Tokyo in winter 2026–27: illuminations, Christmas, New Year and the first shrine visit

Tokyo winter illuminations 2026–27: dates, hours and prices

Most of Tokyo’s big illuminations are free street or plaza displays that start between 5 and 26 November; a few, such as Marunouchi, Tokyo Midtown’s ‘Light Walk’ and Yebisu Garden Place, run into February. These are the 2026–27 dates announced by the organisers as of 22 October 2026:

• Marunouchi Illumination (Marunouchi Naka-dori, Tokyo Station): 12 November 2026 to 14 February 2027. Champagne-gold lights on the street trees along about 1.2 km, the 25th edition. 2026 lighting hours not yet published.
• Roppongi Hills: the Keyakizaka avenue is lit with about 970,000 ‘Snow & Blue’ LEDs along about 400 m from 5 November to 25 December, 5pm–10pm (the first evening may start later). 66 Plaza is lit from 13 November to 27 December, 5pm–midnight, and Mohri Garden from 13 November to 25 December, 5pm–11pm.
• Tokyo Midtown (Roppongi): MIDWINTER LIGHTS in the Midtown Garden, 26 November to 25 December, 5pm–11pm, free, with a four-minute light show to music; soap bubbles are added to the show until 20 December. A real 8.5 m fir tree stands in the garden over the same dates, and a ‘Light Walk’ of about 340,000 bulbs stays lit until 23 February 2027. An outdoor ice rink opens from 5 December 2026 to 23 February 2027.
• Yebisu Garden Place (Ebisu): the Baccarat chandelier, about 5 m tall with 8,500 crystal parts and 250 lights, is displayed in the Centre Plaza from 14 November 2026 to 11 January 2027, lit 11am–11pm (from 5pm on 14 November). The site-wide illumination runs from 14 November 2026 to 28 February 2027, 4pm–11pm.
• Tokyo Dome City (Suidobashi): Winter Illumination 2026 with more than a million bulbs and a ‘SNOW DOME’ theme, from 19 November, lit 5pm–midnight (6:30pm on the first evening).
• Yomiuriland Jewellumination (Inagi, western Tokyo): the 2026–2027 season began on 29 October. Unlike the city displays, it is inside a paid amusement park: entry alone is ¥1,800 for adults (¥1,600 online), and on Jewellumination days an ‘After Pass’ from 3pm with most rides costs ¥3,100 (¥2,800 online).

Which Tokyo illumination should you choose?

If you have one evening, walk Marunouchi Naka-dori from Tokyo Station and continue to the Marunouchi Building’s tree; if you have two, add Roppongi, where Tokyo Midtown and Roppongi Hills are about 0.7 km apart as the crow flies and can be combined on foot. Go before 25 December if you want the Christmas extras: the Midtown bubble show ends on 20 December, and Keyakizaka, Midtown’s main show and both Roppongi Hills trees end on 25 December. After Christmas, Marunouchi (to 14 February), Yebisu Garden Place (to 28 February) and Midtown’s Light Walk (to 23 February) are still lit.

JNTO also lists the Caretta Illumination near Shimbashi Station among Tokyo’s winter displays, but its 2026–27 dates had not been announced on 22 October 2026.

Christmas in Tokyo: how Japan celebrates and where the markets are

Christmas in Japan is a commercial and romantic occasion rather than a family holiday: JNTO describes Christmas Eve as a night when couples go out for dinner, few presents are exchanged, and the traditional meal is fried chicken from KFC, which many people order weeks in advance. The other fixture is the Christmas cake, a strawberry and whipped-cream sponge, a custom JNTO traces to a confectioner’s 1922 slogan. JNTO calls Christmas “more of a token event” next to the New Year holiday.

Tokyo has two well-established German-style Christmas markets in 2026. The Roppongi Hills Christmas Market, in its 20th year, recreates the Stuttgart market with ten stalls selling mulled wine (Glühwein), sausages, Stollen and decorations at the Oyane Plaza from 21 November to 25 December, 11am–9pm. The Tokyo Christmas Market runs at two sites with paid admission: Shin-Toyosu (20 November to 25 December) and Shiba Park near Zojo-ji (4 to 25 December).

Big attractions dress up too. Tokyo Skytree’s ‘Dream Christmas 2026’ decorates the Tembo Deck on the 350th floor from 5 November 2026, and Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea hold ‘Disney Christmas’ from 11 November to 25 December 2026. Expect the busiest evenings at every illumination and market on 24 December, a Thursday this year, when the Tokyo Christmas Market also charges its highest admission price.

New Year’s Eve in Tokyo: temple bells, soba and shrines

New Year’s Eve (omisoka) in Tokyo is spent at temples and shrines rather than at fireworks: temple bells are rung 108 times for joya no kane, which JNTO explains as a way to leave behind the 108 worldly desires, and many families eat toshikoshi soba, buckwheat noodles for a long life, before heading out.

At Senso-ji in Asakusa, the bell on Bentenyama, a small mound south-east of the main hall, is struck at midnight after a ceremony; three uncounted strokes follow and then members of the temple’s ‘108 society’ ring it 108 times, which takes about 40 minutes. Senso-ji’s New Year service (shushoe) runs from the evening of 31 December to 6 January.

At Zojo-ji, beside Tokyo Tower, the bell is rung from midnight on 1 January by groups of four, starting with the temple’s chief abbot, and members of the public can take part with a ticket. For New Year 2026 the temple sold a limited number of bell-ringing tickets for a ¥2,000 donation, including a souvenir, from 9am on 1 December at its office, held an 11pm ceremony on 31 December to burn old charms and amulets, and kept its charm counters open from 10pm on 31 December to 6pm on 1 January. The 2026–27 arrangements had not been published on 22 October 2026.

Any extra late-night trains for 31 December had not been announced on 22 October 2026: check JR East and Tokyo Metro in December before planning a midnight shrine visit far from your hotel.

Hatsumode in Tokyo: the first shrine visit at Meiji Jingu and Senso-ji

Hatsumode, the first visit of the year to a shrine or temple, is the main New Year activity in Tokyo, and Meiji Jingu next to Harajuku Station draws the biggest crowds. For New Year 2026 its gates opened at 6:40am on 31 December and stayed open through the night; on 1 January they closed at 6:30pm, on 2 and 3 January the shrine was open 6:40am–6pm, and on 4 January it closed at 5:30pm, before returning to the normal January hours of 6:40am–4:20pm. The shrine says the most crowded times are 10pm on 31 December to 3am on 1 January, and after 10am on 1 to 3 January. The 2026–27 timetable had not been published on 22 October 2026.

Meiji Jingu has three entrances: Harajuku (south), a minute’s walk from JR Harajuku and Meiji-jingumae stations; Yoyogi (north), five minutes from Yoyogi and Kita-sando stations; and Sangubashi (west), five minutes from Sangubashi on the Odakyu line. Cars cannot enter the grounds for the first three days of January. For New Year 2026 the shrine added temporary charm counters and opened a food-stall area from 31 December.

Senso-ji is the alternative in the old east of the city. Its main hall opens at 6:30am from October to March and closes at 5pm, and it is five minutes on foot from Asakusa Station on the Ginza, Asakusa, Tobu and Tsukuba Express lines. Before New Year, the Hagoita-ichi fair fills the temple grounds with dozens of stalls selling decorated battledores on 17–19 December, the traditional end-of-year market.

Imperial Palace New Year Greeting in Tokyo (2 January)

On 2 January each year the Emperor and Empress greet the public from the balcony of the Chowa-den hall at the Imperial Palace, and anyone can attend without booking. Entry is free. The Imperial Household Agency had not published the 2 January 2027 timetable on 22 October 2026; for 2 January 2026 it was:

• Entry through the Main Gate (Nijubashi) only, from 9:30am to 2:10pm.
• Five balcony appearances, at about 10:10am, 11am, 11:50am, 1:30pm and 2:20pm; visitors are asked to stay for one appearance only.
• Bag inspections and security checks at the gate: leave large bags in station lockers and do not bring knives, scissors, flagpoles, selfie sticks, tripods or drones. Alcohol and smoking are not allowed.
• The courtyard is gravel with slopes, so wear flat shoes; there are spaces for wheelchair users but no rental wheelchairs.
• The East Gardens are closed that day, but departing visitors can walk through them to Ote-mon Gate.
• The other public greeting day is the Emperor’s Birthday, 23 February; in 2026 the Imperial Family appeared three times in the morning.

First sunrise of 2027 in Tokyo: when and where to watch

The sun rises at 6:50am in Tokyo on 1 January 2027, according to the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, and watching the first sunrise (hatsuhinode) is a New Year custom that JNTO describes as marking a fresh start. Tokyo Skytree has announced a special opening for 800 people from 5:30am to 7:30am on 1 January 2027, sold mainly by lottery at ¥11,000 (see above), plus hotel packages from ¥75,000 per person at the Tobu Hotel Levant Tokyo. Other observation decks had not announced New Year sunrise openings on 22 October 2026.

New Year sales and fukubukuro lucky bags in Tokyo

Tokyo’s department stores and shops open their first sales (hatsuuri) on 1 or 2 January, according to JNTO, with Ginza, Shibuya, Harajuku and Aoyama the busiest areas. The best-known New Year buy is the fukubukuro, a sealed ‘lucky bag’ sold at a fixed price with contents worth more than you pay; popular stores attract queues hours before opening, so check each store’s New Year opening times.

Since 1 November 2026, tax-free shopping in Japan works as a refund: you pay the 10% consumption tax in the shop and it is refunded after the procedures before you leave Japan, according to JNTO.

What closes in Tokyo over New Year 2026–27

JNTO says the New Year holiday usually runs from 29 December to 3 January, and many sights close for part of it. These are the published closures for the 2026–27 holidays and the regular rules:

• Ghibli Museum, Mitaka: closed 27 December 2026 to 2 January 2027, reopening on 3 January, and closed on Tuesdays. Tickets go on sale at 10am (Japan time) on the 10th of each month for the following month.
• Imperial Palace East Gardens: closed 28 December to 3 January, and every Monday and Friday. From November to February it opens 9am–4pm (last entry 3:30pm); entry is free.
• Tokyo National Museum: open until 25 December 2026, but from 22 to 25 December only the Gallery of Horyuji Treasures and the Kuroda Memorial Hall are open; it reopens on 1 January 2027 from 12pm to 8pm.
• Shinjuku Gyoen: closed 29 December to 3 January and on Mondays; adults ¥500.
• Tokyo’s metropolitan gardens, such as Hama-rikyu: closed 29 December to 1 January; Hama-rikyu is open 9am–5pm and costs ¥300.
• Open over New Year: Meiji Jingu (open every day of the year) and Senso-ji, which hold their busiest days of the year, and Tokyo Skytree, which opens early on 1 January for its sunrise event.