Season of Japan 2026 at Nikkei National Museum in Burnaby

The Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre is listing Season of Japan for Sunday, October 4, 2026, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at 6688 Southoaks Crescent, Burnaby. Museum exhibits stay open until 5:00 p.m. The centre tags exhibits and activities as free.

Nikkei Place sits in the South Slope pocket of Burnaby, a short hop from Metrotown without being the mall. The building is the national Japanese Canadian museum and cultural centre, so the autumn open house is less street-festival noise and more lobby, workshop rooms, and a screening hall in one address.

A free screening of Kokuho (国宝) is posted for 1:00 to 4:15 p.m. The film follows two men in the Kabuki world, Japanese with English subtitles, 175 minutes including a 15-minute intermission. Seats are limited. Reserve on the Eventbrite links from the Nikkei page. Do not treat walk-up as a promise.

Bonsai and ikebana displays sit in the Ellipse Lobby from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., from the Nikkei Bonsai Club and the Vancouver Ikebana Association. A bonsai talk is 10:30 a.m. to noon. The new exhibit is DIS – displaced, dispersed, dispossessed, open 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. through the day.

Workshops need advance registration and fill. Bonsai (Shimpaku juniper to take home) and karesansui rock garden are both 10:30 a.m. to noon. Ikebana has sessions at 10:00 a.m., noon, and 2:00 p.m., ages 16 and up, Sangetsu, Ikenobo, and Sogetsu. Wagashi with Kintoki Sweets runs in multiple slots, vegan and gluten-free, maple-leaf mochi. Those classes are not the free festival floor. Book them separately on Eventbrite.

Food vendors are named: Japadog and eF & Be Bakehouse, through the day. A used Japanese bookstore is 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., books and manga at $1 to $3. The museum shop follows exhibit hours to 5:00 p.m.

Southoaks Crescent is a Burnaby side street. SkyTrain still leaves a last bus or walk. The centre phone is 604-777-7000. Regular Tuesday-to-Sunday museum hours are not the festival close. The event ends at 4. Galleries hold to 5.

Japan Festival Canada was the August plaza weekend in Mississauga. Aki no Tabi is Toronto's November craft afternoon. VAFF is the later Vancouver Asian Film Festival stretch. This is the Burnaby house date if you want bonsai and a Kabuki film without flying east.

Who this is for: Burnaby and Richmond Japanese Canadian families, and anyone who will reserve Kokuho and then walk the lobby. Skip the workshops if you did not book.

Our take: reserve the film if that is your reason. Come at 10 for bonsai if you want the quiet lobby. Eat Japadog between the talk and the screening.

When: October 4, 2026 (10 a.m.–4 p.m.; exhibits to 5; Kokuho 1–4:15 p.m.)
Where: Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre, 6688 Southoaks Crescent, Burnaby, BC V5E 4M7

Event page at centre.nikkeiplace.org.