On Saturday, March 29th, explore and eat your way through dozens of Japanese vendors like Menya Jiro, Tonkatsu Me and so much more–no flight to Japan needed–as Japan Fes. makes its highly anticipated return to NYC! The festival recently unveiled its 2025 dates, and right now we’re looking at 28 opportunities to indulge in the most delicious bites, though more events will be announced soon!
Japan Fes. is ran by Okayama-born entrepreneur Dragon Yamamoto. Since moving to New York in 2011, he has started Jforward Inc., an event, restaurant, e-commerce, and education business set on creating opportunities and moving Japan and Japanese culture forward. Yamamoto continues to unite cultures through his Japan Fes. ventures, making it the world’s biggest Japanese festival.
This year, the festival is expected to bring in over 1,000,000 visitors and 2,000 vendors across 70 events globally–the fest has occurred all across NYC, from Astoria to Park Slope, and as far as Paris and Tokyo! Their website reads:
We think it’s very important to bring people and different cultures together. Through food, music, and art we believe it can be done naturally and comfortably. We are very proud to be a part of this movement.
The best part: food items average at $10, making the festival a rather affordable way to immerse yourself in delicious Japanese cuisine. Both local and out of state vendors share their food at the festival–some even hail from different countries! To get an idea of what sort of bites you can expect this year, past festivals have had everything from ramen and karaage to takoyaki, okonomiyaki, and yakisoba.
Japan Fes. also hosts non-food vendors. Attendees are welcome to shop tons of beautiful, traditional Japanese clothing, art, and novelties. Live performances will also be entertaining people as they stroll through the incredible food selection.
Japan Fes. 2025 NYC schedule:
- March 29 – East Village
- April 5 – East Village
- April 6 – Upper West Side
- April 19 – Upper West Side
- April 20 – Chelsea
- April 26 – Chelsea
- April 27 – Astoria
- May 4 – Upper West Side
- May 10 – Chelsea
- May 18 – Park Slope
- June 7 – Midtown West
- June 15 – Park Slope
- June 22 – Upper West Side
- June 28 – Midtown
- July 6 – Midtown East
- July 12 – Chelsea
- July 20 – Times Square
- August 3 – Upper West Side
- August 9 – Greenwich Village
- August 24 – East Village
- September 6 – Upper East Side
- September 13 – Chelsea
- September 20 – Upper West Side
- October 5 – Chelsea
- October 18 – East Village
- October 26 – Upper West Side
- November 8 – East Village
🗓️ March 29th through November 8th
📍 Various locations