Winter light displays in Japan, of which there are many, are festive events meant as destinations to bring people together in the dark winter months and to put forth an aura of hope and magic. The practice began in a big way in the 1990s. The peak time period each year occurs during the Christmas season — primarily a commercial holiday in a country where there are few Christians — but some winter displays extend far beyond the holiday, often running from November to February or March.
Taking place in city centers, neighborhoods, parks, and entertainment districts around the country, the illuminations typically include 10s of thousands of LED lights on trees, garden plants, and structures, sometimes enhanced with additional light and color from spotlights, projections, or glowing setpieces, as well as music, programmed sequences of light and motion, and other effects. Pop-up shops, cafés, winter markets, and other activities can also be part of the fun.
The illuminations often have a theme and many feature licensed characters, sometimes tied to an anniversary or upcoming entertainment release. The following list highlights a few of the many examples from this year and last that have integrated licensed IPs:
- Disney characters, including from the Frozen, Zootopia, Rapunzel, Toy Story, and Winnie the Pooh franchises, are starring in the 2025-2026 winter illumination at Tokyo’s Marunouchi Street Park, near the Ginza district. Separately, the studio’s Zootopia 2 characters are also front and center at Hibiya Magic Time Illuminations in the nearby Hibiya neighborhood of Tokyo. Each year, Disney illuminations are often seen at the Caretta Shiodome, a mall in the Minato ward of Tokyo, and in other light displays around the city and elsewhere in the country.
- Characters from Bandai’s Tamagotchi universe are being featured in the Sagamiko Illumillion 2025-2026: A Festive Night of Lights and Tamagotchi Delight. Located at Sagamiko Mori Mori, a hillside adventure resort in Sagamihara City in Kanagawa Prefecture, about an hour away from Tokyo, this is billed as one of Japan’s largest winter illuminations. In past years, characters featured have included Sailor Moon, Doraemon, and San-X’s Rilakkuma and Sumikko Gurashi.
- The Sanrio characters Little Twin Stars will celebrate their 50th anniversary with top billing at the Fantasy 2025 Little Twin Stars Xmas Illumination at Tokyo Tower.
- Harry Potter’s Magical Christmas Illumination is taking place at the Dai Nagoya building in Nagoya, Japan, in its fifth floor Sky Garden. This is the first time this annual illumination has featured Harry Potter; the display also represents the first Harry Potter illumination in the Tokai region of Japan. Next year is the 25th anniversary of the release of the first Harry Potter film.
- The giant Unicorn Gundam figure in DiverCity Tokyo Plaza in the Odaiba entertainment district, which is tied to the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise, is being featured in a winter light-up through the end of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, the second year the statue has been part of an illumination. Gundam has a new film trilogy coming out in early 2026.
Theme parks around Japan tied to key entertainment studios and franchises also feature illuminations highlighting their characters. A few examples, among many, include Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, which features Harry Potter illuminations in the winter months; Sanrio Puroland in Tokyo, whose illuminations this year focus on characters including Jochum (newly co-developed by Sanrio and the boy band JO1) and Little Twin Stars; Ghibli Park, which offered its first winter illumination last year, focused on its film Howl’s Moving Castle; and the Naruto and Boruto Shinobi Village attraction in the anime- and manga-themed Nijigen-no-mori park on Awaji Island near Kobe, which is offering a traditional Japanese lantern illumination this year, along with two projection-mapping shows.
If you haven’t see it yet, you can close out the year by reading our round-up of 25 of the top licensing trends of 2025. Meanwhile, RaugustReports will be taking a short break for the winter holidays, making this is our last post for 2025. We’ll restart our regular Monday and Thursday schedule of observations on licensing trends and insights on Monday, January 5. We wish everyone a happy and prosperous new year.
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