Winter Nights Sparkle at the Tokyo Mega Illumination

 -- Susan, every other Sunday

Since this is my final post before Christmas, and New Year's in Japan is a horse of a different color, I'm dedicating my final MIE post of 2022 to one of Tokyo's favorite winter activities: a visit to a winter illumination.

The entrance to the illumination at Oi Racecourse

The moving lighted banner at the entrance

The Tokyo Mega Illumination takes place at Oi Racecourse, in southeast Tokyo, every year from late November through mid-January. I'd known about it for many years, and I'd heard it was one of the best in Japan. 

This year I finally made the time to go. As you'll see, the only thing I regret is not going sooner.

The illumination covers the grounds of Oi Racecourse, with most of the "action" taking place in the infield at the center of the racetrack. Visitors can't get out on the track itself, but there are fog machines set up on the track that add a mystical atmosphere to the evening.

You enter the infield through the "Twinkle Tunnel," which is filled with ever-changing colored lights and projections.

A still shot of the Twinkle Tunnel

Another part of the Twinkle Tunnel

Outside the tunnel (both before and after you enter it), there are different illuminations and special areas to walk through and explore. In one area, you can meet, and pet, a row of miniature horses--dressed up for the holidays in fancy bows and twinkling, lighted blankets.

One of the mini-horse "greeters"

While I'm not always a fan of placing animals in social situations, I was impressed with the way this area was designed to keep the little horses comfortable and prevent them from being overwhelmed.  The horses were under cover in a heated area; each horse had a handler, and there were separate lines (spaced about 5 meters from the horses themselves) where visitors lined up to take a turn meeting one of the horses. You could get back in line, or go to multiple lines, but each horse was meeting only one person (or at most one family of three people) at a time. The horses also got about a minute in between visitors, before the handlers called the next person or family up to say hello.

The horses' attitudes ranged from curious and happy to slightly bored. I watched from a distance for a while and am happy to say that all of the handlers (young women, who seemed very devoted to their little charges) were paying close attention and the horses didn't seem to mind the attention at all. Kudos, Racecourse management!

Not all of the horses at the event were live

There were also several life-sized statues of horses around the park, some of which memorialize famous racehorses.

Merry Illumination Season from Oi Racecourse!

Winter illuminations are very common in Japan. Some have a Christmas theme, while others are dedicated to "winter," or New Year, or simply "Beautiful Lights." The Christmas-themed illuminations either end on December 26 or shift (often with entirely new displays) on the 26th to a New Year or Winter theme.

The Tokyo Mega Illumination is simply that--a giant sea of lights, in areas with different themes.

One of the more popular areas was the "Sakura Tunnel" - a 50-meter long tunnel of pale pink lights designed to remind you of a canopy of blooming cherry trees. 

In the sakura tunnel

One of my other favorite areas was a large "rose garden" filled with LED roses that changed colors in time with the classical music playing through hidden speakers in the area.

LED Roses in bloom

But my favorite area of all was the "Traditional Japanese Landscape" - an enormous field of illuminated rice paddies, complete with a LED river and a traditional farm house. The rice fields slowly changed color to simulate all the seasons of the year.

"Rice fields" in winter with the Sakura Tunnel in the background

LED Fiber Optic strands were used to make the rice plants, and the effect was amazing.

The rice fields and farmhouse at a distance

Beyond the rice fields, a terraced area called the "Flowing River" simulated a river running through terraced rice fields planted on a hillside. Unfortunately, the photos below really don't do it justice - it was magnificent in person, but the lights don't translate well in still photography.

The river and "terraced rice field" area

Like the traditional landscape, the river changed colors and patterns to simulate four different seasons.

The flowing river in autumn. The red lights are leaf-shaped figures that moved through the display.

This was my first visit to the Tokyo Mega Illumination, but it won't be the last. In fact, I have two more trips planned this year alone - I'm a sucker for pretty lights, and the cafe on the grounds (which has large windows that open onto the rose garden display) has several delicious-looking treats I want to sample before they're gone.

Whatever you celebrate (or don't) and wherever you're doing it this year, I wish you peace, hope, joy, and warm, twinkling lights to illuminate your path toward the new year. 

An Illuminating Trip to Ashikaga Flower Park

-- Susan, every other Sunday

In Japan, we celebrate the changing seasons. Spring means Ume (plum) and cherry blossoms everywhere.

In summer, it's kakigori (shaved ice) and similar cooling treats.

Autumn brings colorful momiji (autumn maple leaves), as well as sweet potato and chestnut-flavored everything (I even found purple sweet potato flavored Greek yoghurt at the grocery store - and yes, I ate it . . . and, surprisingly, it was good).

But if you're looking for sheer, unmitigated, over-the-top spectacle, it's winter you should come and see. At the start of December, Bavarian markets spring up across Japan like bratwurst-scented mushrooms, and "winter illuminations" light the nights with a sparkling glow.

One of the largest and most famous winter illuminations in Japan takes place at Ashikaga Flower Park in Ashikaga City, about three hours north of Tokyo (by a combination of local and bullet trains).

Ashikaga Flower Park is famous for its "Miracle Wisteria" - a quartet of massive, 150 year-old trees that are  the oldest and largest wisteria ever to be successfully transplanted.

The park's eight areas feature thousands of plants and trees that bloom in one or more of the eight different "flower seasons" the park recognizes every year.

In December, that means pansies and violas . . . and the spectacular "bejeweled flower garden" illumination* that transforms the flower park into a spectacle that takes well over an hour to walk through (and much longer if, like me, you're easily distracted).

Last weekend, my husband and I made the trip to Ashikaga City . . . and the "bejeweled flowers" did not disappoint. I could tell you more, but I'd run out of superlatives long before I ran out of photographs, so I think I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

Arriving just at dusk...the distant view does NOT do it justice.

The Santa lights up and moves across the "sky"

A more down-to-earth version of Santa's sleigh

This display cycled through (and changed for) every season of the year.

The "Miracle Wisteria"

Another of the massive wisteria, with LED flowers that changed colors to music.

The 'tree of wonders'

Traditional Xmas Tree

The light-up lotus ponds - one of my favorites.

"One World For All of Us"

'Tis the season, here in Japan, and whatever you celebrate (or don't) I hope you have as illuminating, bright and happy a holiday season as we're having here in Tokyo (and in Ashikaga City too).

Poinsettias, light-up lotus, and Christmas doves over the wisteria

*You may notice that many of the displays have Christmas themes--Christmas is very popular in Japan, despite the fact that less than 1% of the population is actually Christian. Japan has adopted Christmas as a secular holiday, with a focus on decorations, gifts, and Christmas treats (and let's be serious . . . who doesn't  like mulled wine, sausages, and Christmas cake?)

Yule Love Tokyo in December

-- Susan, every other Sunday

Last night, my son and I landed in Tokyo for a 17-day business trip. He's here for job interviews, and I'm here to finish some book research and to meet with my immigration representative about the visa application I'll be filing in March of 2018. (I'm planning to return in late April or early May for a year, during which I'll attempt to climb the Hundred Famous Mountains of Japan and write a book about the adventure . . . more on that in the months to come.)

Today, I helped my son buy an interview suit in Akihabara. Tonight,  I visited the first of several Christmas Markets I plan to check out while I'm here: "Dream Christmas" at the Tokyo Skytree.

Dream Christmas!

Although most Japanese people identify as either agnostic/athiest, Buddhist, practitioners of Shintō, or "more than one of the above," Japanese people love holidays - and the Japanese culture embraces any excuse for celebrating, cute displays, shopping, and the exchange of gifts . . .

. . . making Christmas a regular hat-trick of awesomeness from a Japanese cultural perspective.  

"Dream Christmas" at the Skytree's Solamachi Shopping Center consists of a massive LED light display and a small Bavarian-style "Christmas Market" featuring a variety of traditional European food and beverages (glühwein, anyone?) - all set up on the outdoor fourth floor patio of the Solamachi Center.

Welcome to Christmas!

Twinkling colored LED lights decorate the patio area, creating a ten-minute strolling path lined with shimmering trees and sparkling stars.

It's full of stars...

At the center of the patio,  a row of shops re-creates a miniature Bavarian Christmas market, complete with warm soft pretzels, German sausages, and spiced mulled wine.

A little bit of Bavaria in Tokyo.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph - and those are some nice hot pretzels too...

Red Riding Hood and Hanzel & Gretel - over the mulled wine shop.

Beyond the marketplace, the lights continue . . .

Sparkly. So sparkly.

. . . with a combination of traditional Christmas themes and uniquely Japanese elements -- including flower beds adorned with elves.

Nothing says Christmas like surfing flower elves.

Some of whom appear to have consumed far more than their share of spiced adult beverages.

It's all fun and games until someone throws the first punch.

Above it all, the Skytree - lit in Christmas colors - rises over Tokyo.

The Tokyo Skytree.

Visitors can purchase tickets to visit the observation platform at the top of the Skytree, though I didn't go up tonight. Instead, I opted to heed the siren song of the fabulous Indian restaurant in the Solamachi Center. (Hot pretzels and spiced wine are all very well, but they've got nothing on a bowl of chicken curry.)

I'd never been to Japan at Christmas before, although I knew about the Japanese fascination with cultural holidays, and was looking forward to the experience. Although I've been here only a single day, my Japanese Christmas experience has already reminded me of an important truth:

Joy depends far more on your state of mind, and on your choice to be joyful, than it does on any system of belief.

A 30 foot Christmas tree entirely covered in live flowers.

Tonight at the Skytree, I saw hundreds of people joyfully admiring lights and Christmas decorations, shopping for gifts, and embracing a holiday most of them don't celebrate religiously. They smiled and strolled, ate and drank, shopped and played and enjoyed themselves tremendously, simply because it's the way they chose to experience this season and this night.

Life is a gift, a blessing to treasure. Experience everything you can, and pull the joy from every possible moment. Not all moments will be good, or easy, or pleasant - but many more of them could be, if we take the time to live--and love--deliberately.

I, for one, intend to try. And I hope you do too.

In the long run, yule be a happier person for it.