Christmas!
Or at least the holidays. Tokyo really decks itself out for Christmas, beginning almost immediately after Halloween (there's no Thanksgiving interlude here, of course). The trees that line the major streets are all wrapped in lights and almost every single department store has some sort of themed Christmas light show.
Shibuya's trees have little red Hello Kitty bows.
The pathway outside Shinjuku station is somehow penguin themed?
The nearby Odakyu department store is entirely pink.
Generic lights aside, Tokyo also has its fair share of Christmas festivals.
I decide to go back to the one in Hibya Park, near the Imperial Palace, which I had stumbled upon last year. I found it last year because I had just been rejected from a job interview--I finished my last final, flew home, flew to Japan, interviewed, was rejected, and STILL had my senior thesis to finish. I found the Christmas market while wandering around the area somewhat disconsolately and it cheered me right up, so I figured I would go again this year when I was in a much better state of mind.
This market is decidedly German in tone. Most of the stalls sell similar combination of German sausage and beer; most also sell hot mulled wine or "hot sangria" in annual themed mugs.
This year I erred slightly when I decided to get my hot strawberry sangria in one of the mugs, rather than a paper cup. Last year you paid for the mug and the drink but you could return the mug for a 500 yen refund. This year, unbeknownst to me, there were no take-backsies: all I wanted was a nice picture, like the one above, but I got the mug, too. Whoops.
The highlight for me is certainly the multi-story motorized German Christmas pyramid because it reminds me of the one that usually sits around the table during Christmas Even in my house.
So I had a nice few hours meandering around and absorbing some of the holiday cheer.
Other interesting things that I've seen recently:
Space Cats!
Giant heads!
Giant mugs for the giant head!
And a sparkly gold-plated kappa statue that weirdly reminds me of one of the Botticelli David sculptures:
(Yes, I know they have absolutely nothing in common, but there's something of the same cocky expression in each of them.)
Only a few more days until Christmas! Happy Holidays from Japan, everyone!
Or at least the holidays. Tokyo really decks itself out for Christmas, beginning almost immediately after Halloween (there's no Thanksgiving interlude here, of course). The trees that line the major streets are all wrapped in lights and almost every single department store has some sort of themed Christmas light show.
Shibuya's trees have little red Hello Kitty bows.
The pathway outside Shinjuku station is somehow penguin themed?
The nearby Odakyu department store is entirely pink.
Generic lights aside, Tokyo also has its fair share of Christmas festivals.
I decide to go back to the one in Hibya Park, near the Imperial Palace, which I had stumbled upon last year. I found it last year because I had just been rejected from a job interview--I finished my last final, flew home, flew to Japan, interviewed, was rejected, and STILL had my senior thesis to finish. I found the Christmas market while wandering around the area somewhat disconsolately and it cheered me right up, so I figured I would go again this year when I was in a much better state of mind.
This market is decidedly German in tone. Most of the stalls sell similar combination of German sausage and beer; most also sell hot mulled wine or "hot sangria" in annual themed mugs.
This year I erred slightly when I decided to get my hot strawberry sangria in one of the mugs, rather than a paper cup. Last year you paid for the mug and the drink but you could return the mug for a 500 yen refund. This year, unbeknownst to me, there were no take-backsies: all I wanted was a nice picture, like the one above, but I got the mug, too. Whoops.
The highlight for me is certainly the multi-story motorized German Christmas pyramid because it reminds me of the one that usually sits around the table during Christmas Even in my house.
So I had a nice few hours meandering around and absorbing some of the holiday cheer.
Other interesting things that I've seen recently:
Space Cats!
Giant heads!
Giant mugs for the giant head!
And a sparkly gold-plated kappa statue that weirdly reminds me of one of the Botticelli David sculptures:
(Yes, I know they have absolutely nothing in common, but there's something of the same cocky expression in each of them.)
Only a few more days until Christmas! Happy Holidays from Japan, everyone!
Comments
Post a Comment