It started with the display at our local Mazda dealer at the end of our lane. Ah yes, doesn't this put you in the mood?
From there we see more and more of the areas being lit up at various extravagant levels. Shelley and I went right into the belly of the beast last weekend to experience the "true" meaning of Christmas in the Roppongi neighborhood, probably one of the ritziest shopping areas in Tokyo. AS it turns out, the blue LED light, invented in Japan, has permitted neighbourhoods to go wild with "illuminations" as they are called here, every year each neighbourhood trying to outshine the next. One newspaper calls it Tokyo's own cold war.
So lets start the tour at the road accessing the Roppongi Tower neighborhood:
A little overwhelming so I had to take a seat on this amazing piece of public art; a chair made from clear blocks of glass that make it look like I am sitting on ice:
From there a quick pass of a series of fountains by another series of illuminated trees, some more Christmassy:
And some just plain magical. This was an undulating light piece surrounded by blankets of twinkling LED lights slowly changing from pink to white to red.
From there we were drawn into the heart of the "spirit of Christmas"... shopping! Under the brilliant canopy of "snow flakes":
Past the extremely Canadian log cabins (made from paper) with Santa on the roof with comely white women handing out samples of the best sake...
What would the evening be without imported white male opera singers to serenade us all with the Christmas classics like..."Stand by me" in opera style!
Some interesting messaging on the columns. This was an ad for MasterCard. What is this buxsom woman worried about?
We just had to stop and sniff the Christmas tree dipped in chocolate (really!) with cinnamon sticks on it!
And pause in front of the chocolate train engine that you too could buy for $500 (50000yen):
Past the chocolate sculptures just for show:
Ah yes, very Christmasy!
To rest our tired legs we dropped in for a drink (or should that be "up" because we were on the 53rd floor) at the Ritz Carlton lounge thinking a drink can't be THAT expensive... even in Tokyo. Dean and his wife are a lovely couple whom we met on some of our travels and they joined us. This is Dean and Shelley.
Well, we found the ideal drink for any of you romantic people to get for your loved one. Check out the drink, the ingredients... and the price (in yen that is; 100 yen to the dollar more or less) !!!!
Needless to say, this drink will need to wait for someone else who has too much cash and nothing better to do with it!
The evening was finished off with another walk down a beautiful alley of lit up trees with Tokyo Tower in the background.
Just before we left I glimpsed the perfect gift to ask from Santa; a plug in Porsche! Anybody else want one?
Here's to the Christmas spirit in Tokyo!
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