Light Fantastic, Tokyo, Japan

Living in Japan, that’s a much easier task than I would have thought: It turns out that the Japanese love light at this time of year.

All of this light is a surprise to me. I didn’t have any idea that there would be spectacular public displays of light this time of year throughout Tokyo. We Americans on base have done ourselves proud with some pretty flashy displays on our homes - for our own house we opted for tasteful white roping paired with greenery - but the real show happens well outside the gates. There are dozens of displays in the area that we could choose to see. Some ended at Christmas but others will continue for several months into the New Year.

Last week, Wil, Liam and I saw a beautiful display that stretched throughout the downtown Roppongi neighborhood of Tokyo. The blue lights shimmered on a plaza that included a glittery waterfall curtain. The red and white lights took turns adorning the trees that lined a busy city street. I loved gazing out at the Mori garden display from Roppongi Hills because the holiday lights there were framed from above by the city lights.

That display came at the end of a day which included sipping gluhwein while perusing the booths at a (very) small German Christmas market in Roppongi. We had also toured a Tim Burton exhibit at the Mori Arts Center Gallery which concluded with a spectacular view of downtown. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).