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JAPAN UPDATE FROM JNTO KUALA LUMPUR OFFICE
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December Vol. 2 (2021-16) |
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- Romantic Winter in Japan -
December is always a special month in Japan! It is not hard to see smiles on everyone's faces as they look forward to the coming festive season and its many joyful occasions, i.e. Christmas, end-of the-year long holidays and the biggest occasion of the year, New Year celebration.
The country as a whole is immersed in merry, festive vibes,
with cities laced with beautiful light-ups and illuminations, department stores having massive sales, and white snow adding the final magical touch to these sceneries!
While there are a myriad of stunning illumination events across Japan during this season, in this article, Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) has handpicked 3 spots, from north to south, where you can experience an unique yet memorable (romantic even!) winter in Japan!
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[Tokyo] Forest Aurora
Northern lights in Tokyo(!?)
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Have you ever thought it possible to see northern lights
without going all the way to the Northern hemisphere?
Now you can in Japan, with the special event
"Forest Aurora" as brought by Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo. |
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Using state-of-the-art light projection technology over the hotel's vast garden, the hotel is treating its dear guests and visitors to a magical experience with realistic northern lights projected overhead into the night sky.
The light projections are also combined with another signature attraction of the hotel, "Tokyo Sea of Clouds", to present yet another magnificently dreamy view to its guests, one that you'll likely only see here!
The hotel's majestic botanical garden also boasts 2,300 camellia trees from 100 different species, which blossom in the winter/early spring season. |
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"Tokyo Sea of Clouds" during day time |
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[Nagano] Matsumoto Castle Illumination
~ Weaving light through ice crystal for a fantastic winter~
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Experience Matsumoto Castle as you have never seen it before.
During the chilly winter nights, warm up with a loved one with a pleasant stroll under the romantic lighting of the road from the center of Matsumoto City to Matsumoto Castle Park,
right up to the magnificent sight of the illuminated Matsumoto Castle emerging from the surface of the surrounding lake water.
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Past Matsumoto Castle Illumination |
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If you think illumination events itself are lacking a little something, what about adding in National Treasure into the mix? The blend of modern bright technology plus the elegant traditional architecture of a grand castle is a sight to beat!
Matsumoto Castle Illumination is truly one of a kind, where latest projection mapping technology is utilized to highlight the outline of the magnificient castle structure while giving it an ultra-photogenic night-colours. While night photography can be hard to get right, this event does all the work for you. All you have to do is whip out your camera, and you could get stunning pictures just like the one show above!
There is also the Ice Sculpture Festival held here from Jan. 21 to 23, where you get to admire both ice artwork curated by the talented sculptors and the Matsumoto Castle at its backdrop.
The Matsumoto Castle Illumination event is currently held in the city from Dec 1st, 2021 to Feb 28th, 2022, everyday from 18:00 to 21:00.
You may consider to put this into your future Japan bucket list!
Other than Matsumoto Castle, Nagano prefecture has much more to offer, including: some of the best ski resorts in Japan, onsen-soaking monkeys to be entertained by, and amazing landscapes of Japanese Alps: click here to understand more. |
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Current Matsumoto Castle Illumination (left); Ice Sculpture Festival (right) |
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[Miyagi] Sendai Pageant of Starlight
~ Make winter come alive in a blink of an eye~
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Be prepared to be dazzled and mesmerized by one of the Japan's most spectaculated winter illuminations, in the gateway city of Tohoku region. |
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Annually, Jozenji-dori Street of Sendai tranforms in twinkly winter wonderland, with hundreds of thousands of LED lights luminating the whole area. Beginning in 1986, the event is now attracting visitors from all across Japan as well as from all around the world. Around 160 zelkova trees are dressed up for the occasion with beautiful and warm magical yellow lights, and the street concerts with occasional light snows is the romantic cherry-on-top to an already magical atmosphere. Strolling through the dazzling illuminations gives you the illusion of passing through a light tunnel, with delightful restaurants and cafes waiting to warm you right up when you get to the end.
If you happen to be mesmerized enough by the sights to stay until evening comes (and we trust that you will be!), be sure to catch the "starlight wink", held every day during the event period at 6pm, 7pm and 8pm. Essentially, this is when all lights are shut off for 1 minute before being relit all at once. But, in that short 1 minute interval of waiting in darkness, you will surely feel the excitement bubble and build up amidst the crowd, crescendoing to a merry cherry the moment of 600,000 lights blink back to life! From a brief darkness to instantenous light, it almost feels like the whole city is winking at you!
Be sure to check it out! |
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If you wish to more about winter illuminations or snow festivals or other winter outdoor activities Japan has to offer,
this website is exactly for you!
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[Watch the following video and answer a simple survey to stand a chance to win away this handkerchief] |
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Join our "It's Survey Time Campaign!“ to get a Tohoku exclusive Kokeshi doll handkerchief from Tohoku, Japan just by simply watching the above video and answering our survey via this link!
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JNTO wishes everyone of you a Happy and Healthy New Year 2022!!!
Wish this New Year brings you lots of joy, happiness, good health and peaceful year!! |
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