations, run their own separate programming — including music performances, additional limited-time restaurant pop-ups, a dedicated merchandise store in Western Shibuya, and a biryani-focused weekend event.

Programming isn't uniform across all three venues — what's available at Toranomon Hills specifically is the SPICE UP! Sakaba pop-up series, not the full slate of Shibuya/Harajuku activities.

What To Know

Japan's regional curry scene is genuinely diverse — this isn't one "Japanese curry," but dozens of distinct shop styles from across the country temporarily gathered in one place, which is a much faster way to sample that range than visiting each region individually.

Toranomon Hills is a newer, more business-district part of Tokyo than Shibuya or Harajuku, so its addition as a venue reflects the festival's own growth rather than a shift away from its original youth-culture base — the three venues now serve fairly different crowds.

What Fans Are Saying

Original Japanese

Easy Japanese

「ジャパニーズカレーフェスティバル2026」に、新しく虎ノ門ヒルズが会場に加わりました。