Winter Illumination at Tokyo German Village!

A little blurry, but wheee! Clovers!

Now that winter's upon us in full force and Christmas is right around the corner, it's also time for another one of my favorite events - the Winter Illumination at Tokyo German Village (東京ドイツ村)! Despite the name, this place is tucked deep in central Chiba Prefecture. By day it's a quaint little theme park, but at night during the winter months (November to early March), this place is lit up with countless lights!

This year's theme: Smile of Hope - cheering on Japan after 3.11!

I wasn't able to capture it very well, but the lights here are really amazing! This photo and the one above were taken from the ferris wheel in the park.

Tunnel of light! It forks off two different ways...did it always do that?

Like I mentioned above, Tokyo German Village is tucked away in the Chiba countryside.
It looks like they have a free shuttle bus running to/from the park to JR Sodegaura Station every 20 minutes or so, but car is by far the best way to go. If you go by car, admission is only 1500 yen (2000 yen from December 1-January 9) - whether you drive a 4-seater mini car like mine, or a giant van that can fit 8 people.

My other advice is that if you go by car, they'll have people directing traffic in giant parking lot that wraps around the whole park. They may tell you to park somewhere around in the middle, but IGNORE THEM AND PARK NEAR THE EXIT! Especially if you are going on a weekend or another busy day. Last year I had a friend who apparently parked up top (nearer to the park, seems like a good idea) as she was told to, and then had to wait over 2 hours just to get out of the park because it was that crowded. :/

Pig-shaped steamed bun! Yes, there is pork inside there...and it was delicious!

We stopped for a break for something hot and delicious. Tokyo Germany has a surprisingly awesome variety of delicious foods!

I especially recommend their bakery!!! They bake everything in the bakery located WITHIN the shop, and so if you hang around just for a few minutes, they often bring out breads straight from the oven...so good!!!!

We had a chocolate croissant (left) and strawberry cream cheese bread (right). The latter tasted just like a toaster streudel!

In the plaza, every 30 minutes or so they had a show of lights timed to music! During this show, everyone would chase after the giant bubbles from the bubble machines set up all over the station. I think the bubbles have chalk or something in them, because when they popped they would dissipate into what looked like white smoke! I tried to capture it on a photo, but this was the best I could do!

Then, we wandered into the giant clover (pictured in the very first photo of this post). It's so cute to look at up close too! I really like these needle tree things!

Ducks!!! But more importantly, see the awesome landscape in the back?

Last but not least, my favorite scene from this year's illumination! We had wondered what exactly was "in" the clover when we were looking at it from the above, since each of the leaves had different patterns but we couldn't make out what they were from afar.

Anyway, this was my third year going - and I think my 6th time or so going to see this, but I never get tired of it! It's awesome whether you are with family, friends, or someone special. My only other advice is to DRESS WARM! It gets reaaaaally cold at night, so wear lots of layers!