Kuribocchi Christmas: how to do Tokyo solo

Shibuya’s Christmas Markets are running at Miyashita Park, Yoyogi Park Be Stage and Kitaya Park with different concepts that will take you from Europe to Hawaii right by the city centre, so you can do the classic warm-drink-and-lights loop without leaving the neighbourhood.

Sip something warm, buy a small ornament and people-watch like it’s your job. If you want something specifically designed for solos, the Yoyogi-area festival setup flips to an ‘ohitorisama-only’ entry after 6pm on Dec 24–25, with a meet-and-mingle vibe under heated tents.


Go full holiday-main character and shoot purikura, even if it’s just you. 
Skip the ‘normal’ photos and do a Christmas costume moment at the booths in Harajuku’s Takeshita Street Wego or Shinjuku East Exit's Taito Station, where you can rent outfits and shoot purikura-style pics. Wego’s costume rental start at  ¥500, and it’s built for ‘show up, transform, document, leave’. Taito Station does the same thing in a more chaotic arcade setting with prices starting at ¥1,000 for a full santa fit.

If you want the romantic set-menu mood without the romance part, Shibuya Stream Hotel does Christmas dinner plans that you can book for one. Dress up, order the festive drinks, and treat yourself for just ¥5,000 for a three-course meal.

Or go the opposite direction and commit Christmas gluttony with a kuribocchi yakiniku course at Sendai Horumon Yakiniku Sakaba Tokiwatei (Shibuya), which literally markets a solo Christmas set. Built around a meat platter plus dessert, it comes with 0-second lemon sour and soft drinks included. It’s 90 minutes for ¥2,499 (¥2,749 after tax), and if you want the upgraded nomihodai (beer/highball/cocktails etc), it’s only an extra ¥550.

Thermae-Yu is a 24-hour super-sento hiding in Kabukicho – open-air onsen water brought in from Naka-Izu, plus a high-concentration carbonated bath, silk bath, and proper saunas when you want to sweat the year out of your pores. Around Christmas they switch up the seasonal baths – they’ve even done a Dec 24 ‘real champagne’ event previously – so you can literally marinate in holiday energy.

Spadium Japon out in Higashikurume is the big day-trip super-sento: natural hot spring baths, jet and ‘beauty bubble’ tubs, and an auto-löyly style steam sauna that goes full blast on a timer. Upstairs, the bedrock bath zone is basically a robe-wearing lounge – 30,000+ manga titles, loads of nap/relax spaces, and even an outdoor terrace with barrel/tent sauna setups, so you can rotate between sweating, snacking and doing absolutely nothing for hours.

In December they lean into a seasonal mood – they’ve had a Christmas tree up through December 25 and monthly limited menus/events – so it still reads ‘holiday’ even if your only plan is granite heat and a long sit.


This is the most iconic kuribocchi behavior: walk into a konbini like you own the timeline, grab a Christmas cake, go home, and make it a ritual instead of a joke. Pair it with a dumb movie, phone on DND, and commit.


Don Quijote’s Christmas costume section is basically a costume warehouse, so you can pick a Santa fit and turn Shibuya into your own chaotic photo walk. Go to an illumination spot, hit a konbini for hot drinks, and let the outfit do the social work for you.


It might be too short notice to fly to Indonesia, so do the next best thing: Hotel BaliAn, the Bali resort-themed stay in Tokyo that leans into fantasy interiors and vacation brain.

They run Christmas plans that include options for girls’ nights and groups, not just couples. 
Book a package, order in, and treat it like a mini resort Christmas without leaving Shinjuku.



If the weather’s bad or your social battery is dead, do Christmas like a shut-in king: order something heavy and smoky and make your apartment feel like an occasion. Santa’s existence is debated, but your local delivery drivers will definitely be taking to the streets all night long. Uber Eats and other services host heaps of Christmas dinner offerings, so you can keep it festive without going anywhere.