Gallery - Images of Japan: December 2022

A selection of images of life in Japan during December 2022. All of the photos were taken by the City-Cost editorial team. [Above] Kitte Marunouchi, near Tokyo station, has always been a reliable bet to see a good Christmas tree and 2022 proved no exception in our eyes. The people at Kitte actually had the decs up by late November (and in true Japanese style had them scheduled to come down probably sometime in the early hours of December 26). The forest-themed decorations at Kitte included a 12m tall tree and “snow crystals” made from mildan, a paper made from recycled milk cartons. [Above] Solamachi, the entertainment and shopping complex at the foot of Tokyo Skytree, brought back its German-style Christmas market after a three-year hiatus. The market, perhaps helped along with a few glasses of Straffe Hendrik Christmas blend beer and Glühwein, seemed to bring plenty of Christmas cheer during our visit in early December, and an illuminated Tokyo Skytree is pretty spectacular any time of year. On the other hand, the idea of having Christmas trees decorated with lights powered by a car battery (with said car attached and parked right next to the tree) and hung with decorations of car parts was weird. [Above] We joined a small crew of early birds for the switch on of the lights that make up the “blue cave” illumination in Tokyo’s Shibuya district on December 8. Another illumination spectacle returning after a pandemic-induced break, the switch-on inspired a collective “ooh” and “ahh” and it wasn’t long before the main stretch of lights in front of the NHK building was matched with visitors posing for selfies. [Above] A crisp December afternoon for a walk from Hibiya to Shimbashi, Tokyo. The distinctive Shizuoka Press and Broadcasting Center seen from Uchisaiwaicho. [Above] The 1.2 km-long Naka-dori Avenue and the around 340 trees in the Marunouchi area are decorated once again with “champagne gold” LED lights (around 1.2 million of them) for the winter season. By our reckoning, this is one of the most romantic illumination displays in the capital - an antidote to the sometimes headache-inducing psychedelia that many illumination events in Japan deliver. [Above] A chilly Christmas Eve afternoon looking over the broad Hibiya-dori Avenue from the Tokyo Midtown Hibiya tower. [Above] A last stroll for 2022. On New Year's Eve we enjoyed the relative calm of the streets west of Tokyo's chaotic Shinjuku in the late afternoon before heading home to get into our comfies and spend the evening in front of the TV. Related Images of Japan: November 2022