When my eldest sister mailed me back in the summer saying she was thinking of coming to Japan in December I didn’t quite believe it as I had just never considered the idea of any family member actually coming to ours at Christmas time. My wife was eventually informed of this news when my parents were in town back in mid-September and thankfully had no reservations about them all staying with us for a few nights during the festive season.

Fast forward three months and they arrived from Australia. Even though I’ve seen pictures of them I was still slightly taken aback by how they’d all grown during the 4.5 years since I last saw them in person when I went to Melbourne in March 2019. Our little chihuahua was barking a lot when they arrived at our place and he was very confused.

By the following morning he was thankfully very friendly and loving towards them which provided a lot of entertainment for everyone throughout their stay.

After just one night at ours they left the following morning to head on up to Hakuba in Nagano (an old haunt of mine back in the noughties) for five days of skiiing and local sights. We escorted them to Tokyo station and Sioned was delighted to be able to walk the dog to the station.

Her excitement was even greater when I passed her the bag we have to carry him in when on public transport. Our dog absolutely loves kids and so he was most happy with the situation and hopefully it’ll be something that she remembers fondly from this trip.

Before they left they did leave us a load of Aussie snacks to feast on whilst they were away. I was still refraining from chocolate then so had to bide my time and wait till a few days later.

On Christmas Eve Eve (as the 23rd is known by some people!) they arrived back in Tokyo and made their own way to our place as I just never received a message from my sister. A few hours chilling at home was followed by an evening out for one of the main events of the trip. and this photo chance on the way to the station was too good an opportunity for the youngest to pass up!

We were basically just killing time until our appointment elsewhere that evening so hopped out at Yurakucho to go and see some of the Christmas trees and illuminations that make up part of the annual Marunouchi Bright Christmas event. No one was particularly impressed by anything on show!!

TeamLab Planets in Toyosu was one of the main things we did (thanks to Anesta’s recommendation) which I was fine with as I’d never been there. It’s a hugely popular attraction for tourists, and there’s a lot about it on the internet with many posts asking if it’s all worth it. More details here.

It’s fair to say most of us were tired on the way home that night!

Christmas Eve was a far more relaxed day with nothing planned in advance. It was nice to just laze around with the family chatting and playing with the kids and the dog. Breakfast was all made by my wife and included some toasted sandwiches and even some fried chicken which most people know these days is a Japanese tradition at that time of the year. The picture below was actually taken to send to a friend that morning to show that our favourite festive film ‘Jingle All The Way‘ (1996) was being played which explains why the family are only in the corner of the shot!

A shot to show the whole living room!!

Christmas music videos were playing on the TV via YouTube but it wasn’t all festive tunes as there were a few others including Spanish duo Baccara’s massive 1977 Euro hit. ‘Yes Sir, I Can Boogie‘ which has been adopted by fans of the Scotland national football team in the last few years, and the girls in particular found the dancing of the duo quite amusing and immitated it a bit.

My wife, sister, Eifion and me eventually took the dog out for a walk mid-morning. He got his chance to carry the dog for a bit.

It was a sunny day so we went to Ueno early afternoon for a walk through the park before continuing on down to Akihabara for a look around some shops.

Potato club!

We took dinner at a family restaurant back near to our home which was fun due to the robot machines which deliver the food to you.

There was a Euro-style Christmas Eve present exchange of sorts back at home with the majority of the presents being Aussie-themed ones for the dog. He usually gets more than my wife and I which is admittedly not too difficult!

The rest of the night before Christmas was spent just sitting around and chatting whilst  ‘Home Alone‘ (1990) played in the background.

The kids still received stockings full of Christmas presents which were opened the following morning as is customary in our tradition.

Around lunchtime we went to a local conveyor-belt sushi restaurant whilst my wife was at work. It was actually not the first time I’ve been there on Christmas Day as I seem to remember meeting my friend Richard in the same place back in 2015.

It’s fair to say the more bastadised sushi was more popular with them all although my brother-in-law and nephew did try a very generous amount of wasabi on their tuna rolls.

Mid-afternoon we headed down to Shibuya starting off on the 11th floor of Hikarie which is a good place to get some good views of Shibuya without paying any money. Scramble Crossing and Center Gai were next as we walked around this most touristy of areas which included a pit stop for some ice creams at Ikea before we walked on to Harajuku.

The overly crowded Takeshita Street naturally provided a lot of attraction for everyone with its many interesting shops and quirky food items. This was the best shot I got off my rainbow cheese American dog.

The number one thing all the family wanted to do was visit the Piglet cafe in Harajuku. This place is extremely busy and popular so the only time slots available were in the evening. As a result I booked it for December 25th in order to give us a unique memory of the main day. More details here.

Christmas is usually all about the build-up for me with very little at the end of it all so it was a delight to have my sister’s family with us for a wonderful mix of just hanging out at home mixed in with a few trips to places in Tokyo.

Click here to read ‘My Parents Came To Visit Us In Japan For The 1st Time In 7 Years!’

Click here to read ‘My Sister’s Family Arrive In Japan’

Click here to read ‘This Piglet Cafe in Tokyo Makes You Squeal With Joy!’

Click here to read ‘Christmas 2023 In Tokyo’