Are you celebrating New Year’s Eve in Tokyo? Looking for a unique countdown activity in Japan? We have got you covered! Here are some events for you to get excited about, like live music and midwinter fireworks. Get ready to celebrate the special moment counting down to the New Year with your partner, friends and family!

1. COUNTDOWN JAPAN 23/24

This is Japan’s biggest New Year’s Eve festival! Here, you can enjoy an extraordinary space decorated with countless lights and decorations. It’s a perfect spot to enjoy the tick-over while listening to your favorite music and eating delicious local food. Attending with your loved ones and friends will make for an unforgettable memory.

CDJ is an amazing location to try New Year’s Soba, a festival food unique to New Year’s in Japan and a tradition that dates back 800 years! It’s said that eating the long soba noodles will not only break off the old year, but promise a healthy and long life going forward. Of course, soba isn’t the only festival food available. There will also be plenty of stalls selling anything from meat to sweets to whet your appetite.

A new year means a new fortune. Stop by the shrine to pick up a New Year’s good luck fortune to pair with your soba noodles. There will be ema (votive picture tablet) and omikuji (fortune) available to purchase.

A special indoor festival space! The concept of CDJ is “ROCK ‘N’ ROLL UNIVERSE”. Step inside the venue and you’ll find an extraordinary space decorated with lights! Enjoy yourself all over the venue.

Information about the event start times, as well as which artists will be performing, will become available as the CDJ date approaches.

Makuhari Messe

One-day ticket: 13,000 yen

2. Tokyo Disney Countdown Event

The countdown event at Disneyland is a special experience!

In addition to being able to come and go freely from both DisneySea and Disneyland, you can enjoy special New Year’s menus and, above all, the extraordinary experience of being able to play around in Disney from midnight to dawn.

Make sure to get the tickets well in advance so you don’t miss out!

3. Tokyo Joypolis Countdown Event

The Tokyo Joypolis Countdown Event will be held from 31 December on New Year’s Eve to 1 January on New Year’s Day at Tokyo Joypolis, one of the largest theme parks in Japan, located in Odaiba, Tokyo.

Visitors can enjoy a stage performance by comedians and other entertainers, as well as all-night unlimited rides on attractions and other events.

4. Tokyo Sky Tree

Celebrate the New Year with a view of the city of Tokyo from Japan’s tallest skyscraper.

At 634 m above ground, the Tokyo Sky Tree is renowned as the tallest tower in Japan. It is more than just a symbol of Tokyo, with lighting that changes according to the time of year and events to entertain people.

The Skytree Town commercial complex and Sumida Aquarium are located below, making it a leisure spot where visitors can enjoy the whole day.

To welcome the New Year, Tokyo Skytree will be lit up with special New Year lighting inspired by the Japanese flag and Tokyo Skytree’s official character Sorakara-chan, dressed in a gorgeous sunny kimono, will welcome visitors to Tokyo Skytree.

Tokyo Skytree Town, operated by Tobu Tower Skytree and Tobu Town Solamachi, will host various New Year’s events during the New Year. More information on these events will become available as the New Year approaches.

5. Tokyo Tower

Write your New Year’s resolutions from atop the original and the most iconic tower in Japan.

The observation deck at Tokyo Tower usually opens at 6:00am on New Year’s Day, allowing visitors to watch the first sunrise of the year. Seeing the beautiful sunrise while overlooking Tokyo Bay and the skyscrapers will surely make for a great start to the year.

After climbing Tokyo Tower, you can pay a New Year’s visit to the Tower Grand Shrine on the 2nd floor of the Main Deck, which receives divine spirits from the Ise Jingu Shrine and is believed to be beneficial for match-making and academic success. You can write your resolutions for the year on the Tokyo Tower-shaped or heart-shaped ema, which will surely help you achieve them.

After visiting the shrine, you can also receive a red seal at the OFFICIAL SHOP GALAXY on the 3rd floor of Foot Town.

6. 東急ジルベスターコンサートTokyu Silvester Concert

Be sure to catch this famous New Year’s Eve show live! Let’s count down the years with the finest classical music.

Every New Year’s Eve, the Tokyu Sylvester Concert is held at Shibuya Bunkamura Orchard Hall.

The concert is also broadcast live on TV Tokyo and BS Teletext, and has become a regular feature of the year-end programme.

The orchestral music will be performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, and the conductor and soloists will be up-and-coming young artists active around the world.

This New Year’s Eve, how about welcoming the New Year’s Eve in elegance and splendour while enjoying a powerful performance by a live orchestra?

7. 遊園地よみうりランド Amusement park Yomiuri Land

Gaze at the jewel-like illuminations and ring in the new year romantically!

Yomiuriland is a long-established amusement park located on the border between Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture.

There are more than 40 different attractions to choose from, ranging from screams to relaxation, for all ages and genders to enjoy.

The park is also home to the annual Jewel Illumination event in winter, which features sparkling, jewel-like illuminations, and the nearby hot-spring baths, making it a comprehensive leisure facility with plenty to offer outside of the amusement park.

This year, the park is bringing together the jewellery colours that have adorned the park in previous years, and visitors can enjoy spectacular illuminations in each area.

There is also an after-pass available from 3pm onwards, which allows you to enjoy the park’s attractions and the Jewellery Illumination at a reduced price, so be sure to schedule your visit to take advantage of the surrounding facilities as well.

8. Hilton 

With 2023 finally drawing to a close, Hilton Tokyo Bay will once again hold its popular New Year’s Eve special event, Countdown Park, at Lounge O, with its open atrium on the top floor and 8-metre-high windows.

The Countdown Park is packed with activities for children. Part 1, which starts at 3pm, offers a variety of activities for younger children, such as Super Ball Scooping, a plastic-ban corner, target practice, and a “Children’s Osechi” (a special children’s snack box filled with their favourite sweets), as well as yakisoba, okonomiyaki and other food items. 

The second part at 9pm is for adults. In addition to the activities from Part 1, there will be a selection of authentic meals prepared by Hilton Tokyo Bay chefs, including sparkling wine, Italian appetisers and roast beef rice bowls, all available at the food stalls. The restaurant’s counter will also serve a limited 150-serving New Year’s Eve prawn tempura soba. 

9. Shibuya Crossing

Shibuya Ward cancelled the New Year’s Eve countdown event around Shibuya Station last year. Hopefully, 2024 will see the return of this famous celebration.

As with other important events in Shibuya, there will be traffic restrictions in place, where no vehicles will be able to pass through the area. The area around Shibuya Station, including the scramble crossing in front of Shibuya Station, Dogenzaka and surrounding areas will be turned into pedestrian streets.

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There are lots of different places to spend the New Year, where would you like to go? This is the first time in three years Japan will be open to everyone, so this year will have lots of anticipation tied to it. Although some classic spots are still cancelled because of coronavirus, there are still endless amount of opportunities to celebrate the New Year in Japan!