Japan has always been one of our favorite places to visit, especially with its scenic beauty and wide range of cultural festivals. Winters and Spring are usually the more popular periods to visit, and if you’re planning a trip (or have already got your flight tickets there) between now and March next year, one of the things to check out is the Winter Light Festival.
There’s a number of sights you should check out, but they’re all scattered across Tokyo and four of its neighboring prefectures, all within reach via the Tobu Railway network. Here are some that you might fancy.
Ashikaga Flower Park
Using 3.5 million lights, this is the biggest illumination event within the Kanto area, and is reconized as one of Japan’s night view heritage sites. Once the sun goes down, th park turns into a beautiful, fantastical lit up flower garden with 5,000 “light roses” and “light water lilies” littered across an area, with an impressive light installation that looks like an actual wisteria trellis. They’ll also be using lights to create an aritificial aurora above the Snow World.
Train station: Ashikaga Station
How much to enter: $5.20 (child), $10.40 (adult)
Period: Now-Feb 5
Tobu Zoo
The Tobu Zoo Winter Illumination is taking place for the eighth time, and will see its park bedazzled with about two million LED lights. Therell also be a “Rhythmination” show of lights where all the LED lights in the plaza with go on and off in tandem with the computer graphic images on the humongous LED screen that made its debut last year. Another great highlight is the Starlight Zoo Parade, where animals will wander the park with illuminated cars.
Train station: Tobu Dobutsu Koen Station
How much to enter: $6.50 (child), $13 (adult)
Period: Nov 12-Feb 12
Tokyo Skytree
The world’s tallest tower will be transformed into the world’s tallest Christmas tree this holiday, with nearby buildings and pathways being adorned with about 400,000 lights. The lower part of the tower will be used for projection mapping shows that will leave you bewildered and amazed.
Station: Tokyo Skytree Station
How much to enter: Free, but check the website for entrance to go up the tower
Period: Nov 10-Dec 25
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There are a number of flights flying from Singapore to Tokyo, including budget carriers such as Scoot, who recently launched their services to Tokyo. Rates start from $505 for Air Asia (return tickets, excluding baggage and taxes).
