Japan’s largest city in the Kansai region, Osaka is always worth a visit for Harry Potter fans, even if it's just for the Wizarding World attraction at Universal Studios Japan theme park. This Christmas, however, Potterheads will have another reason to plan a trip to the western metropolis.
Between November 10 and December 25, the shopping mall Grand Front Osaka is hosting a mesmerising Christmas celebration dedicated to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
A host of Harry Potter decorations and illuminations will take over the mall’s various buildings. The highlight, however, will be the 13-metre tall Christmas tree set up on the first floor of Grand Front Osaka’s North Building.
As if under a spell, the entire tree and its ornaments, in the shape of window frames and staircases, will look as though they are floating in the air. Colourful flags and crests with animal motifs symbolising each Hogwarts House will complete the magical set up.
Drop by in the evening for the Floating Magic Tree’s spellbinding light show, complete with projections featuring the four Hogwarts Houses' respective signature colours and animal emblems.
Keep an eye on the staircases in the tree as footsteps will appear magically during the light show.
The show comes on every 20 minutes between 5pm and 12 midnight on weekdays, and from 4pm on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. On November 10, the first day of the event, the light show will start at 7pm.
If you’re looking for even more festive illuminations, nearly 100 trees on the west side of the North Building and the zelkova trees at the Umekita Plaza in front of JR Osaka Station will be adorned with 330,000 champagne-gold LED lights. This spectacle comes on daily at 5pm.
Look out for the special Harry-Potter themed decorations that will be attached to 16 of the illuminated trees in the area.
The outdoor illuminations will be on display between November 10 2022 and February 28 2023, but the Harry Potter-themed ornaments will be removed after December 25.
To reach Grand Front Osaka from JR Shin-Osaka station, take the Midosuji subway line and alight at Umeda Station. Otherwise, ride the JR Tokaido Main line until Osaka Station.
More from Time Out
Harajuku is getting a new shopping complex with a rooftop vertical garden
Yayoi Kusama installations are popping up in Tokyo for her new Louis Vuitton collaboration
You could win an overnight stay at Daikanyama Tsutaya Bookstore – here's how
Tokyo ranked one of the top ten safest cities in the world for travel in 2023
These fancy overnight buses in Japan feature private sleeping pods
Want to be the first to know what’s cool in Tokyo? Sign up to our newsletter for the latest updates from Tokyo and Japan.