ACN presents Yoyogi Forest of Lights opens Friday 13 November 2026 on the cycling-course loop inside Yoyogi Park, not on the scramble, not on Center-gai, not as a free street walk you can join from Hachiko. Hours 17:30 to 22:00. Last entry 21:00. Tickets are sold in 30-minute slots from play guides. There is no window at the park. The date printed on the ticket is the only date that works. No re-entry. Tokyo is a backer. The organiser lists it as an ARTE TOKYO highlight for Yoyogi and Shibuya. That does not make it a scramble event.
Buy the slot before you leave the hotel
Early-bird tickets cover 13 to 30 November: elementary ¥500, junior and senior high ¥1,200, adult (university and older) ¥2,400. Regular weekdays are ¥800 / ¥1,600 / ¥3,200. Weekend, holiday, and 23 to 25 December cost more. The official site sends you to the ticket shop for those prices. Preschool children with a guardian enter free, two children per adult. Groups of 16 go through JTB. Rain or shine. Snow or a severe storm can stop the night. Check the official SNS that afternoon if the sky looks wrong.
November is the cheap window. December and January tickets went on sale at 10:00 on 15 October 2026. If you are reading this on the 16th, that sale already started. Do not walk up to the cycling course at 18:00 and hope. The FAQ is blunt: there is no same-day sales desk.
Harajuku is the gate. The scramble is a 20-minute mistake
Official walking times: JR Harajuku about 3 minutes, Metro Meiji-jingumae about 3 minutes, Metro Yoyogi-Koen about 3 minutes, Odakyu Yoyogi-Hachiman about 6 minutes. The scramble is the south end of the valley. After dark that walk is a tourist queue mixed with the drinking ban zone. You will spend the 30-minute slot on the approach. Take the Yamanote one stop to Harajuku, or get off at Meiji-jingumae and use the park’s east side. No event parking. No cloak. No lockers. No nursing room. Wheelchairs and strollers can go in. They do not lend them.
The park is still a picnic until 17:30
Locals use Yoyogi in daylight the way they always have: lawn, dogs, kids, a coffee from the edge. The paid course occupies the cycling loop after 17:30. The rest of the park does not become a ticket hall. Do not ride a bike onto the light course. Do not bring an amp, a lighting kit, or a ladder. Tripods and selfie sticks are allowed if they do not block the 1.8 km path. Pets on a lead are allowed. Cosplay that blocks the path or shows too much can be refused. The 17 zones include Rainbow Road, Cathedral of Lights, Floral Fantasia, London Skyline. Some stretches are dark on purpose. Watch your feet.
Blue Cave SHIBUYA, the free blue walk on Koen-dori to Keyaki Namiki, is 11 to 27 December on Tokyo’s October ARTE page. Different ticket, different path, different job. Hikarie Christmas is indoor and already dated 5 November to 25 December. If you only want lights without a slot, those two are the free and indoor options. Forest of Lights is the one you book.
Facts, zone list, and the price table live on the event page. Primary source: yoyogiforestoflights.tokyo.
Practical Details
- Dates: 13 November 2026 – 11 January 2027
- Hours: 17:30–22:00, last entry 21:00
- Venue: Yoyogi Park cycling-course area, 2-1 Yoyogi-Kamizono-cho, Shibuya-ku
- Nearest: JR Harajuku, Metro Meiji-jingumae, Metro Yoyogi-Koen
- Price: Adult early-bird ¥2,400 (13–30 Nov), weekday ¥3,200. Weekend and 23–25 Dec higher. No same-day sales
- Website: yoyogiforestoflights.tokyo
