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Tokyo’s Christmas displays offer dazzling rebuttal to calling Paris the City of Lights 【Photos】

Casey Baseel Dec 4, 2014
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Spring in Japan belongs to the cherry blossoms. Summer is all about the country’s amazing fireworks shows. And in fall, there’re the beautiful fall colors to look forward to.

In winter though, Christmas decorations take center stage. Specifically, it’s the lights covering the urban landscape, called “illuminations” by the locals, that really bring out the crowds. So if you’re looking to do a little prep work for your Christmas Eve date, the following collection of Tokyo Christmas display snapshots should help you choose which one will best set the mood, and is also a chill-free way to get into the holiday season for those of you more comfortable at home with a hot mug of cocoa than braving the elements outdoors.

This year, the Marunouchi Building office and entertainment tower, located near Tokyo Station, is teaming up with Disney.

https://twitter.com/disneysoku/status/538492230642577408

While you’re sure to spot plenty of mouse-eared ornaments, you’ll also see influences from some of the studio’s most modern hits, such as the floating lanterns of Tangled and Anna’s ice castle from Frozen.

東京、皇居外苑から丸の内仲通りへ。今の季節はクリスマスのイルミネーションや飾り付けを観るのも街歩きの楽しみです。丸ビルのアナと雪の女王のイメージのクリスマスの飾り♩ pic.twitter.com/MRMkpY5d9W

— しまむ (@shimamumin) November 26, 2014

Speaking of Disney’s mega-hit right now, Olaf is welcoming visitors to Tokyo Station.

https://twitter.com/aaaaaaming/status/539373320060170240

If that’s all just too cartoony for you, or if you can’t even look at anything Frozen-related without getting “Let it Go” stuck in your head for five hours, the nearby Kitte building has a much more sophisticated and stately setup.

https://twitter.com/KASUKE_RL/status/539289937267273730

The street leading into Roppongi Hills is always dazing in December.

昨日見たイルミネーション♡(*´∀｀)
東京タワーと一緒に♪
色が変わるよ！綺麗～( ˘ω˘) pic.twitter.com/0X6ClXILuv

— 🐿✨茶子🐉 (@cyako_villains) December 1, 2014

Roppongi Hills’ younger neighborhood rival, Midtown, is also going all out this year.

https://twitter.com/yakeiview/status/539035742727442433

Titled Poem of the Winter Wind, the display features some 500,000 LED bulbs.

https://twitter.com/gensenirumi/status/539239748112359424

We’re guessing there’re about as many blue bits of light at Shiodome’s Caretta Illumination.

https://twitter.com/batten_one/status/539341036665856000

The rest of the display may not be as ethereal, but it makes up for it by being mouth-watering.

https://twitter.com/SekaiYakei/status/539371359508238336

Over the last couple of years, Tokyo Tower has been switching up its standard orange and white color scheme to celebrate special events. Since Christmas is primarily for couples in Japan, the structure is letting romanticists all over the city know that it’s on their side.

https://twitter.com/infoillumi106/status/539563072285724672

There’s more holiday cheer down on the ground at the base of the tower.

https://twitter.com/kz4_masha/status/538999490452025344 https://twitter.com/Arlean7982/status/539476883667042304

Up in the observation platform, the summertime blues have given way to winter gold.

https://twitter.com/IJtSa5KADbHEZ7O/status/538675087864393728

For a couple of years, the Christmas lights on Omotesando, the Harajuku neighborhood’s main boulevard, attracted so many sidewalk-clogging visitors that the street sat out a few Christmases. They seem to have sorted out the logistics, though, because the lights are back on these days.

https://twitter.com/fiestatimenow/status/539391369467265024 https://twitter.com/wdptmigu/status/539258004755845121

Disney, working both sides of the town, shoes up again at Harajuku’s Omotesando Hills shopping complex with this castle spire evocative of the ones in its theme parks.

https://twitter.com/SekaiYakei/status/539188394337652736

Just a stone’s throw, or tipsy tumble, from the Ebisu Beer Museum, the Ebisu Garden Place is lit up with a massive Baccarat chandelier, as has become an annual tradition in its courtyard.

https://twitter.com/BallThand/status/538715564613435393

@AppiDolphimm あっぷりんちゃん♪おはなっしー(^o^)/
ガッサーッしちゃったなっしよー（≧∇≦）
梨友さんとも恵比寿のイルミネーションも見たり♪一緒に遊べて楽しかったなっしー♪♪♪(੭ु *ﾟ▽ﾟ*)੭ु⁾⁾♡ pic.twitter.com/S0KMCyakE3

— ユニャ (@yunia444) November 30, 2014

A stretch of the Meguro River near Osaki Station is lit up in pink for everyone who’s suffering from sakura withdrawal symptoms.

11/21(金)-12/25(木)東京・大崎五反田地域の目黒川が桜色に染まる「目黒川みんなのイルミネーション」開催！ロマンチックな「冬の桜」だれと見る？→http://t.co/FlkEcPKptW pic.twitter.com/jBQgrplFD7

— イベントチェッカー製作委員会 (@event_checker) November 6, 2014

Farther upstream, newcomer Naka Meguro picked a deep-sea blue to decorate its stretch of the same river.

https://twitter.com/r_i_p_hk/status/539378578580729857

And finally, not so far from the RocketNews24 offices, there’s the Shinjuku Southern Terrace.

https://twitter.com/moegi_ebi/status/539053785549529090

It may not have the grandiose scale of some other displays, but its low-key, laid-back atmosphere has a charm all its own.

Now if we could just find a date for Mr. Sato…

Source: Naver Matome