Every year Tobu Zoo and amusement park puts on a fantastic night illumination show for the winter months. It is one of the better known, and larger, night illumination displays. In both 2020 and 2021, it was actually one of only a handful of places that had their winter illumination. This year marks the 17th year of the illumination. And this year, for the first time since the pandemic, it will start in October. In recent years, the illumination are usually a collaboration with a group or band. The music of which they use for a light show.
Tobu Zoo illumination
The park uses smoke, light and music to add to the ambiance of this night illumination. The illumination involves a LED vision performance laser and projection mapping show, that is the largest of its kind in the Kanto area. (Kanto is the area comprising Tokyo and the surrounding six prefectures of Saitama, Gunma, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Kanagawa and Chiba). Since winter of 2023/4 they have a brand new LED machine that makes the images even clearer than before. Moreover, they also added two new lasers.
They use over 3,000,000 lights to create an illuminated flower garden in Heartful Garden. The area covers 8,000 meter squared. This year they are only using 20 LED Lanterns of animals. Last year it was 59. But they will also have animals made out of flowers this year. In addition, they have the sakura trees decorated with light flowers. Furthermore, they light up some of the amusement rides. They also have a relatively new area (started 2018) representing the flowers of the four seasons. This illumination is an absolute delight for children and people of all ages. Overall the park has a very romantic feel and it makes a great place for a winter date!
Night Zoo
You can see dozens of animals at night, which is a completely different experience than during the day. There are around 15 animals you can see until closing time and another four that you can see until 7 pm. They are the white tigers, lions, leopards and bears. On Christmas Eve and Christmas night only, they have a photo spot with five animals in Santa hats! From 6 pm to 6.30 pm only. They will also have a candle night on those nights too. That is on until 9 pm.
Illumination Schedule
Please note for the months of October and November and until December 4th the illumination and night zoo is only on at the weekends and public holidays (in years when Saitama Day, 11/14, is a weekday it is also on). Likewise, from January 6th until the display ends on February 28th, you can only see the illumination display on the weekends and public holidays. The display is on daily from December 5th to January 6th, with the exception of January 1st as the zoo will close for New Year’s Day. The illumination stays on until 8 pm except on Christmas Eve and Christmas night when it is extended an hour, to 9 pm.
Tobu zoo have a smaller illumination event for Halloween. Information for that here.
Event Details
Event: Tobu Zoo Hybrid Leisureland Winter Illumination 東武動物公園インターイルミネーション2026-2027
Season: From Saturday October 24th 2026 to Sunday February 28th 2027. See next section on the specifics on dates. Please note the zoo is closed on New Years Day, January 1st, and on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in January and February annually.
Time:
October to December 4th: on weekends, public holidays and November 14th (Saitama Day, which is on a Saturday in 2026) only and thus the park: from 5 pm to 8 pm.
December 5th ~ 31st: daily from December 5th, from 5 pm until 8 pm, except for December 24th and 25th when the illumination stays on until 9 pm.
January ~ February: zoo closed on January 1st. Nightly from January the 2nd to 6th 2027. From January 7th to February 28th 2027, the illumination is on weekends and public holidays only from 5 pm to 8 pm.
Cost:
The website has been down since the first week in October and is still down on October 14th, so I can’t check the cost for 2026. Some websites are saying its 1700 yen for the night pass, for entry only, and 2500 yen with rides included.
An “illumination pass” that gives you unlimited access to the rides in the amusement park and access to the illumination show is 3900 yen for adults, 3000 yen for seniors, 3800 yen for teenagers and 2700 yen for children. For just illumination (no rides) an adult ticket is 1400 yen, 1000 yen for seniors, 1300 yen for teenagers and 700 yen for children. For people with an annual entry ticket you can pay 2500 yen for teenagers and adults, 2000 yen for children and seniors for the night attraction pass to enter from 3 pm in the afternoon. Parking costs 1,000 yen, flat rate regardless of length of stay.
Tobu Zoo Illumination Access
Address: Tobu Zoo, 110 Suka, Miyashiro, Minamisaitama District, Saitama 345-0831. View on Google Maps.
Public Transport:
The zoo is about a ten minute walk from Tobu Skytree skyliner Tobu Zoo Station.
Car:
Approximately 15 kilometers from the Kuki Interchange on the Tohoku highway. Parking for 3000 cars, costs 1000 yen for the day.
Phone for SatNav / GPS
0480-93-1200
Official event page. Please note their website is down long-term in October 2026.
Editor’s note: unpublished with the events calendar move and republished on 20211011 /tobu-zoo-winter-illumination/
these illumination events are very popular in Asia. A nice reason to get out and about of an evening no doubt!
Because they are outdoors and rarely attract thousands of people at the same time, I think they are the ideal event during these pandemic times, but surprisingly, dozens of places decided not to go ahead with their illumination this year 🙁