Japan Winter Illuminations 2026-27: Dates, Hours and Prices by City

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After a one-hour workday, or on a free weekend day: the night you can go is usually fixed first, and what you need to know is what is lit that night. I lined up the dates, hours and prices for the 2026-27 winter illuminations by city, using the organizers’ own wording. Dates change with the organizers’ announcements, so check the official link in each section before you go.

Winter Illuminations 2026-27: What Is Lit on the Night You Can Go

Linking Tokyo and Yokohama in One Night: Start With Yokohama, Which Closes Earlier

Take a day when work ends at 19:00. When you leave the office, Roppongi Hills Keyakizaka (until 22:00) has three hours left, and Yokohama’s Yorunoyo (until 21:05) has about two. The travel time to each venue comes out of that. On a weekday evening after work I would pick Keyakizaka, and save Yokohama for a weekend, when you can start walking at the 17:00 switch-on.

Roppongi Hills Keyakizaka (announced)

• Dates: Thursday, November 5 to Friday, December 25, 2026
• Hours: 17:00–22:00

The source is Mori Building’s press release of September 30, 2026 (no price is listed).

Marunouchi Nakadori (announced)

• Marunouchi Illumination 2026: Thursday, November 12, 2026 to Sunday, February 14, 2027
• MARUNOUCHI BRIGHT HOLIDAY: Thursday, November 12 to Friday, December 25, 2026 (excluding some content)
• Lighting hours: 16:00–23:00, and until 24:00 in December. On Thursday, November 12 there is a lighting ceremony, so the switch-on time differs

The sources are Mitsubishi Estate’s press release of September 17, 2026 and Marunouchi’s announcement page. The lighting hours are as written on Marunouchi’s announcement page (as of November 2, 2026). No price is listed. The order below is built around the hours at Keyakizaka and Yokohama.

Yokohama Yorunoyo (announced)

• Dates: Friday, December 4 to Wednesday, December 30, 2026
• Hours: 17:00–21:05
• Venue: Yokohama’s central waterfront (Yokohama Osanbashi International Passenger Terminal, Yamashita Park and others)
• Admission: Free (as shown on the official site)

The source is the official site.

Yoyogi Forest of Lights (announced)

• Dates: Friday, November 13, 2026 to Monday, January 11, 2027 (a national holiday)
• Hours: 17:30–22:00 (last entry 21:00). It runs in the rain, and may be called off on days of snow or severe weather
• Venue: Yoyogi Park (cycling course area), 2-1 Yoyogi Kamizonocho, Shibuya, Tokyo. About 3 minutes on foot from Harajuku Station, about 3 minutes from Meiji-jingumae <Harajuku> Station and Yoyogi-koen Station, and about 6 minutes from Yoyogi-hachiman Station. There is no parking
• What to expect: A path of light about 1.8 km long with 17 light zones (including Singing Tree, Floral Fantasia, Chestnut Aglow and Cathedral of Lights). Food and drink from food trucks is cashless only
• Admission (tax included, tickets for visitors to Japan): Adults ¥3,600 early bird (November 13–30) and ¥3,800 regular on weekdays. Junior high and high school students ¥2,500 early bird and ¥3,300 regular. Elementary school students ¥1,000 early bird and ¥1,400 regular. For weekends, holidays and December 23–25, check the prices on the ticket sales page
• Ticket rules: There are no same-day tickets and no re-entry. You can enter only on the day you bought the ticket for. Children under school age enter free with a guardian (up to 2 children per guardian), and pets are allowed

The source is the official site (as of November 11, 2026). The official prices come in two kinds, “domestic” and “for visitors to Japan”, and the amounts above are the ones for visitors to Japan. Prices are in yen, and what a card issued overseas is charged changes with the exchange rate. Tickets are sold through Lawson Ticket, TBS Tickets and Asoview. Because there are no same-day tickets, I buy after I have fixed the day. Last entry is 21:00, so on a night when you walk Keyakizaka (until 22:00) first, arrange the order so that you can get into Yoyogi Park by 21:00.

Venues not yet announced (as of October 13, 2026)

• Tokyo Midtown: Not yet announced. In 2025 it ran Thursday, November 13 to Thursday, December 25. 2025 announcement page (in Japanese)
• Omotesando: Not yet announced. In 2025 it ran Monday, December 1 to Sunday, December 28, from sunset to 22:00. Official page (in Japanese)
• Ebisu Garden Place: Not yet announced. Official events page (in Japanese)
• Tokyo Skytree Town: Not yet announced. Official site (in Japanese)

Seeing Osaka and Kobe: Both in One Night, or Split Them?

My answer is to split them. The last day of the Midosuji Illumination is Thursday, December 31, 2026, and the first day of Kobe Luminarie is Friday, January 29, 2027, so there is no day when both are lit. I would do Osaka in December and Kobe from the end of January to early February.

Osaka: Midosuji and Nakanoshima (announced)

• Midosuji Illumination 2026: Tuesday, November 3 (a national holiday) to Thursday, December 31, 2026, from about 17:00 to 25:00 (1 a.m.). Midosuji, from the Hanshin-mae intersection to the Namba-nishiguchi intersection
• Hikari no Renaissance | City Hall facade illumination and Nakanoshima Illumination Street: November 3 to December 31, 2026, 17:00 to 25:00
• Same | Projection mapping on the Central Public Hall: Friday, December 11 to Friday, December 25, 2026, 17:30 to 21:30 (last show starts at 21:20)
• Same | Hikari no Marche: December 11–25, 2026, 16:00 to 22:00. Around Naniwabashi Station

The source is the Osaka City press release (in Japanese). The projection on the Central Public Hall ends at 21:30, so I would do Nakanoshima first and Midosuji, which stays lit until 25:00 (1 a.m.), after it. The whole Osaka Festival of Lights runs until January 31, 2027. For the venues and dates in January, check the press release above.

Kobe Luminarie, 32nd edition (announced)

• Dates: Friday, January 29 to Sunday, February 7, 2027 (10 days)
• Venues: Meriken Park, Higashi Yuenchi and the former foreign settlement
• Tickets: Part of the Meriken Park venue is a paid area. Advance tickets are ¥500 on weekdays and ¥750 on weekends and holidays; same-day tickets are ¥1,000 on weekdays and ¥1,500 on weekends and holidays
• Lighting hours: Dusk to 21:30

The source is the official announcement (in Japanese). The advance price is half the same-day price. The lighting hours are as written on the official site’s top page. Ticket prices and how to buy are on the official ticket page (as of November 2, 2026). No on-sale date for advance tickets is listed. If you have already picked your day, buy in advance. The amounts are in yen as of October 13, 2026, and what a card issued overseas is charged changes with the exchange rate.

Seeing Snow and Light in Sapporo

At the Sapporo White Illumination (46th edition), the venues you can see depend on the month you go. The Odori venue ends within the year.

• Odori venue: November 20 to December 25, 2026
• Ekimae-dori venue: November 20, 2026 to February 11, 2027
• Minami-Ichijo-dori venue: November 20, 2026 to March 14, 2027
• Other venues: Nakajima Park is planned for early January to late January 2027. Akapura and the Sapporo Station south exit run until March 14, 2027
• Admission: Free (as listed by the Hokkaido Tourism Organization)
• Lighting hours: Not yet announced

The dates are from the Hokkaido Tourism Organization listing (in Japanese). The organizer’s official page did not yet show this year’s dates as of October 13, 2026.

If you go in January or February, get there by February 11, 2027 and you can walk both Ekimae-dori and Minami-Ichijo-dori.

Going for the Whole Day: Gardens and Parks With Admission Tickets

15:30. Ashikaga Flower Park’s evening session starts at this hour, while it is still light. For the parks, I fix the admission ticket and the train home first, then set out.

Nabana no Sato

• Dates: October 17, 2026 to May 31, 2027
• Closed: The official site shows January 6 and 7. The price page also shows January 7–8, so if you go in early January, check the official site
• Entry fee (includes ¥1,000 in vouchers): From October 17 to November 20, 2026, ¥2,500 at a convenience store and ¥2,700 at the ticket window
• Same: From November 21 to December 22, and from December 26, 2026 to February 28, 2027, ¥3,000 at a convenience store and ¥3,200 at the ticket window
• December 23–25: Date-specific, limited-quantity tickets. Same-day tickets are ¥5,500, and the advance price has not been announced
• Getting there: About 10 minutes by direct bus from Kintetsu Nagashima Station

The source is the official page (in Japanese). I pick up my ticket at a convenience store before going. Until February 28, 2027 it is ¥200 cheaper than the ticket window (from March 1 to May 31 both are ¥2,500), and the official site warns that printing a ticket at the on-site window can take more than 30 minutes.

Ashikaga Flower Park

• Dates: Saturday, October 17, 2026 to Sunday, February 14, 2027. Closed on Thursday, December 31
• Evening session: 15:30–20:30 (until 21:00 on weekends and holidays). From early November to early January, until 21:00 on weekdays and until 21:30 on weekends and holidays
• Prices: Adults ¥1,500, children ¥800. The day session and the evening session are separate admissions
• Nearest station: Ashikaga Flower Park Station on the JR Ryomo Line

The source is the official page (in Japanese). The official site warns of crowding at the station on the way home and asks visitors to top up their IC card beforehand.

The other three parks

Prices are in yen as of October 13, 2026. They change with the season and ticket type, and what a card issued overseas is charged changes with the exchange rate.

Avoiding the Crowded Nights: Day of the Week, Time and Where to Stay

The clue to which nights are crowded is the days when the organizers change their ticket terms: the days they switch to date-specific tickets, and the days they raise weekend prices.

Day of the week: watch the days ticket terms change

Nabana no Sato uses date-specific, limited-quantity tickets only on December 23–25, 2026, and Kobe Luminarie’s paid area charges 1.5 times the weekday price on weekends. If your days are flexible, avoid those three days at Nabana no Sato and the weekends in Kobe.

Time: put the venues that close late at the end

Among the city venues with a published closing time, the latest are Midosuji and Nakanoshima at 25:00, followed by Keyakizaka at 22:00.

Where to stay: decide by the train home

• Going to a park on a weekend: The evening session runs until 21:30 on some days (Ashikaga Flower Park). If the train home would pass midnight, stay one night nearby.
• Going to Kobe from another city: Kobe runs for only 10 days. Once you have fixed your day, book a room that you can cancel.

For family and friends visiting Japan, I would tell them about Sakura Mobile’s SIM and Wi-Fi, which they can pick up at the airport or hotel.

Frequently Asked Questions

Photo credits

The photos were taken in past years. Marunouchi Nakadori (Tokyo, 2020): pcs34560 / Wikimedia Commons (public domain). Roppongi Keyakizaka (Tokyo, 2022): Dick Thomas Johnson / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0), resized and converted to WebP. Midosuji (Osaka, 2019): Oilstreet / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.5), resized and converted to WebP. Odori Park (Sapporo, 2013): t-konno / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0), converted to WebP. This photo can be reused under the same license. Ashikaga Flower Park (Tochigi, 2021): Miyuki Meinaka / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), cropped and converted to WebP. This photo can be reused under the same license. Ashikaga Flower Park Station (Tochigi, 2021): Miyuki Meinaka / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), cropped and converted to WebP. This photo can be reused under the same license. Featured image, the tunnel of light at Nabana no Sato (Mie, 2011): panoramiokobax / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0), cropped, text added and converted to WebP.