The annual Moon Art Night Shimokitazawa in Tokyohas boosted local business as glowing installations and immersive performances attract flocks of visitors.
Now in its fourth year, the moon-themed outdoor art festival kicked off on Sept 20 and has transformed the Shimokitazawa neighborhood into a bustling cultural and commercial hotspot.
Organized by a Japanese railway company and the local business association, the event features concerts, food stalls, and interactive theater, drawing large crowds of visitors.
One of the festival's standout attractions is a full moon-shaped installation with a diameter of seven meters. It has become a magnet for photo-takers and music lovers.
"I saw this place on social media and thought it amazing. The moon is beautiful, and it's a great spot to relax with a drink," said a visitor.
Other highlights include a glowing "Schrodinger's Cat" light exhibit and an astronomy-themed installation combining fluorescent threads with sound art.
Using an application, audiences can explore major commercial facilities in the block following a 45-minute storyline
The response has been enthusiastic, according to Yui Takeshima, director of the immersive play Cat Town.
"We've welcomed around 2,000 viewers so far, which is an unprecedented number. And tickets for all 90-plus shows have sold out," said Takeshima.
Over 100 local shops joined the festival this year -- the largest participation to date -- offering limited-time products and discounts. According to a food street operator, the number of visitors has more than doubled compared to previous years.
"There are noticeably more visitors in the evening. We've visited several shops, and the feedback we received indicated a clear rise in the number of consumers and a surge in sales," said Yuki Nakamori, an employee of a local food street management company.
Tokyo's moon-themed art festival boosts local business
The two-day 2025 Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) Conference concluded on Friday in Shanghai, where multiple globally leading "China solutions" took center stage.
Under the theme "Brain connects the world, wisdom gathers in Shanghai," the event gathered research teams from major universities, leading industry developers, and experts across the BCI sector to strengthen the connection between research, application, and policy.
As part of the event, the first BCI competition featured four categories—fatigue detection, emotion recognition, brain-controlled robotic cars, and brain-controlled robotic arms - with 40 out of nearly 100 teams from across China received prizes.
In the BCI Industry Innovation Exhibition Zone, more than a dozen frontier-tech companies presented cutting-edge technologies ranging from key components to comprehensive system-level solutions.
Exhibits spanned the entire technology chain, from underlying hardware to clinical applications, covering fields such as sleep intervention, mental illness treatment, and rehabilitation for degenerative diseases—highlighting the latest trends in BCI development.
"We completed the first domestic clinical trial this March, and next year we will launch large-scale clinical trials," said an exhibitor named Chen Yaoxu.
Shanghai has established China's first future industry cluster dedicated to BCI technologies. During the conference, several new innovation platforms—including a BCI service platform and a joint laboratory for digital neuromedicine - were inaugurated.
"We are guided by clinical needs and clinical scenarios. At the same time, we are opening high-quality EEG datasets for enterprises to support their algorithm research and guide them in developing concrete products that truly address real-world needs," said Wang Zhuoyao, BCI Project manager of Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission.
Shanghai conference highlights China's cutting-edge brain-computer interface innovations
