Christmas in Tokyo 2026: Lights, Markets and Food

Golden tree-lined streets in Marunouchi, blue-white lights in Roppongi, and hot food from wooden huts. Christmas in Tokyo offers plenty to enjoy, whether you spend an evening walking through the city or sharing cake at home. Choose where to go based on whether you want to see the lights, browse markets or enjoy a meal.

In 2026, the markets are scheduled to open in Oshiage on November 5, Shintoyosu on November 20 and Shiba Park on December 4. Some illuminations continue after December 25, but trees and markets follow separate schedules. Here are options to suit your dates and budget.

A past view of Yebisu Garden Place (photographed in 2023). Photo: Syced / CC0 1.0.

See the lights · Compare markets · Food and cake · Spend time indoors

Choose by date and how you want to spend your time

For a short evening stop, try a free light display. For a leisurely look at food and gifts, visit a market. To avoid the rain, consider an indoor exhibition or a reserved meal. The dates below are the organizers’ announced plans for 2026; events continuing into the following year are marked 2027.

December 25 is not a national public holiday in Japan. If you are going after work, check when food orders end as well as when the lights switch off. Indoor trees and exhibitions are covered under indoor options.

Walk through the illuminations

Would you rather walk beneath golden trees or take photos among blue-white lights? Choose an area for its colors and scenery, then combine it with a meal or an indoor exhibition.

Golden trees and a film-inspired tree in Marunouchi

Marunouchi Illumination 2024 (photo published in January 2025). Photo: Kano Takahashi / Unsplash License.

The lights on Marunouchi Naka-dori run November 12–February 14, 2027, from 16:00 to 23:00. They stay on until midnight in December, but the starting time differs on opening day. On a walk from Tokyo Station, you can also visit the Harry Potter tree in Marucube on the first floor of the Marunouchi Building (Maru Biru). From November 12 to December 25, a display with film music and lights representing snow is planned.

The Marunouchi Building’s show runs every 15 minutes from 17:00 to 21:00, which differs from the hours when the tree itself can be viewed. The show’s starting time also differs on November 12.

From November 27, a tree and market on Gyoko-dori join the displays. The market runs 11:00–22:00, with hot chocolate and sausages among the food and drinks available. Check the Street Park map for its location. The organizer lists it as a 3-minute walk from Tokyo Station.

Blue-white lights and bubbles in Roppongi

A past view of Roppongi Keyakizaka (photo published in 2021). Photo: Takashi Miyazaki / Unsplash License.

The lights on Keyakizaka at Roppongi Hills are scheduled for November 5–December 25, 17:00–22:00. The starting time differs on opening day. Tokyo Tower is visible beyond the trees glowing blue and white.

From November 21, O-Yane Plaza also hosts a market with free admission. Browse German ornaments and spice decorations, or pick up a pretzel. The market runs 11:00–21:00; food, drinks and gifts cost extra. Visit the market first, then head to the Keyakizaka lights to fit both around their different closing times.

Tokyo Midtown is another option. Its outdoor illuminations are free to view from November 26 to December 25, 17:00–23:00. The display combining lights, music and bubbles runs only until December 20, so choose an earlier date if that is what you want to see. The indoor gift market closes at 21:00.

Baccarat and a Christmas tree in Ebisu

At Yebisu Garden Place, you can see the Baccarat chandelier alongside a roughly 10-meter tree and a golden-lit sloping walkway. The tree is on display November 14–December 25, while Baccarat runs November 14–January 11, 2027. The chandelier is lit 11:00–23:00, except on opening day, November 14, when it starts at 17:00. Apart from opening day, you can include it in a daytime walk.

The markets open at Tokei Hiroba (Clock Square) on November 14 and Chateau Hiroba (Chateau Square) on November 27, and both continue until December 25. Hours are 17:00–20:00 on weekdays and 12:00–20:00 on weekends and public holidays, with a planned 17:00 start on opening day, November 14. If you arrive after 20:00, plan to enjoy the lights rather than the food huts.

The venue is listed as a 5-minute walk from the East Exit of JR Ebisu Station. The markets may be canceled because of rain or strong winds.

Walk around the stations at Tama Center and Tachikawa

A past view of Tama Center’s illuminations (photographed in 2014). Photo: Konaine / CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized and reformatted for delivery. The delivered version of this photo uses the same license.

Around Tama Center Station, you can walk among a 12-meter tree, an aquarium of lights and animal decorations. The display is scheduled for November 14–January 11, 2027, 16:30–22:30, but the Hello Kitty balloon lights finish at 20:30.

The illuminations outside Tachikawa Station’s North Exit run November 1–January 17, 2027, 17:00–midnight and are free to view. On opening day, November 1, the lights start at around 17:55. The Christmas market is limited to December 18–20, 24 and 25. Choose one of those 5 days if you want to combine the station-area lights with the market.

Choose a Christmas market

Each venue offers a slightly different mix of sausages, warm drinks and ornaments for the tree. Oshiage and Roppongi have markets with free admission, while the markets in Shintoyosu and Shiba Park require admission tickets.

Choose food from the huts in Oshiage

At Tokyo Skytree Town, 15 wooden huts (hütte) in the fourth-floor Sky Arena offer sausages, warm drinks, boot-shaped mugs and more. The market runs November 5–December 25, 11:00–22:00, with last orders for food and drinks at 21:00. Admission is free; food, drinks and shopping are paid for separately.

The market is outdoors. The tree and street lighting in the town complex are separate from the Tembo Deck inside the tower, and entering the Tembo Deck requires an observation deck ticket.

Paid markets in Shintoyosu and Shiba Park

In Shintoyosu, browse wooden huts around a Christmas pyramid; in Shiba Park, choose food, drinks and gifts with Tokyo Tower in the background. The organizer’s menu includes mulled wine (Glühwein), pretzels and stew served in bread.

Prices vary by date. The table below covers admission only, excluding food, drinks, shopping and transport. Organizer’s pricing FAQ

Preschool children enter free. Using the prices above, admission for 2 adults, an 8-year-old elementary school student and a 5-year-old preschool child totals ¥2,500, ¥3,500 or ¥5,000, respectively.

For advance tickets, select a date and time slot on KKday through the official links. English purchase pages are available for Shintoyosu and Shiba Park. The mug benefit applies to adult advance tickets, but not child tickets or tickets bought on the day (the same conditions apply at Shiba Park). The mug is not a voucher for a free drink.

The Shintoyosu and Shiba Park markets are scheduled to run in rain, but may be canceled in severe weather. They are outdoor venues even where some seating is covered. Shintoyosu advance tickets cannot be changed or canceled after purchase, and Shiba Park has the same conditions, so settle your date, time slot and group size before confirming.

Enjoy cake, chicken and dinner

An example of a small Christmas cake (source dated 2011). This is not one of the 2026 convenience-store products introduced in this article. Photo: “Japanese Christmas cake” by Danny Choo / CC BY-SA 2.0. Resized and reformatted for delivery. The delivered version of this photo uses the same license.

You might share a small cake at home or at your accommodation, or reserve a table for a multi-course meal. Choosing where to eat first makes it easier to fit in takeaway pickups and a walk. Below are examples of products you can buy or reserve.

Take home a cake for one or a small group

Lawson plans to launch size 3 mini whole cakes on December 15, with no preorders. The strawberry cake costs ¥896 including tax, and the chocolate cake ¥950. These are sold in stores, so they are an option to look for after preorder deadlines have passed, but availability and stock vary by location.

If you prefer to choose your cake ahead of pickup, convenience-store preorders are another option. One small-group example at 7-Eleven is the “TOSHI YOROIZUKA Sept rêves Brûlée Chocolat Cake,” ¥1,620 including tax. Cakes preordered through 7NOW must also be collected in store.

These are 7-Eleven’s standard deadlines; some products have different conditions, and orders close when the allocated quantity is reached. The 10% early-order discount on eligible 7NOW products until November 30 at 23:59 is separate from the standard preorder deadlines above.

Share some chicken

Chicken is another takeaway option. FamilyMart lists a 6-piece Famichiki fried chicken set for 2–3 people at a set price of ¥1,368 including tax for December 20–25. The preorder deadline is 09:00, 3 days before your chosen pickup date. Under those conditions, pickup on December 24 requires ordering by December 21 at 09:00; pickup on December 25 requires ordering by December 22 at 09:00.

The 7NOW preorder guide and Famima Online user guide describe different apps and payment timings. Even if no phone call is needed, you may have to enter your name and phone number. If phone number or payment requirements prevent you from completing a preorder, in-store products that do not take preorders are another option. Do not assume cake deadlines also apply to separate chicken products.

Reserve a table for a multi-course meal

One hotel dining option is the Christmas course at The Bistro in Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo. The full course includes dishes such as Japanese beef sirloin with truffle sauce. For December 23–25, the price is ¥12,700 per person including tax, plus a 15% service charge, giving a calculated total of ¥14,605 per person or ¥29,210 for 2 adults. Additional orders cost extra.

Dinner has 2 sittings: arrival at 17:00–17:30 and departure by 19:30, or arrival at 20:00–21:00 and departure by 23:00, with a 2-hour limit from your reservation time. Use the English booking page to select your plan, group size and time. Include children under the appropriate age categories and check their prices and ordering conditions.

Before confirming an online reservation, read the cancellation terms and payment method. Registering a card may involve advance payment or a preauthorization hold; entering your card details does not necessarily mean you have paid. The Tokyo restaurant booking guide also explains booking and change procedures.

Options for cold days and families

You can spend a long evening walking through outdoor lights or plan a mostly indoor visit. Combining exhibitions and trees in the same area lets you change your stops to suit the rain or cold.

See a tree and a museum near Tokyo Station

A past view of KITTE’s indoor tree (photographed in 2013). The decorations differ from those for 2026. Photo: “X’mas Tree” by Yoshikazu TAKADA / CC BY 2.0. Resized and reformatted for delivery.

WHITE KITTE runs November 19–December 25, with a roughly 15-meter white tree in KITTE’s first-floor atrium. Light and music shows run about every 30 minutes between 12:10 and 21:53, with some performances suspended. The indoor tree is an option for enjoying the scenery on a rainy day.

The Intermediatheque on KITTE’s second and third floors is a museum with free admission. Regular hours are 11:00–18:00, extended to 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. It closes on Mondays (or the following day if Monday is a public holiday), over the New Year period and on certain other dates. This is a way to combine the tree with the museum’s regular exhibitions, rather than a Christmas-only exhibition.

If you want to visit the museum too, go there while it is open, then see the tree before heading to the lights on Naka-dori. If the rain is heavy, you can spend your time entirely inside KITTE. For other exhibitions, see free rainy-day spots in Tokyo.

Combine outdoor and indoor stops in Roppongi

A past view of the indoor Christmas market at Tokyo Midtown (photographed in 2013). Photo: “Christmas Market @ Tokyo Midtown” by Guilhem Vellut / CC BY 2.0. Resized and reformatted for delivery.

At Tokyo Midtown, combine the outdoor lights with the market in the Galleria and an indoor Santa-finding activity. The market and Santa search run November 26–December 25, 11:00–21:00. They finish earlier than the outdoor lights, so you can start indoors.

There is direct access from Exit 8 of Roppongi Station on the Oedo Line. The underground passage on the Hibiya Line side has stairs, and the venue directs visitors with strollers to the Oedo Line. The baby room closes at 20:00 and the nursing room at 21:00, earlier than the outdoor lights’ 23:00 switch-off.

Enjoy an indoor Christmas in Tama Center

Sanrio Puroland plans Christmas activities with a candy house and characters from November 6 to December 25. It is an indoor venue, but both an admission ticket and a visit reservation are required. Prices and opening hours vary by day, so choose your date before checking the official pricing and reservation guide.

It is about a 5-minute walk from Keio Tama-Center and Odakyu Tama-Center Stations. After spending time indoors, you can also see the illuminations near the stations.

Tokyo’s December average temperature is 7.7°C, based on the 1991–2020 climate normals. Choose your evening clothing based on the forecast for the day. See also when to visit Tokyo and what to wear.

To check your train home, enter your departure station, the station nearest your accommodation and your travel date in Yahoo! Transit (Yahoo! Norikae Annai), then select “終電” (Shūden, “last train”). The latest departure time depends on your destination and transfers, so do not assume you can stay until the venue’s lights go off and still get home by train. How to check Tokyo’s last trains

Lights from December 26 onward

A past view of the Baccarat chandelier in Ebisu (photographed in 2024). Photo: Syced / CC0 1.0.

You can still take a walk through Tokyo’s lights after Christmas. The trees and food huts at the same locations may already be gone, though. Choose according to the end date of the display you want to see.

Head into the city for an evening of lights, or settle into a reserved table or a takeaway meal when you want to linger over food. Choose the Christmas outing that fits your dates and the people spending it with you.