We had a late start this morning from the メルキュール東京羽田エアポート Mercure Tokyo Haneda Airport. We left just before noon to get lunch near 東京駅 Tokyo Station. In the early evening, we went over to 東京ミッドタウン Tokyo Midtown to see their Christmas illuminations. After, we walked over to 六本木ヒルズ Roppongi Hills primarily for the extremely busy view over the beautiful illuminated けやき坂 Keyakizaka with the 東京タワー Tokyo Tower in the background. We then walked over to 麻布台ヒルズ Azabudai Hills to see what Christmas was like there before heading back to the Mercure.
Morning at the Mercure
We woke up late at the メルキュール東京羽田エアポート Mercure Tokyo Haneda Airport after a long day yesterday. The weather outside didn’t look too great with overcast skies and rain. We knew we wanted to see more of Tokyo’s Christmas illuminations tonight so there was no rush to head out early.
Yaesu
We decided to head over to 東京駅 Tokyo Station to get lunch. There are countless options at the station and in the immediate area. We ended up going to a restaurant on the 八重洲 Yaesu side of the station, which is on the east side.
We went to 焼鳥 ハレツバメ Yakitori Haretsubame in the second floor shopping area of the 丸の内トラストタワーN館 Marunouchi Trust Tower N-Building near Tokyo Station for lunch. As the name suggests, they are a yakitori restaurant. Unfortunately, they only have yakitori for dinner!
We got the gyu harami (beef skirt) steak and chicken ohitsu gohan with a big bowl of tororo (grated raw yam – nagaimo in this case) set, and the soba and udon oyakodon set. Both were served quickly and were pretty cheap for what we got and the location.
We’re lucky we arrived just before the typical lunch time as it quickly filled up with salarymen not long after we sat down!
Large windows on the second floor look out to the west over Tokyo Station’s Nihonbashi exit.
We walked a little bit to the south to reach 東京ミッドタウン八重洲 Tokyo Midtown Yaesu. This development is pretty recent as it just opened in 2023.
There was a display behind the tree of some artisan crafted products.
We also went inside to take a look. From what we understand of a sign that explains this work of art in front of us, Yasuhiko Fujikawa, a floral artist, created floral art based upon this design on December 15th, which was more than a week ago now. It seems like it might have been in the B1F level of the building we’re in, or maybe an adjacent building.
"Hana-Kabuki" Live Creation
■ Date & Time: Monday, December 15, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM (Ends upon completion)
■ Venue: YANMAR TOKYO B1F HANASAKA SQUARE
■ Artist: Yasuhiko Fujikawa (Floral Artist)
Witness the creation of "Hana-Kabuki" (Floral Kabuki Art) by floral artist Yasuhiko Fujikawa—a process previously featured on the documentary program *Jounetsu Tairiku*.
This piece, created for the "Lighting Objet 2025" exhibition, depicts *Kanjincho* (The Subscription List)—a masterpiece from the *Kabuki Juhachiban* (The Eighteen Great Kabuki Plays) series by the renowned Edo-period ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Kunisada. Come and observe the creative process of Fujikawa, a world-class floral artist who was invited to the Vatican City this past February as a "Jubileo Artist" to create a floral portrait of the Pope at St. Peter's Basilica.
Yasuhiko Fujikawa
Floral Art Artist / Flowerscape Artist
Representative Director, Flower Art Culture Association
Born in Tokyo in 1961, he graduated from the Department of Theatre Arts at Nihon University College of Art. Centered on the theme of "ephemeral" (the fleeting nature of life), he creates ephemeral art using materials such as flowers and candles, both in Japan and abroad. He is Japan's leading figure in "Infiorata"—floral art created on the ground using petals—and has spent 24 years creating and producing works at approximately 450 locations worldwide, developing these projects into art events that attract over 1.5 million visitors annually. His international work includes "Hana-Kabuki" (recreating Kabuki imagery with flowers) and creating pieces dedicated to high-profile figures such as the Pope and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. His activities have been featured across various media, including the television program *Jonetsu Tairiku* (Passion Continent), as well as radio, newspapers, magazines, and online platforms. Since 2022, he has produced the "TOKYO FLOWER CARPET" on Gyoko-dori Avenue (Marunouchi, Tokyo)—one of Asia's largest events of its kind—with Her Imperial Highness Princess Nobuko of Mikasa serving as Honorary President. In May 2023, he created a collaborative piece with Ed Sheeran at Tokyo Tower. In February 2025, he was invited to Vatican City to participate in the "Jubilee for Artists" (Giubileo degli Artisti) hosted by the Pope during the special Holy Year (Giubileo), where he created a portrait of the Pope. He has served as a radio personality on interfm since March 2019 (hosting "Flower's YELL," broadcast every Saturday from 16:43 to 16:58). Guided by the slogan "Flowers have no borders!" (meaning there are no national boundaries to the heart that appreciates flowers), he focuses his activities on art creation through floral art, international exchange, regional revitalization, and social contribution.
– Text from a sign, translated using Google.
We were happy to come across Kumamon! Perhaps the most famous bear in Japan?
The illustration in this poster is clearly based on the movie poster of Macaulay Culkin in the original Home Alone movie. In this case, it is advertising Christmas Mischief, トリバコーヒー Toriba Coffee‘s December special coffee blend. It seems that recently they have had monthly specials based upon different movies.
December Exclusive Blend
With a single sip, your heart dances.
A December exclusive blend with a sweet "trick" up its sleeve.
TORIBA
– Japanese text from the poster above, translated using Google Gemini and Translate.
While walking through the underground shopping areas of Tokyo Station, we got a melon soft serve from Hokkaido Foodist. The flavor was pretty melony, though the lady who prepared it was a bit cheap with the quantity compared to pretty much every other soft serve we’ve ever had in Japan!
The east side of Tokyo Station, as seen from the windows at the 大丸 Daimaru tax refund counter. It was 3pm and still overcast and wet outside.
We were surprised to see Marmot on this wall! Many other outdoor clothing and equipment brands are featured as well.
Tokyo Midtown
We took the subway to the west to visit the original 東京ミッドタウンTokyo Midtown. It is roughly half-way to Shibuya from Tokyo Station. This sign shows all the illuminations and other displays that are here during the Christmas and winter season.
We walked under #7 on the map, the Feathery Snow Tree. It looked pretty feathery as we passed underneath.
This area beneath what is probably an escalator above featured a bit of water and some illuminated trees with faux snow.
We went outside to see the Christmas Garden Lights.
This display features an illuminated area outside in the not so creatively named ミッドタウン・ガーデン Midtown Garden.
The lights change color and are, for a lack of a better word, animated.
There is also a fog feature.
It was pretty busy despite the rainy weather.
We knew from previous visits that there is a pedestrian overpass that goes over the road between the garden area and mall on the northeast side. It is somewhat useful for crossing the road but more useful to get a higher vantage point. So, we started to walk over there. We noticed that the skating rink was illuminated but seemed to be closed. Possibly due to the rain?
The overpass is on our left here. It would be even easier just to cross the road right here to enter Tokyo Midtown.
From the pedestrian overpass, we could see the ice skating rink. It was full of ice but devoid of people.
Looking to the west, we could see the Christmas Garden Lights display that we just walked through as well as the normal winter illumination on the trees on either side of the road.
There wasn’t much on the east side though.
We crossed the bridge to get to the other side….
We recorded video of the Christmas Garden Lights as well as a bit of the view from this overpass.
There was a Ralph Lauren pop-up shop in the small plaza below. It includes Ralph’s Coffee, which we actually have locally at well at Tysons Galleria.
The actual popup store is inside.
We returned to the Feathery Snow Tree but this time from a higher floor.
We kept on walking to see the Santa Tree. As the name suggests, it features many Santas. So many Santas!
We then headed back outside into the rain and found the Emotion Palette Tree. This is more of a legit Christmas tree. It was a bit hard to enjoy it in the rain though!
The tree as seen from a bit further away.
We headed back in via another pedestrian overpass, this time on the east side of Tokyo Midtown. We knew from past experience that the security guards here will try to rush you along if you stop and take pictures, even if there is no one else around. So you just wait for them to not be right next to you, snap a photo, and move on.
We once again walked through Tokyo Midtown, this time exiting on the south side under this large canopy.
There were a few pretty illuminated trees here.
Roppongi Hills
We started to walk to the south to reach 六本木ヒルズ Roppongi Hills.
On the way, we stopped at Oyoge, a tiny taiyaki shop that I’ve had marked on Google Maps for probably a very long time.
The taiyaki here is different due to both the shape and how it’s served. It is more of a taiyaki sandwich here as an empty taiyaki is cut in half like a sandwich and filled. We got one with chocolate and another with red bean and whipped cream. The whipped cream here was a million times better than typical American whipped cream!
We kept on going to reach Roppongi Hills and its famous spider sculpture. It would not be our choice of decor…
We actually didn’t know anything about this sculpture by Louise Bourgeois. It turns out it is one of six copies while the original is at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.
We’re not particularly fond of these sorts of trees with many seemingly random colored lights. This one, and some of the others nearby, at least seems to have a little bit of a pattern to the color.
The view looking up at the Mori Tower, the tallest building at Roppongi Hills.
There was an extremely busy Christmas market on the southeastern side of the Mori Tower.
The website for the Christmas market has quite a bit of detail about everything that was present today.
Continuing on, we found the bridge that goes over the けやき坂 Keyakizaka. It was ridiculously busy with a queue! This photograph was actually taken at the end of the queue after we made our way through it.
We’ve been here before in previous years and it has never been this busy. But we’ve probably never been here on Christmas Eve!
While in the queue, we came across this display. There is something special if you photograph it with flash!
This is the view that we queued for! The 東京タワー Tokyo Tower is lit up with Christmas themed red and green lights. And the Keyakizaka looks beautiful when lined with illuminated trees on both sides.
The view from a bit further to the south from the bridge no longer includes the Tokyo Tower. However, it does reveal the Mori JP Tower at Azabudai Hills. This skyscraper was completed in 2023 and is now the tallest building in Japan. The 東京スカイツリー Tokyo Skytree is still the tallest structure in Japan though.
We didn’t really go any further. The weather wasn’t so great with rain and there really isn’t much to see beyond this point. Well, there is that little park and its fun slide but not in this weather!
This was the view to the west, away from the Tokyo Tower, above the Keyakizaka.
As we headed back to leave Roppongi Hills, we came across this Christmas tree, the Whirling Wish.
This tree is sponsored by Tiffany’s and was created by UxU, a design studio from Taiwan!
We went upstairs for the bathrooms but also enjoyed seeing the tree from an elevated perspective!
Back outside, we came across a Mazda display at the edge of the Christmas market.
HP AI… No thanks! Is there anything that could be less appealing? Oh yeah, Microsoft AI!
Azabudai Hills
We decided to walk over to 麻布台ヒルズ Azabudai Hills next rather than head back to the Mecure. It isn’t too far away.
We decided to eat at Dashi Chazuke En, a restaurant that is pretty much at the northeast corner of the Roppongi Hills development. We ordered the salmon and tai (a type of fish which is where taiyaki gets its name). Both were pretty cheap, though a bit small if you’re hungry. We weren’t too hungry so it was OK.
Roppongi! This famous sign can be seen on the side of the elevated highway that runs along the northern edge of Roppongi Hills.
After turning to head southeast, the Tokyo Tower came into view.
This was a pretty display featuring illuminated umbrellas.
The last time we were here, there was a more elaborate display on the grassy area to our right. We didn’t really look into it much at the time but that display was called Magic Garden and featured 1,600 flowers along with projected images by Monet, Van Gogh, and Renoir.
This year’s event here is called ジパング黄金の庭 Zipang: The Golden Garden. There was a projection mapped light show but we didn’t really hang around to watch for more than a little bit.
Continuing on, we approached Azabudai Hills.
We’re not really familiar with this new development and have never approached from this direction. But, we found an entrance! A big entrance! Sadly, by the time we arrived, % ΔRΔBICΔ was already closed.
We walked over to the Central Green, which is basically just outside by % ΔRΔBICΔ. Normally, this is an open plaza but now it has been transformed into a Christmas market.
We walked around a bit and considered getting a snack but decided against it.
The Christmas tree here is pretty simple yet beautiful!
The Tokyo Tower, as seen from the plaza. The dark building to its right is the 霊友会釈迦殿 Reiyukai Shakaden. Wikipedia describes Reiyukai as a “Buddhist new religious movement“. We’ve never gone into the building here, although its supposed to be an interesting place to see.
A random momiji showing some color!
An interesting Christmas, or maybe just winter, themed display for Berluti, a French brand that is part of LVMH.
A tiny little carousel!
It was one of a series of small Christmas displays here at Az2026budai Hills.
The camera’s battery was almost empty and our extras were all fully used so we just briefly recorded some video… The sort of rough stop and go motion of the display doesn’t look too great in this short video unfortunately.
It was getting late so rather than continue we went to the adjacent 神谷町駅 Kamiyachō Station to head back to the Mercure. We were amused by this sign indicating that the button here is not the elevator call button!