Information for the third annual winter illumination display, “Green Circus”, at Tokorozawa Sakura Town.
Tokorozawa Sakura Town
Tokorozawa Sakura Town has shops, restaurants, museums, a factory, offices, a public open space, event space, a shrine and even a hotel. An anime hotel at that.
A summary of what’s available:
- Kadokawa Culture Museum including a Grand Gallery, Bookshelf Theater , Anime Museum and smaller galleries and facilities
- Teamlab Acorn Forest a permanent outdoor exhibition
- Kadokawa Restaurant
- Musashino Jurin Cafe
- Anime Hotel
- Da Vinci Store
Illumination at Tokorozawa Sakura Town
2020 was the inaugural night illumination at Tokorozawa Sakura Town. The entertainment center only opened (after many delays) in the summer of 2020. The maiden illumination was called “Fuyu Hanami”. Fuyu means winter and hanami means flower viewing, particularly cherry blossom viewing. And of course the “sakura” of sakura town means cherry blossom. Accordingly, the theme of the first winter illumination was cherry blossoms. In 2021~22 the theme was “Hajimari no Hikari”. In 2022 ~ 2023 the theme is Green Circus…
2022 – 2023 Winter Illumination
In the winter of 2022 ~ 2023 the theme of the illumination at Sakura Town is Green Circus. As in previous years, the objective of the event as is the ‘coexistence of people, town and nature’. They use lighting and construction methods that are considerate to the environment and the community. Furthermore, this year they are introducing some new features that will heighten the illumination experience. For example, colorful lights that really pop against the night. They will also use furniture decorations to create the feel of a circus. However, the furniture decoration starts later than the main illumination.
The 2022 ~ 2022 winter illumination is on from Saturday November 5th until a date in February yet to be decided. It is a free event. The main building will be lit up nightly from 5 pm to 10 pm. There is a switch on ceremony on November 5th. They will turn on the lights on the 12 meter tall ‘koyamaki’ Japanese umbrella pine Christmas tree that night too. In addition, the torii of the Cool Japan shrine are lit up at night too.
From December 3rd, when their Christmas event (information for that yet to be released) starts, is when you can see the circus theme furniture decoration in the park. They will also light up the fountain and the sidewalks at night.
Last year, the specifics for the switch on event are not yet available. They also haven’t released information for the 2022 Christmas events yet. Hopefully, the Christmas market will be in their 2022 line up. They had an outdoor ice rink in 2020 which was very popular, but as far as I am aware it didn’t return in 2021.
Illumination at TeamLab Acorn Forest
The permanent outdoor exhibition by TeamLab also has illumination nightly. Throughout the year, but it doesn’t open on rainy nights. Furthermore, there is the LED anime manhole covers that you can see on the walk from the station to the Higashitokorozawa park where the Teamlab is.
There is seriously so much to do in Tokorozawa / Sayama area that you could spend a week enjoying all it has to offer. Here is just a small sample of things you can do in Tokorozawa / Sayama.
Information
Event: Tokorozawa Sakura Town Winter Illumination 2022-2023 Green Circus. ところざわサクラタウン 冬のイルミネーション2022-2023 Green Circus.
Dates: From November 5th until a date in late February (not yet been decided).
Cost: Free
Venue: Tokorozawa Sakura Town, 〒359-0023 Saitama, Tokorozawa, Higashitokorozawawada, 3 Chome−３１−3. Map at bottom of page.
Access
Tokorozawa Sakura Town is a ten minute walk from JR Musashino Line’s Higashi Tokorozawa Station. Keep an eye out for the anime manhole covers on the way! By car, the entertainment town is about 3.6 kilometers from the Kanetsu expressway. Parking costs 200 yen per half hour. The first half hour is free.
The featured photo at the top of the post is from the official website.
Find even more cool events and news for Saitama check the events category.