Shinjuku Southern Terrace Winter Illumination Festival 2016
Christmas in Tokyo is all about twinkling lights. Shinjuku Southern Terrace does it every year. In December it transforms into a magical wonderland. Trees are draped in illuminations. Visitors come. It’s a photographer’s dream. I ventured into this luminous spectacle in 2016 with no plan and learned some lessons. Let me take you through my experience and share some tips.
As I already mentioned, 2016 was the first time for me to see the terrace’s lights. They were impressive. The designers covered the trees in thousands of small bulbs. They should have been proud of themselves.
Light-ups are very popular in Japan. They attract huge numbers of people! The Southern Terrace was no different. Some people photographed the lights. Others wandered in their glow with someone special. A few killed time looking at them before having a night on the town. I’m sure that Krispy Kreme, right in the middle of the area was happy, as it was pretty crowded.
Even though I love photography, I admit I’m not the most creative type. I hesitated to start when I arrived as I had no idea how to photograph the lights! I’d had no experience with a place like that before.
But I walked around Shinjuku Southern Terrace and studied those taking pictures. There were so many. Most had smartphones, but some had DSLRs. A few even brought tripods. It was interesting and educational. I learned a few things from them. Well, they gave me the confidence to start.
This event made me start thinking about taking a tripod to them. Yes, they are another piece of kit to carry, but they give you two important benefits:
- As the camera has support, you can use a lower ISO.
- You can get creative with slower shutter speeds.
Many areas around Tokyo light up over the Christmas season. They then often continue into January. Marunouchi, Shibuya, Midtown, and Harajuku also put on shows. Please share your experiences if you’ve been to any of these events. You can also leave comments and questions below.
Where is Shinjuku’s Southern Terrace?
Address: 2-2-1 Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo
It is over the road from JR Shinjuku’s south exit, near Takashimaya, the department store. Here it is on a Google map:
Shinjuku Southern Terrace Christmas 2016 camera gear:
- Camera Body: Pentax K-3
- Lenses: Pentax SMC DA 18 – 135 mm f/3.5 – 5.6 ED AL (If) DC WR
Rohan Gillett
Rohan has lived in Tokyo for 30+ years. He loves photography and okonomiyaki. Rohan walks the city in his free time.
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