Since I was young, I have always had a good sense to smell free activities. I have made my own recycled paper on a politician's campaign, ran half marathons that gave me nice trophies, learnt belly dancing, entered Kyoto's Golden Pavilion after hours and been toured to its inside- with a post tea session that included golden wagashi, and the list goes on.
How to find free-admission activities
The first and most basic thing to develop this search skill, is lacking a will to throw away your money. If you are a big spender, the odds are you will fill your schedule with paid activities and will be too tired to search for free things.
I suggest at the beginning of the month/trimester, you check
A)your local city notice board (digital is fine)
B)the different NFP centers near your work/home.
C)the newspapers giveaways section (you can google it if you don't have a subscription to the hard copy)
D) festivals as announced on free-paper magazines such as Tokyo notice board
E)"free-something" groups on Facebook.
F)ads around the city.
G)Asking for scholarships
H)word-of-mouth
I will start with examples of the first 3, and invite you to a gallery talk that is on today!
A)For example, I live in shinjuku, Tokyo. The city notice board last month had announced a free "Lunch concert", in which the city gathered 3 top-class artists for a concert at 12 hs (lunchtime). The city has a budget from the taxpayers that has to be spent in cultural activities to keep citizens/local workers happy, or perhaps make the city look active and attractive so that other city inhabitants want to live/work here. Anyway, the city needs to do a retribution to the public, and most probably will organize something for free, so it's up to you to check your schedule and try to attend.
Shinjuku city notice board
B)I work in yotsuya san-chome, and there is plenty of non for profit
- the Fire-fighting museum, free entrance (closed on Mondays). They also have a free rest area where people are allowed to bring lunch boxes and have a panorama of the area.
- the Japan Foundation and the Korean Culture Center. Since these are nationally-run centers, the budget and their activities tend to be in a very inclusive big scale.
The Japan foundation has a nice library and holds
regular events showcasing their projects overseas.
The Korean Culture Center has a permanent free museum exhibit, a small library, and this year projects include a
Film festival of Korean movies based on Japanese popular novels,
traditional crafts workshops and every now and then invited guest performers of traditional arts. I will be attending all of their movies, the evening show, so if you register for them write me a line!
*note that they even have a free bus that tours you around the Korean town
-the Shinjuku Historical Museum. This month, there is an ukiyoe exhibition based on "Visions of Shinjuku", and revolves around "Kaidan" which means ghost stories. The first part of the exhibition will be changed soon, so if you have not been there yet,
come today at noon, for there is a free gallery talk (a local staff guides you through the key points of the main pieces) only today!
I can keep listing the many other cultural facilities, but I do not want to bore you. Do your research in your area!
C) giveaway tickets are fairly easy to get. I apply to the exhibits on the Japan times, once I got to see Rakugo artists Dianne Kichiyoshi, and now I have in my hands tickets for an architectural exhibit at the national museum in Tokyo. You just need to apply! I also recommend applying for movies scant premiers, though I have found it really hard in Japan (if anyone knows tips, please share them with me!).
So, this is all for today! There is still a couple of hours before the gallery talk starts, so if you read this and want to hang out, join me by noon in Yotsuya san-chome!
Have a nice weekend!
