Hibiya Magic Time Illumination + Disney collaboration

This year the Hibiya Magic Time Illumination was back with a collaboration: Moana 2. The illumination will continue in January.

Magic Time Illumination is an illumination festival is held for the sixth time. The Hibiya Step Square, Park View Winter Garden (on the sixth floor) as well as Hibiya-Nakadori Street are decorated with multicolored LEDs. The festival organizers hope for repeat visitors, as the LEDs at Nakadori show different colors depending on when you go.

For example, if you want to see the street engulfed in pink light, you go from February 1 to February 28 for the Pink Venus Belt. Other color settings are Sunset Gold (December 26 to January 31) and the previous ones Aurora Green and Blue Moment.

The illumination at the Park View Winter Garden on the other hand is multicolored and activated every day after sunset.

The Moana Collaboration

The collaboration with Disney was done with large billboards promoting the movie as well as seven trees placed at Hibiya Step Square. Those trees were set to light up in sync to the song Beyond from the movie every ten minutes. Small character displays and tree decorations took inspiration from the movie as well.

Unfortunately, this part of the illumination festival only ran until December 25.

A Kind of Magic?

The official photos make generous use of star filters to make those tiny LED lights look for impressive. Viewed personally and without filters, the light isn’t nearly as full. It’s unfortunate that the festival loses part of its illumination after December 25 too. The remaining decoration of the vegetation isn’t much different from regular seasonal decoration.

For me, it’s another festival that I’d watch while in the area, for example after watching a movie.

The illuminations take place every day from 4pm to 11pm until February 28.