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Tokyo event lets you travel back in time, for free, to celebrate 100 years since Showa era start

Elliot Hale Dec 11, 2025
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A fully recreated Showa-style living room, with a modern surprise, awaits retro-seeking visitors.

There’s always that time period that people tend to romanticize, or look back upon with nostalgia-tinted glasses, and for most of Japan that period is the Showa era. To mark 100 years since the start of the Showa era, a delightfully retro celebration is being held in the Otemachi Place entertainment complex in Tokyo from December 8 to December 12, 2025, called Otemachi Timeslip 2025: Back to Those Nostalgic Days. What’s even better is that the event is completely free, so you don’t need to factor the ticket price into your budget, and it’s only a seven-minute walk away from Tokyo Station’s Marunouchi North Exit, or right next to the subway’s Otemachi Station’s A5 exit.

While the Showa period officially spans a long stretch from 1926 to 1989, Showa nostalgia in Japan tends to center around the 1960s to 1980s, when sights of rooms with tatami flooring, complete with cathode-ray televisions and wooden furniture, were frequently seen. This event offers visitors a small glimpse into the everyday scenes and textures that defined the pre-’80s Showa atmosphere.

The main highlight of the event is a fully recreated Showa-style room for guests to enjoy. However, the organizers have also included a modern twist where the television displays an image of the guest who is standing in the photo spot, for a little fusion of modern technology and retro charm. Whether you just want to snap some photos of the room from the outside, or step inside to immerse yourself in a little bubble of nostalgia, this room is a charming example of a time before more minimalistic interiors.

The event doesn’t end there, as there is another corner that displays real Showa-era items that are rarely seen today, including small juice and cigarette vending machines, enamel signs, and a vintage Tiger mechanical calculator. These artifacts will stir memories of visitors who lived through this period, as well as spark curiosity in younger and international visitors who may be encountering them for the first time.

For Japanese book lovers, on the third floor of the building, a collection of secondhand bookstores will gather to sell used books, manga, picture books, and magazine clippings from the era, which is wonderful news for all who prefer the tactile charm of printed media.

However, no nostalgic trip is complete without a taste of the past. The beloved bakery Yoshida Pan will be in attendance, offering a tempting lineup of koppe-pan, a classic bread roll that was once iconic in school lunches. From savory fillings to sweet varieties, these simple yet satisfying snacks have something for everyone.

Visitors will also be able to write and send event-exclusive New Year’s cards through a Showa-style post box, adding a little retro flourish to Japan’s customary year-end greetings Japanese people send cards to family and friends to wish them well.

Though the event runs until December 12, the photo spot will be open until December 19, so even if you can’t make it down there this week, you still have a chance to step back into history before Christmas without having to wait and rely on a ghost of the past to whisk you away back down memory lane. If your schedule still doesn’t quite line up, or you want more of that Showa-style charm, the Odaiba Retro Museum might just be right up your alley.

Event information
Otemachi Timeslip 2025 Mukashi Natsukashii Ano Koro E / OTEMACHI タイムスリップ 2025 -昔懐かしいあの頃へ-
Address: Tokyo-to, Chiyoda-ku, Otemachi Nichome 3-ban 1-go kara 2-go 1F&3F
東京都千代田区大手町二丁目3番1号から2号 1F&3F
Event time: 11:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m.
Event website
Location website

Source, images: PR Times
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