Where to Spend Christmas and New Years in Japan | The Best Spots Guide

Where to Spend Christmas and New Years in Japan | The Best Spots Guide

If you are traveling to Japan around Christmas time or for the new year, you may be trying to figure out what the best things are to do in Japan during this time. Today, we’ll take a look at some of the best activities and attractions to make the best of your time at the end of the year. Let’s go to Japan. The next station is Hey guys, Wong here and today we are going to dive into some of the best things to do in Japan during the winter time, especially during the Christmas and New Year time frame. Japan is a lively place to be at the end of the year and we will take a look at the most unique things to do. So with that, let’s dive into it. First off, we’ll take a look at some Christmas activities. In particular, the famous illuminations in Japan. Christmas time in Japan is not a major holiday like it is in other places around the world, but it is a time focused on family and also a romantic time for lovers to visit the illuminations. There are a lot of famous illuminations all over Japan, especially around the Christmas and New Year time. So, let’s go and run through some of the big ones. Starting off in Tokyo with the Shabuya Blue Cave, which is an annual winter illumination that features an 800 meter or 2,600 ft tunnel of blue LEDs, hence the name, the Blue Cave. This is all lined up at the entrance and surrounding area of Yoyogi Park in Shibuya, which is around an 11minute walk from the famous Shabuya Crossing and the Shabuya Station. Nearby, you will also find the Shabuya Christmas Market. So, plan to spend some time and enjoy all of the festivities here. As with most of the illuminations and events, expect them to be crowded, especially on weekends. Another very popular one is the snow and blue illumination on Kayak Kazaka Street with over 800,000 LED lights that create a blue and white spectacle with the Tokyo Tower in the background. The illumination here runs from November 4th to December 25th each day from 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. This is also a convenient location right next to the Tokyo City View observation deck in the Rapangi Mory building if you wanted to get a stunning view of Tokyo Tower at night as well. There is also a Christmas market here in Rapongi Hills with a German theme and has plenty of food options like German sausages and stew. Also in the Tokyo area, fairly close to Haneda airport, is the Tokyo Mega Illumination which runs from November 1st to January 11th and takes place at the OE raceourse. It has massive light tunnels and plenty of large horse themed lights and things to see as well. This illumination opens from 4:30 p.m. to 900 p p.m. every day, and tickets do cost 1,000 yen per adult. One of the largest and most impressive illumination events in the greater Tokyo area is the Enoshima annual illumination, which centers around the Enoshima Sea Candle Lighthouse, which is draped in lights that are 70 m long or 230 ft from the top down to create a Mount Fuji silhouette. The illuminations here light up from 5:00 p.m. till 8:00 p.m. or 9:00 p.m. on weekends and holidays. And while there are some illuminations that you can see from the free outside area, you do have to pay for an entrance ticket to see the largest illuminations, which cost $500 yen or around $3. The great thing about this illumination is that it runs from November till February. So unlike some of the other shorter ones that only run till Christmas, this one you do have a longer duration of time to hopefully be able to see and catch this impressive site. A bit further out at the Saga Miko Resort Morimi, you will find an astonishing 6 million LED lights that line this area. And this year in 2025, there is a whole section of this illumination dedicated to Tamagotchi Pets. So, if you are into Tamagotchis, well, this is a must-see spot. This place is also an amusement park, so you could make a whole day trip out here to ride the rides during the day and experience the millions of lights here at night as you ride the ski lift up the mountain and look over the sea of lights. This illumination lasts from November through the beginning of April, so you also have time to go and visit and catch the Tamagotchi light area before it disappears. The Tokyo Skytree also has its own illumination event called the Tokyo Skytree Dream Christmas as well as the Tokyo Salamachi Christmas Market. And this is at the base of the Tokyo Skytree and runs from November 6th through December 25th. The mall here has plenty of special food for the event with stores listing the special meals and treats on the event website which look really good. Speaking of lights, the Tokyo Skytree itself is introducing new Christmas themed lighting for the first time since its opening. So, if you are here at night, be sure to go and check that out. Going outside of Tokyo to Osaka, you will find an illumination with millions of LED lights on the go trees that line the streets from Umemeda to Namba. The lights here are kind of unique because each section of the street is themed differently as you walk through it and you will see different areas representing different cultural things related to the city of Osaka. The Osaka Castle also has a largecale illumination in the castle’s Nishomaru Garden, and this year’s event runs from November 15th through February 16th, and the theme is Shogun X Samurai. So, it seems pretty cool. In Coobe, you will find the annual Coobe Luminere, which commemorates the 1995 Great Honquake. And this symbolizes hope and recovery for the city of Coobe. The festival here does take place in multiple areas across the city and has many light tunnels, towers, and cathedral-like structures. And this is one of Japan’s oldest winter illuminations. Another illumination and market combo is the Ebisu Garden Palace illumination and Christmas market. The illumination runs here from November 8th through March 1st and starts either at 400 p.m. or 5:00 p.m. depending on the month. The Christmas market here is open from November 8th through December 25th. And there are special weekends with bigger events like DJs and different food events as well. All this does kind of shift us from illumination events to markets. And outside of the Ume Sky building in Osaka, you will find the Wonders Square Plaza decked out in lights with this year’s theme being the Circus of Lights. There will be a large Christmas tree surrounded by stalls with plenty to eat and enjoy with one of the most popular items from last year being the original themed mugs from here, which completely sold out. This runs from November 14th until December 25th. In Coobe, the Coobe Nunobiki Herb Garden Christmas Market runs from November 8th to December 25th. And being in an elevated area, this gives you a beautiful view of the city itself as you shop, eat, and enjoy the market. In Yokohama, the famous red brick warehouse Christmas market is a lively place to be with the historic red brick building in the background and a large Christmas tree surrounded by stalls selling European sweets and food. Topping it off with a large ice skating rink that stays open until February, even though the market only runs from November 21st through November 25th. Back in Tokyo, the Tokyo Tower has its own Christmas market, which will run from December 5th to December 25th and opens from 11:00 a.m. to 1000 p.m. with last orders for food taken at 9:30 p.m. The market itself is not huge, but it is a fun stop if you are in the Tokyo Tower area. Nearby the Tokyo Tower, you will find a newer Christmas market to the scene, having opened in 2023. This is the Azubai Hills Christmas Market, which will run from November 22nd to December 25th, and offers plenty of themed photo spots, especially with the massive draped lights and Christmas tree and Santa meet and greets as well. Lastly, the Tokyo Christmas Market is the largest Christmas market event in Tokyo and is hosted at Mei Jingu Genan from November 21st to December 25th and is open from 11:00 a.m. till 9:30 p.m. and cost $2,000 yen to enter, which is around $14. This market is quite large with a massive Christmas pyramid and plenty of stalls to browse and enjoy as you stroll through the European themed market and eat Germanstyled sausages and drink cider, hot cocoa, or some German beer. The Tokyo Christmas Market is such a massive event that there is a second site as well in Shiba Park in Onariman Square, which runs from December 5th through December 25th. This market area also features the Christmas pyramid with the Tokyo Tower in the background as you browse the handcrafted goods. So Christmas itself is not as big of a holiday in Japan, but as you can see, they still love to design spectacular illuminations and enjoy some Christmas markets. So you won’t want to miss this. I mentioned before that Christmas is a romantic holiday for couples, similar to Valentine’s Day. So on Christmas Eve, couples go on dates to see the illuminations and to fancy restaurants. One Christmas tradition for families in particular is eating KFC or Kentucky Fried Chicken. Yes, you heard that right. Japan, a country with amazing food like sushi, ramen, and so much more, flocks to KFC for Christmas. In 1974, KFC launched their Kentucky for Christmas marketing campaign in Japan. And this took over the country, becoming a widespread tradition with many families now pre-ordering special Christmas Kentucky Fried Chicken meals as early as October to ensure that they get one for Christmas. The standard Christmas party box from KFC comes with eight pieces of chicken, shrimp grind, and chocolate cake. If you really want a Christmas party box, you should book it in advance. Though KFC has expanded the sale of these boxes to several days leading up to Christmas to make it a bit easier for people to get some of the KFC goodness. So all of this KFC craze from a marketing campaign. So that’s Christmas. Now let’s talk about New Year’s in Japan or shogatsu. This is the most important holiday of the year in Japan and families will often gather and visit shrines for the first visit of the year or hatsum day which typically occurs within the first week of the year. The concept of Hatsumo originated in the late 1800s with train networks promoting travel to large shrines and temples as a way to encourage travel during that time which at the time wasn’t as busy. So another marketing campaign, the most visited Hatsumo destination is the Maji Jingu Shrine in the Harajuku area of Shibuya, Tokyo with over 3 million people visiting the shrine in the first few days of January. You will find shops here with special New Year’s items and of course the famous Omikuji or fortune slips. Some other popular spots are the Senoji Temple in Asakusa, which is a fun place to go with all of the stalls and shops nearby on the Nakamise shopping street, though they typically close around 7:00 p.m. and won’t be open at midnight for the actual new year itself. There is also the Kanda Shrine near Akihabara, where the temple gates will open right at midnight to the first sounds of the drums of the new year. the Yasukuni Shrine in Chiota City, which will open its gates at 11:30 p.m. on December 31st and has events and festivities that run for several days, including handing out cups of sake and archery events and performances. The famous Shabuya Crossing New Year’s countdown has been indefinitely cancelled due to the city wanting to maintain safer crowd sizes with an estimated 120,000 people gathering here for this event in the past. Unofficial gatherings here for the new year may still occur with people gathering and counting down together. But speaking of the countdown, you won’t find massive fireworks displays in Japan for the new year. But if you are in Tokyo and you want to see some fireworks, you can go to Disneyland or Disney Sea for their special New Year fireworks show, but you won’t find the abundance of shows that you would see in other countries here in Japan. Disney does also sell limited time New Year’s popcorn buckets. So, if you are into collecting Disney things, then you might want to get in line for that. For the most traditional experience, aside from going to the very popular Maji Jingu in Tokyo, go to Kyoto or N to one of the many shrines and temples there like the Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto or the Kiumi Zudera Temple. The typical popular spots like the Fushimiari Shrine and King Kakuji Temple and Golden Pavilion are going to be packed even more than they normally are. So, if you are planning on going to any of these places, make sure to go very early, like arriving well before midnight if you are going to go there on New Year’s Eve, or go very early during the next few days. You can also go to the Suruga Hachimangu, which is Kamakura’s most visited shrine and gets around 2 million visitors in the first few days of the new year. This shrine has plenty of festivities, including archery performances for the New Year itself. Japan is a very lively place to be for Christmas and New Year’s, even though they celebrate it a bit differently than other countries, but that makes it all the more special. Have you experienced Christmas or New Year’s in Japan? Let me know in the comments section down below, and I will see you guys in the next one.

Planning your Christmas and New Year trip to Japan but not sure what to do there? Here’s a guide on some of the many festivities and attractions during the Christmas and New Years time in Japan. We’ll walk through some of the largest and most impressive illumination events during Christmas and the most popular shrines and temples to ring in the new year.

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Chapters:
0:00 – Intro
0:48 – Christmas Illuminations
1:18 – Shibuya Blue Cave Illumination
2:00 – Snow & Blue Illumination
2:45 – Tokyo Mega Illumination
3:13 – Enoshima Annual Illumination
4:13 – Sagamiko Mori Mori
5:02 – Dream Christmas and Market
5:44 – Midosuji Illumination
6:10 – Osaka Castle Illumination
6:27 – Annual Kobe Luminarie
6:55 – Ebisu Garden Place Illumination
7:26 – Wonder Square Plaza
7:58 – Nunobiki Herb Gardens
8:14 – Red Brick Warehouse Christmas Market
8:42 – Tokyo Tower Christmas Market
9:10 – Azabudai Hills Market
9:29 – Tokyo Christmas Market – Meiji Jingu Gaien
10:07 – Tokyo Christmas Market – Shiba Park
10:42 – Christmas in Japan
10:55 – Christmas KFC
12:03 – New Year Shogatsu
12:39 – Meiji Jingu Shrine
13:01 – Sonso-ji Temple
13:18 – Kanda Shrine
13:29 – Yasukuni Shrine
13:44 – Shibuya Crossing
14:05 – Fireworks in Japan
14:18 – Disneyland/DIsneySea
14:37 – Kyoto/Nara
15:15 – Tsurugaoka Hachimangu
15:32 – Final Thoughts

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