16 incredible illuminations and light-ups in Tokyo

The 1.2-kilometre-long Marunouchi Naka-dori street, always one of the most popular Tokyo illumination spots, will have around 250 trees lit up with about 775,000 low-energy, champagne-coloured LEDs this year, making for an environmentally friendly and stylish display.

If you’d rather stay cosy while admiring the lights, visit the renovated Marunouchi House, where the seventh-floor terrace will feature festive illuminations for a limited time. The terrace has plenty of seats surrounded by outdoor heaters.

Closer to Christmas, Gyoko-dori between the Imperial Palace and Tokyo Station will have more illuminations between November 28 and December 25, bringing the total to around 810,000 LEDs.

If you’re looking for the most OTT illumination in Tokyo, this is it. Yomiuri Land's annual winter light show will bedazzle even the most jaded illumination-fiend. As the name suggests, jewels are the focus here: literally millions of colourful LEDs are set up throughout the vast theme park evoking sparkling gems. The park is split into ten areas where you will be treated to beautifully lit attractions. 

In addition to the 180-metre rainbow-lit Jewellery Promenade and the 140-metre Crystal Passage illumination tunnel, you can also admire the newly built 'Sky-Go-Land' Ferris wheel, which features a special two-sided light display — a dazzling diamond pattern on the east side and elegant gold on the west. The highlight, however, is the fountain show, with water illuminated in different colours and sprayed into the air to create stunning shapes. There are three kinds of show happening every 15 minutes from 5pm daily. Also look out for the fountain’s flames and lasers, which are synchronised to music.

 There will be no illuminations from March 2 to March 13, 2026.

Osaki's annual Meguro River Minna no Illumi event has found a novel solution to the issue of massive energy consumption during Japan’s winter illuminations season. Resembling winter cherry blossoms, the pink LED used in the light-up are all powered by biodiesel electricity generated using waste oil collected from local homes and restaurants.

The eco-friendly lights illuminate a stretch of the 2.2km-long Meguro River near Osaki and Gotanda stations. You can catch this beautiful sight from 5pm to 10.30pm every day from December 5 2025 until January 31 2026.

Check the event website for the event map and more details.

This annual wintertime display at Yebisu Garden Place incorporates a Baccarat chandelier that's 5m tall and 3m wide, making it one of the largest in the world. Made of 250 light bulbs and 8,500 crystals, the chandelier emits a warm and elegant light. That’s not all, though. There are smaller illumination displays in the Entrance Pavilion, Clock Plaza, Promenade and Chateau Square. In total, the event uses roughly 100,000 champagne-coloured light bulbs. 

While you're there, check out the European-inspired Christmas Marche at Chateau Square and Clock Plaza. Here you'll find holiday trinkets and hearty soups as well as mulled wine and hot chocolate to warm you up on a cold evening.

The Christmas Marche is held daily from 5pm to 8pm (12noon-8pm on weekends and hols) until December 25. Christmas Marche at Chateau Square opens on November 28.

Tokyo Garden Terrace in Kioicho is hosting an ‘Authentic Christmas’ illumination for the winter. The trees surrounding the facility’s two public art installations – ‘White Deer’ by Kohei Nawa and ‘Echoes Infinity - Immortal Flowers’  – as well as those flanking the river are decked out in 400,000 champagne-gold lights until February 28.

From now until Christmas Day, there’s also a towering 10 metre-tall 'Resonant Prism' Christmas tree by Japanese installation art collective Mirrorbowler at the main entrance. The iridescent Christmas tree shimmers in brilliant blue, purple and yellow, producing a striking, kaleidoscope-like glow.

The Kioi Winter illuminations take place daily from 4pm until 11pm.

Enoshima’s annual illumination is widely touted as one of the three biggest and most impressive light-up events in Greater Tokyo, alongside the ones at Ashikaga Flower Park and Sagamiko. There are about 10 illumination spots scattered across the hilly island – including the Enoshima Shrine, Ryuren Bell of Love on Lover's Hill and Nakatsumiya Square – so put on some comfortable shoes as you’ll be trekking a lot.

Don’t miss the main attraction located at the island’s iconic Enoshima Sea Candle lighthouse, which is decked out in 70m-long strings of lights stretching from the tip of the tower to the ground, creating a formation similar to the silhouette of Mt Fuji.

The Samuel Cocking Garden, where the Sea Candle is located, is transformed into the dreamy Hoseki (bejewelled) Forest, where everything from the ground and the grass to the trees are covered in purple lights. Keep an eye out for the Shonan Chandelier tunnel, all decked out with luxurious crystal beads and LED lights. New for 2025, the Samuel Cocking Garden will also feature a dazzling sea urchin-inspired installation created by MirrorBowler.

Most attractions are open from 5pm to 8pm (until 9pm on weekends and holidays). You can see some of the light-ups on Enoshima for free, but you will need a ticket (¥500, children ¥250) to enter the Samuel Cocking Garden, which hosts the largest illuminations.

If you're on the island early during daylight hours, head over to Enoshima Iwaya (¥500, children ¥200), as the island's famous cave, created by decades of wave erosion, is bedecked with sparkling lights from 9am to 5pm.

Package tickets, including entrance to Enoshima Sea Candle, Samuel Cocking Garden, and Esca escalators, can be purchased for ¥1,550 (¥750) via Emot.

The annual illuminations at Oi Racecourse (also known as Tokyo City Keiba) are returning for their seventh run, with the sprawling venue bathed in colourful lights every evening. You can enjoy elaborate light-up and projection mapping displays across two areas.

Upon entering the venue, you’ll find yourself in the Twinkle area, where you’ll walk through a long corridor lit up with twinkling blue lights leading you to the main attractions. Aside from the vivid light projections on the ground and a rainbow-coloured Christmas tree, you’ll also come across the Aurora Forest with glowing trees and laser-lit mists. This particular attraction puts on regular five-minute light shows synchronised to music. 

The Wa no Kirameki area, on the other hand, occupies the centre of the racecourse. Here, a colourful water fountain becomes the centre of an aurora light display synchronised to music. There's also an illuminated cherry blossom tunnel, a large trellis of artificial wisteria all decked out with pink and purple lights, plus an illumination recreating a typical Japanese rural landscape complete with paddy fields and a stream.

What's more, with this event taking place at a racecourse, you can even pet and take photos with real horses.

Note: The illuminations are closed on November 10-14, December 24-31 & January 1 2026.

Until January 31, the district surrounding Tokyo Skytree Town and Asakusa is lighting up with ornate takeakari bamboo lanterns created by Chikaken, a company specialising in these unique traditional lanterns. Many of their takeakari bamboo light creations have been featured at some of Japan’s popular illuminations including Hana Akari at Yomiuri Land and even at selected Tokyo’s hotels.

The Sumida River Walk bridge connecting Tokyo Mizumachi and Sumida Park is especially pretty, as it features a special installation with Tokyo SkyTree in the background. There’s another installation at the Kitajukken riverside terrace running alongside Tokyo Mizumachi, where you'll find beautifully handcrafted takemari bamboo ornaments lining the 400-metre walkway from Makura Bridge to Koume Bridge.

Ushijima Shrine in Sumida Park is also lit up daily from 5pm to 10pm with bamboo lights as well as colourful takemari that are beautifully hung in the air.

Odaiba shopping mall Decks Tokyo Beach is celebrating the year-end holiday season with an illumination display revolving around a 20 metre-tall tree. Furthermore, the entire third floor terrace will be glowing with around 100,000 lights.

Don’t miss the massive Odaiba signage lit up in blue for this occasion. It makes for a great photo spot, especially with the Rainbow Bridge in the background.

More importantly, you'll want to be here on December 20 or 24 for the Odaiba Rainbow Fireworks at 7pm. For five dazzling minutes, fireworks light up the sky in sync with rainbow projections on the mall’s facade and a lively musical medley.

Sagamiko Resort Mori Mori has gone all out for its winter illuminations, featuring over six million dazzling LEDs. This year, there's an entire area dedicated to Tamagotchi – Japan's beloved digital pets from outer space. Expect to see Mametchi, along with his sidekick Kuchipatchi and other pocketable pets such as Memechi.

You can hop on the park’s Mametchi and Kuchipatchi themed Rainbow Chairlift and sail over colourful stripes before reaching the top of a hill, where you'll find a series of illumination art walls showcasing the whole Tamagotchi family. Keep wandering and you might stumble upon a mysterious UFO beaming with colour – maybe a hint at where these pocketable pets really came from. To wrap up the night, take in the dazzling lights and sweeping mountaintop views from the Ferris wheel or hop on the Tamagotchi Starry Sky Pedal for stunning panoramas and a light leg workout.

While you’re there, indulge in Tamagotchi-themed meals and snacks. Enjoy a hearty Tamagotchi Poka Poka Star Ramen or the voluminous Mametchi's Omurice Curry Doria Plate. Prefer something sweet? Then check out Furawatchi's flower crepe or the Memechi mango sundae.

The massive Unicorn Gundam statue in front of DiverCity Tokyo Plaza in Odaiba is getting lit up with special winter lights. Until March 6, you can see the robot illuminated in pale green, inspired by the upcoming Gundam Hathaway trilogy release 'Mobile Suit Gundam: The Sorcery of Nymph Circe', which is premiering on January 30. While you can see this exclusive light-up from 5pm to 11pm daily, we recommend visiting between 7pm and 9.30pm to also see a special nighttime show featuring a short screening of the animation, held every 30 minutes.

The annual Shinjuku Minamillumi light-up is back this winter, happening from November 12 to February 15. Six venues in the area will be participating in this illumination special, namely the JR Minami Shinjuku Building, JR Shinjuku Miraina Tower, Suica Penguin Plaza, Takashimaya Times Square, Shinjuku Maynds Tower, and Shinjuku Southern Terrace.

Suica Penguin Plaza, located in front of Shinjuku Station’s New South exit between the promenade and Takashimaya Times Square, is bathed in gold lights. The plaza features an illuminated ‘welcome gate’, complete with two adorable penguin statues. You may recognise the penguin character from JR East’s Suica IC cards, which recently announced its bittersweet retirement.

Trees along the 46-metre-long promenade at Southern Terrace are also decorated with golden lights, and the plaza near Shake Shack even features a massive 3D illumination of Champagne glasses to mark the festive spirit. Venture further and you’ll come across a glistening green Christmas tree (until December 25) set up on the second floor of Takashimaya Times Square, plus even more lights that illuminate the entire terrace.

The illuminations take place daily from 5pm to 12midnight until the end of November, and from 4.30pm between December and February.

This is one of Tokyo’s glitziest illuminations, with many areas around Tokyo Dome City decked out with twinkling lights. The 21st edition of the ‘Snow Dome City’ illuminations is its largest yet, featuring roughly 1 million LEDs that bathe the area in festive cheer. Continuing from last year, the event showcases a special design inspired by snow globes – or ‘snow domes’, as they are commonly called in Japanese.

Expect to see a huge 15-metre-tall tree adorned with over 250,000 multi-coloured LEDs at the Central Park Lawn Square. Be sure to hang around, as every 15 minutes, a dazzling light and bubble performance transforms the space into a magical, snow globe-like wonderland.

Over at the LaQua garden, don’t miss the giant snow globe containing a miniature diorama of Tokyo Dome City. Ring the bell to illuminate the globe and watch the scene shift into a winter wonderland. Meanwhile, the Thunder Dolphin passage on LaQua’s second floor features a dazzling 'Sparkle Tunnel', lined with glowing orbs, sparkling Christmas ornaments, snowflakes and shimmering mini LEDs.

Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Omokado celebrates the festive season with a beautiful Christmas illumination at its rooftop garden from November 18 to January 12. For 2025, art collective Naked enhances the display with projection mapping and around 20,000 lights that transform the space into a starry forest complete with shooting stars. You’ll also find Christmas trees decorated with animal ornaments. Wear your warm jacket, grab a bento and enjoy a winter picnic under the pretty LEDs.

The illuminations take place daily from 5pm to 10pm.

Coredo Muromachi and its surroundings in Nihonbashi are illuminated with over 200,000 warm LED lights this winter, based on the concept of ‘Exciting Nihonbashi’. The highlight of the nighttime illuminations is a golden merry-go-round featuring the Japanese mythological kirin dragon, which can be spotted at Coredo Muromachi Terrace O-yane Plaza. While the ride does not actually move, the attraction is sure to serve as a great backdrop for photos – especially during the special light show that happens every 30 minutes from 5pm.

Beyond illuminations, expect to also see plenty of stalls selling oshikatsu (fandom activities) merch. An Oshikatsu Night Market will be held on Dec 20-21, Jan 24 and Feb 3 at Nakadori street between Coredo Muromachi 1 and 2.