Tokyo, New Years, 8 days...
 

And I have no idea what I'm going to do.

I'm taking the train up to Tokyo for new years. I've never been there before.

I've been told that going out on new years eve in Japan isn't as common in the USA, but I also heard they still have a "ball drop". Where do the main new years festivities take place in Tokyo?

I heard it's very popular to head to the Miiji Shrine in Tokyo on new years day and watch the sun rise on the new year.

If anyone has any suggestions please feel free to share them! :vsign:

I spent one New Year's in Tokyo with one friend, and we spend most of the night looking for something to do. This was 10+ years ago, so I am sure things have changed, but make plans in advance, as for the most part New Year's is like Christmas...most of the country is at home celebrating.

i was in tokyo last new years and MMM is pretty spot on,... most people go home to families and visit shrines, so the only partying places youre likely to find are in roppongi.

i dont recall and actual ball drop anywhere.

Many (millions) go to Meiji Jingu to pray for the new year, and while i didnt go on new years eve, i went on new years day and there was a massive que, atleast 500m long and 10 people wide, which moved surprisingly quickly, but yeah its not somewhere you go for a party or to watch the sunrise really,... the neighbouring yoyogi park maybe for the sunrise if you want to stay out in the cold.

New Years is not really the time to look to go out partying. There are always a few parties, I hear, but more gatherings of foreigners wanting to party than regular Japanese events. There is as much a culture of going out on New Years as there is for, say, doing the same on Christmas or Thanksgiving in the US.

I believe that a couple television stations do a live concert / ball drop - but don`t expect there to be a big party for it. Most people really are at home watching it on tv with family... Or lined up at a shrine for the first shrine visit of the new year.

I actually feel kind of bad for you visiting that time of year. Pretty much everywhere is closed for the week, and there isn`t a whole lot to do. Probably the very worst time of year to actually try to do stuff in Japan, no matter where you are.

I agree with Nyororin. Unless you have Japanese friends putting you up, it is probably the worst time of year to visit.

I spent the last two new years in Tokyo and had a fantastic time.
We were staying at The Park Hyatt and went to a party at the New York Grill
with a great view of the city. They light up the Tokyo Tower at 12 and there are
some fireworks around the Ginza area, other than that it was rather quiet compared to a traditional western new years celebration in a large city.


I hope to be going back again this new year, I'm hoping to make this a tradition!

Thanks for all the input.

For those of you saying it's a bad time of the year to visit Tokyo..... that's why I'm going. I'm not going to sight see, I can come back another time, it's only a train ride away. I'm going to simply go for New Years.

I wonder if Tokyo Disney is doing anything special. I need to look into it.

Also, anyone have any suggestions for how to go about making reservations in hotels there? Any popular websites?