{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Article",
  "name": "Tokyo in December 2026: Lights, Closures and a 4-Day Plan",
  "headline": "Tokyo in December 2026: Lights, Closures and a 4-Day Plan",
  "description": "Tokyo in December 2026: go between December 1 and 25. The illumination and Christmas market dates, what closes from December 26, the weather and a 4-day plan, checked October 26, 2026.",
  "url": "https://gowithcarmen.com/trips/tokyo-december",
  "inLanguage": "en",
  "dateModified": "2026-10-26",
  "author": {
    "@type": "Organization",
    "name": "Carmen",
    "url": "https://gowithcarmen.com/about"
  },
  "about": {
    "@type": "Place",
    "name": "Tokyo"
  },
  "answer": "Go between December 1 and 25: the street lights and Christmas markets run until the 25th, and the city starts closing for the New Year on December 26. If the Tokyo National Museum matters, go before December 22, when it drops to two buildings. Spend the days on museums, gardens and the fish market, and the evenings under the lights in Marunouchi and Roppongi, which are both on after dark every night until Christmas.",
  "sections": [
    {
      "id": "answer",
      "heading": "What should you do in Tokyo in December 2026?",
      "text": "Go between December 1 and 25: the street lights and Christmas markets run until the 25th, and the city starts closing for the New Year on December 26. If the Tokyo National Museum matters, go before December 22, when it drops to two buildings. Spend the days on museums, gardens and the fish market, and the evenings under the lights in Marunouchi and Roppongi, which are both on after dark every night until Christmas.\nThe week after Christmas is a different trip. Tokyo National Museum closes from December 26 to 31, the Ghibli Museum from December 27 to January 2, the Imperial Palace East Gardens from December 28 to January 3, and the Toyosu fish market from December 31 to January 4. I would only book December 26 to January 3 if seeing in the New Year at a shrine is the reason for going."
    },
    {
      "id": "table",
      "heading": "What is on and what closes in Tokyo in December 2026?",
      "text": "December 2026 dates, checked on the official sites October 26, 2026\nDate | What changes\nUntil December 25 | Roppongi Hills: the lights on Keyakizaka, the hill street below the tower, from 5pm to 10pm every night since November 5; the Christmas market in the plaza under the tower, 11am to 9pm, from November 21.\nUntil December 25 | Azabudai Hills, the newer tower complex a short walk from Roppongi: Christmas market, 11am to 9pm, from November 21.\nNovember 12 to February 14, 2027 | Marunouchi Illumination: gold lights in the trees along about 1.2 km of Naka-dori, the shopping street between Tokyo Station and the Imperial Palace. The Christmas program around it ends December 25. Nightly hours were due in late October.\nTuesdays, December 1, 8, 15 and 22 | Ghibli Museum closed. Tickets for December go on sale November 10 at 10am Japan time.\nWednesdays, December 2, 9, 16 and 23, and Sundays, December 6, 13 and 20 | Toyosu seafood market closed. It opens on Sunday, December 27 for the year-end rush.\nMondays and Fridays | Imperial Palace East Gardens closed. On open days in December: 9am to 4pm, last entry 3:30pm.\nTuesday, December 15 | Tokyo National Museum closed for maintenance. Its Asian gallery and rooms 17 to 20 of the main building are closed all month.\nDecember 22 to 25 | Tokyo National Museum: only the Horyu-ji Treasures Gallery and the Kuroda Memorial Hall open.\nDecember 26 to 31 | Tokyo National Museum closed. Ghibli Museum closed from December 27 to January 2. East Gardens closed from December 28 to January 3.\nThursday, December 31 | Toyosu seafood market closed until Tuesday, January 5, 2027.\nFriday, January 1, 2027 | Tokyo National Museum open noon to 8pm.\nAll month | Meiji Jingu, the city's great Shinto shrine in its forest by Harajuku: open every day, free, 6:40am to 4pm in December.\nTokyo Midtown and Yebisu Garden Place usually light up for Christmas too, but neither had posted its 2026 dates when I checked on October 26, so they are not in the table."
    },
    {
      "id": "lights",
      "heading": "Where are the best Christmas lights in Tokyo?",
      "text": "Marunouchi for the walk, Roppongi Hills for the view. The Marunouchi Illumination is the one I would not miss: gold lights in the trees of Naka-dori for about 1.2 km, a flat, quiet street from Tokyo Station toward the Imperial Palace, and it carries on into February. Start at the station after dark and walk it end to end, then have dinner in the Marunouchi or Ginza towers.\nRoppongi Hills lights Keyakizaka, the sloping street below its tower, from 5pm to 10pm until December 25, and the classic photograph is from the top of the slope with Tokyo Tower behind the lights. Go on a weeknight; weekends near Christmas are crowded. Azabudai Hills is the next complex along, so the two Christmas markets and the Roppongi lights make one evening."
    },
    {
      "id": "christmas",
      "heading": "Is Tokyo worth visiting at Christmas?",
      "text": "Yes, until the evening of December 25, and then the mood switches to the New Year almost overnight. Christmas in Tokyo is lights, markets and shopping, not a public holiday: shops and the fish market keep their normal hours on December 24 and 25, though the Tokyo National Museum is down to two buildings by then. Christmas Eve is a night out for couples, so book dinner for the 24th as early as you would a hard reservation.\nBoth Roppongi Hills and Azabudai Hills close their Christmas markets on December 25, and the Roppongi lights go off that night. If you want both the markets and the museums at full strength, December 1 to 21 is the window: from December 22 the Tokyo National Museum is down to two buildings."
    },
    {
      "id": "new-year",
      "heading": "What is closed in Tokyo over the New Year?",
      "text": "Plan for December 26 to January 3 as a week of shrines, walks and hotel dinners, with most of the big museums and the fish market shut. The dates on the official sites: Tokyo National Museum closed December 26 to 31 and open again on January 1 from noon; Ghibli Museum closed December 27 to January 2; Imperial Palace East Gardens closed December 28 to January 3; Toyosu seafood market closed December 31 to January 4.\nNew Year is when Tokyo goes to the shrines. Meiji Jingu is open every day, but January 1 to 3 brings the biggest crowds of its year, so on those days I would go to a smaller neighborhood shrine instead and see Meiji Jingu at opening time on another morning. Sushi counters and small restaurants often close for a few days around January 1; ask when you book."
    },
    {
      "id": "weather",
      "heading": "What is the weather in Tokyo in December, and does it snow?",
      "text": "Cool, dry and mostly sunny, and it almost never snows. The Japan Meteorological Agency's 1991 to 2020 averages for central Tokyo in December: highs of 12.0°C (54°F), lows of 3.8°C (39°F), 57.9 mm of rain for the whole month and 174 hours of sun. The average December snowfall is zero.\nPack a warm coat, gloves and shoes for walking, and plan the outdoor sights for the morning. The real limit is daylight: Meiji Jingu closes at 4pm and the East Gardens let in their last visitors at 3:30pm, so the gardens and shrines go first and the lights take the evening."
    },
    {
      "id": "book",
      "heading": "What should you book before a December trip to Tokyo?",
      "text": "Book in this order: an omakase dinner, the Ghibli Museum, teamLab Planets, then Christmas Eve dinner.\n• Omakase. Counters release seats one to three months ahead, so a late December dinner needs booking now. The omakase booking guide has each counter's release day.\n• Ghibli Museum. Entry is by advance ticket only, and December tickets go on sale November 10 at 10am Japan time. Avoid Tuesdays and December 27 onward, when it is closed.\n• teamLab Planets. The teamLab guide covers which of the two to pick. Planets is the one that fills first, so buy it the week your dates go on sale.\n• Christmas Eve dinner, as early as the restaurant takes bookings."
    },
    {
      "id": "plan",
      "heading": "What would I do with four days in Tokyo in December?",
      "text": "Four days from Thursday, December 10 to Sunday, December 13: the market, museums and gardens by day, a different set of lights each night. The dates avoid every closure in the table above.\n• Thursday: Toyosu and Marunouchi. The Toyosu fish market early, while it is busy, then teamLab Planets, which is in the same part of the bay. Afternoon in Ginza, then walk the Marunouchi lights from Tokyo Station after dark.\n• Friday: Meiji Jingu and Roppongi. Meiji Jingu at 6:40am, when the gates open and the forest is empty, then Omotesando and Harajuku. In the evening, the Roppongi Hills lights and market, and the Azabudai Hills market next door.\n• Saturday: the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, in west Tokyo, on your booked time, then back into the city for the omakase dinner.\n• Sunday: the Imperial Palace and Ueno. The East Gardens at 9am, then Tokyo National Museum for the afternoon, open 9:30am to 5pm. The Tokyo museums guide has what is on and what else in Ueno is worth the time.\nFor more days, the four-day Tokyo itinerary keeps the same neighborhood order. Stay in Marunouchi, the pick in the where to stay guide, and the best of the lights are outside the hotel door. Traveling with teenagers, swap Saturday for the teen plan's Nintendo and Shibuya day."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "label": "Tokyo National Museum",
      "url": "https://www.tnm.jp/modules/r_free_page/index.php?id=113&lang=en"
    },
    {
      "label": "Ghibli Museum",
      "url": "https://www.ghibli-museum.jp/en/tickets/"
    },
    {
      "label": "Imperial Palace East Gardens",
      "url": "https://www.kunaicho.go.jp/e-event/higashigyoen02.html"
    },
    {
      "label": "Toyosu fish market",
      "url": "https://www.shijou.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/calendar/2026"
    },
    {
      "label": "Roppongi Hills",
      "url": "https://www.roppongihills.com/sp/christmashills/"
    },
    {
      "label": "Azabudai Hills",
      "url": "https://www.azabudai-hills.com/sp/christmashills/"
    },
    {
      "label": "Marunouchi Illumination",
      "url": "https://www.marunouchi.com/pickup/event/10727/"
    },
    {
      "label": "Tuesday, January 5, 2027",
      "url": "https://www.shijou.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/calendar/2027"
    },
    {
      "label": "Meiji Jingu",
      "url": "https://www.meijijingu.or.jp/en/visit/"
    },
    {
      "label": "Japan Meteorological Agency's 1991 to 2020 averages",
      "url": "https://www.data.jma.go.jp/stats/etrn/view/nml_sfc_ym.php?prec_no=44&block_no=47662&year=&month=&day=&view="
    },
    {
      "label": "omakase booking guide",
      "url": "https://gowithcarmen.com/trips/tokyo-omakase-booking"
    },
    {
      "label": "teamLab guide",
      "url": "https://gowithcarmen.com/trips/tokyo-teamlab-borderless-or-planets"
    },
    {
      "label": "Tokyo museums guide",
      "url": "https://gowithcarmen.com/trips/tokyo-museums"
    },
    {
      "label": "four-day Tokyo itinerary",
      "url": "https://gowithcarmen.com/trips/tokyo-4-days"
    },
    {
      "label": "where to stay guide",
      "url": "https://gowithcarmen.com/trips/tokyo-where-to-stay"
    },
    {
      "label": "teen plan's",
      "url": "https://gowithcarmen.com/trips/tokyo-with-teenagers"
    }
  ],
  "citation": [
    "https://www.tnm.jp/modules/r_free_page/index.php?id=113&lang=en",
    "https://www.ghibli-museum.jp/en/tickets/",
    "https://www.kunaicho.go.jp/e-event/higashigyoen02.html",
    "https://www.shijou.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/calendar/2026",
    "https://www.roppongihills.com/sp/christmashills/",
    "https://www.azabudai-hills.com/sp/christmashills/",
    "https://www.marunouchi.com/pickup/event/10727/",
    "https://www.shijou.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/calendar/2027",
    "https://www.meijijingu.or.jp/en/visit/",
    "https://www.data.jma.go.jp/stats/etrn/view/nml_sfc_ym.php?prec_no=44&block_no=47662&year=&month=&day=&view="
  ],
  "editorialMethod": "https://gowithcarmen.com/about"
}