Christmas Lights

Those who know us know that one of our all-time favorite things to do around Christmas in Philly was to go to Longwood Gardens for their Christmas Illuminations. We found out that there is actually something similar here, where there are illuminations in a botanical garden called Nabano no Sato, so we went. It is actually one of japans largest (if not the largest) illuminations with a different theme every year. This year's theme was "Sakura - The beauty of nature" (Sakura is the Japanese word for cherry blossom). The park is fairly close to Nagoya; only a 40 minute bus ride away. We went in the late afternoon so it was already dark when we arrived, meaning we didn't get to see the park during the daytime. Also, each ticket includes two coupons of $5, but most of the food places were already closed, so we weren't able to spend it all (but they don't expire, so we saved them for next time). Additionally, a lot of people also just go for the illuminations, so the buses were crowded and we had to wait about 1 hour to get on a bus.
Anyways, once there we had a great experience, despite the drizzling rain. The park itself is smaller than Longwood and

since it was winter, nothing was really blooming. They had a conservatory and greenhouses that we could have visited, but it was an extra charge to get in there and honestly, we didn't have the time, since we came to see the lights.
The illuminations were beautiful, with some smaller ones, but also some beautiful massive light installations.The garden had a huge light installation across their central lake, two light tunnels (several hundred feet long and the lights were in the shape of flowers) and a MASSIVE light installation with lights changing, almost like a screen. It was a 5 minute long show on loop, showing Japanese landscapes throughout the four seasons. The scale doesn't come out, but it was about 30 feet high, had multiple layers and was a few hundred feet wide. All-in-all it was a great experience. When we go again, we would probably make a day trip out of it and go earlier. It probably is also gorgeous in the spring time when everything is in bloom.