Posted November 4, 2014 by Jonelle Patrick Awesome Stuff To Do

「Yokohama Smart Illuminations」: Wow. Just…wow.

Last night I went to see what I thought was going to be a modest art-light event on the Yokohama waterfront, secretly expecting that the photos from past years were exaggerating the quality of the illuminations. I was SO WRONG! This event was spectacular. See for yourself!

You know you're in the right place when you chance across a plaza lit up in ever-changing colors. — You know you’re in the right place when you chance across a plaza lit up in ever-changing colors.

Suddenly, a voice boomed out from one of the buildings and a living face materialized in the wall!

Then another one joined it, and they began to insult each other!

A crowd gathered nearby to watch a man in a fantastically illuminated suit. Wherever he walked, he took a little island of light with him.

This field of eerily glowing mushrooms had a pressure pad set in their midst. If you jumped on it, tiny blue lights embedded in the ground flashed all around you.

Behind the café, an ever-changing wall of neon became the selfie background of choice

This glow-in-the-dark elephant squirted water from its trunk when its tail was cranked.

A garden of neon goth bunnies springs up in the middle of a lawn.

Lanterns made from odd materials float against the Yokohama skyline.

Under the old train bridge, a rippling curtain of glowing panels flutters in the wind.

Even the sightseeing boats were bedizened with neon and fairy lights.

If you’re in Tokyo at the end of October and would like to see the Yokohama Smart Illuminations, directions & a map are on my website, The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had.

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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly newsletter Japanagram, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had

Jonelle Patrick View All

Writing mystery books set in Tokyo is mostly what I do, but I also blog about the odd stuff I see every day in Japan. I'm a graduate of Stanford University and the Sendagaya Japanese Institute in Tokyo, and a member of the International Thriller Writers, the Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters In Crime. When I'm not in Tokyo, I live in San Francisco. I also host a travel site called The Tokyo Guide I Wish I'd Had, so if you're headed to Japan and want to check out the places I take my friends when they're in town, take a look!