Shinrin Park Night Illumination – Every year, Shinrin park in Namegawa Town, Saitama, offer night illumination in the central gate area of the park. They are one of the first to start their night illumination. They have three different displays:
- Halloween illumination – Halloween Night in the Forest,
- Autumn Leaf illumination – The Story of the Forest and Lights, and
- Christmas Illumination – Starlight
Below is a summary of each. If you’d prefer to look at them individually, just click on the illumination name in the list above. You can also find a link to each of the individual events below also.
Shinrin Park Night Illumination
Each of the displays are a little different, but elements are the same in all three. For example:
- Captain Bubbles pirate ship – by the central gate a large pirate ship blows out fluorescent bubbles during a laser light show.
- The Arboretum at the end of the kilometer long illumination walk, has food vans and a cafe where you can get food.
- There is a scavenger hunt for children.
1. Halloween illumination
“Halloween Night in the Forest” is the first of Shinrin Park’s three annual night illumination displays. It is held annually from the end of September to the first weekend in November.
We enjoy this event annually. This year, 2015, Saturday 24th saw the start of this year’s night illumination , called “The Story of the Forest and Lights“. From the 24th to the 31st there is a special Halloween display, with ghosts and pumpkins displayed in the trees on the walk to the Botanical Garden centre. Moreover, if you arrive in a really good costume, they will gift you a treat. In 2018 it was a delicious dish of ice-cream. In addition, there is a stamp rally for kids. The Botanical Garden Centre is where the main illumination can be enjoyed.
The hours for this week of Shinrin Park Night Illumination are 5pm to 8.30pm. The rest of the park closes as normal, so you have to make your way down to the central area before 5pm. All of the car parks except for the one directly beside the central gate close at their usual time, please take this into consideration when parking. If you do park at another gate, you must get a “re-entry ticket” 再入園券 as you are leaving so that you won’t be charged for parking again.
From the event calendar – Halloween Night Illumination Event Information (Updated annually):
2. Autumn Leaf illumination
The Story of the Forest and Lights is the second of the three night illumination displays at Shinrin Park. It generally starts the weekend after the Halloween illumination ends and runs until the end of November. This is the only one of the three illumination events that is on weekdays also. (Although, in recent years, the Christmas event runs for a few weekdays around Christmas day).
After Halloween, the focus of the Shinrin Park Night Illumination is on “Kouyou” 紅葉, the changing of the Autumn leaves color. The “kaide” garden is an area of maple trees which are lit up to enhance the natural beauty of the trees. There is a gazebo in the garden which is adorned with lights as well as an artificially created “river” of lights that flows from the gazebo.
The extended hours of Shinrin Park central gate for the month of November are 4.30pm to 8.30pm. However, you can not enter the park after 8pm.
Information on the event calendar updated annually:
3. Christmas illumination
Starlight is the third and final illumination display at Shinrin Park (aka Musashi Kyuryo National Government Park) annually.
The Starlight Christmas display starts from December 12th (2015) and ends the end of the year. The hours for that period are 4pm to 8pm. Update 2017: Starlight night illumination hours from 4 pm to 8.30 pm. It will run the weekends between December 9th and 24th. It will be available for the full week from 25th to 30th of December and again for the full week from January 2nd to 8th.
From the event calendar – Shinrin Park Illumination “Starlight” (Updated Annually):
General Information for Shinrin Park
Shinrin Park is a national government park also known as Musashi Kyuryo National Goverment Park. You can find up-to-date information in English about their hours and charges on their english webpage: https://www.shinrinkoen.jp/english/
Phone number: 0493-57-2111
Address: 1920 Yamada, Namegawa Town, Hiki District, Saitama
BONUS INFORMATION: Shinrin park is free in on November 1st 2015. November 3rd in 2017.
Be sure to check out this detailed post on this blog about all that is available at Shinrin Park:
Other Events at Shinrin Park during the season:
Outdoor Park @ Shinrin Park | NAMEGAWA
Treeing and Night Treeing