2014 Christmas at Tokyo Station

Christmas in Tokyo is a huge event.  It is a time for couples and a time for people to make money.  There is no doubt about it, businesses want to make money.  They will do anything to attract people so that you will empty your wallets.  Tokyo Station is no different.  From Marunouchi to Yaesu, there is a huge Christmas theme going on now and you will be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn’t like it.

If you are on the Marunouchi side, all you have to do is head out the door and look around.  To the north is Oazo, to the west are the Marunouchi Buildings, and to the south is Kitte.  All of them have something going on.  Marunouchi is actually doing another collaboration in which they work with Disney to create holiday themed decorations.  I didn’t see every inch of Marunouchi as I just didn’t have the time or energy.  I was trying to fight a cold when I went on my walkabout, but I had fun doing so either way.

If you want to start, Oazo is the best place.  Last year they had a big Oswald tree but this year they went traditional and had just a basic Disney tree.  It wasn’t the best tree I had seen but it was elegant.  I’m not sure if Disney should really go elegant but it is a very common theme in Marunouchi so it did fit.  You can still see a small Oswald “tree” that I think was a holdover from last year.

From there, you should head to Naka-dori.  Naka-dori is a traditional street that is lined with beautiful lights.  They use standard yellowish lights that are placed on all the trees but it is magnificent to see.

This year, the game was to find all of the art Disney items.  They had 3 themes this year: Mickey, Olaf, and the Toy Story aliens.  Various artists were given a chance to decorate one of them and they were placed all over Marunouchi.  It was fun to seek them out and you should try to find them as well.

The central figure this year is none other than a castle from Frozen at the Marunouchi Building.  You can get your picture taken with Anna and Elsa but do be forewarned that the lines are immense.  There was no way that I was going to wait in line for a photo so I just headed for the high ground to get you a photo.

By the time I finished with Marunouchi, I was actually in Yurakucho.  I took a couple snaps out there as well.  The Tokyo Kotsu Kaikan is always a nice place with a similar display up every year.  Other than that, just enjoy the long lines as people try to buy lottery tickets.  Christmas is the biggest season for lotto tickets!

Over in Yaesu, you can enjoy the Gran Roof.  They are having one of the best displays in Tokyo, in my opinion.  They have a bunch of light rods that flicker with various lights and tuned with music.  It is just such a beautiful display but most people were just passing by.  If you are in the area, just stop by for a few minutes and enjoy the peace.  For some reason it wasn’t really busy.

If you head to the southern side of the Gran Roof, head into the Gran Tokyo Southern Building and at the bottom of the escalators is a nice Suica Penguin tree.  Unlike the big penguins in Shinjuku, the penguins here are small.  They just took some of the toys and put them onto the tree.  It was still cute and an actual tree, unlike the Shinjuku one which is just a tree shape.

Tokyo Station is one of my favourite places to enjoy Christmas and it is a place you should check out.  If you have time, just go outside and enjoy it a little.

Information

• Bright Christmas 2014 (Japanese Only)