Shibuya Blue Cave Illumination 2026: Expected Early-Late December Return

Shibuya Ao no Dokutsu ('Blue Cave') Illumination 2026 is expected to run early-to-late December 2026. The exact 2026 dates have not yet been formally announced by the committee; the committee's own template has produced a Dec 4-Dec 25 run three years in a row (2024: Dec 6-25; 2025: Dec 4-25), so a Dec 2026 opening early in the first week is the near-certain pattern.

The news angle: 2024 was the first year the display returned at full length after a three-year pandemic-era shortening, and the 2026 edition is the first to run every single zelkova tree along the full 750-meter route since the pre-pandemic peak.

The route

• ●Start: Shibuya Park Street (across from Shibuya Scramble Square)
• ●Middle: NHK Hall / Yoyogi Park entrance
• ●End: Yoyogi Park Keyaki Namiki
• ●Length: roughly 750 m of double-sided tree lighting
• ●LED count: ~600,000 blue LEDs

Expected hours and cost

• ●Hours: 17:00 - 22:00 nightly
• ●Admission: free
• ●Dec 24-25: expect peak crowds and police-directed one-way flow

Access

• ●Shibuya Station (Hachiko exit) - 5 min walk to the Park-dori entry
• ●Harajuku Station - 10 min walk to the Yoyogi end
• ●Walk the route north to south in the evening for the clearest sightline

Pair with the Shibuya Scramble Square 'SHIBUYA SKY' rooftop observation deck - the queue thins out after 20:30 - and you have an easy two-stop winter night in Shibuya. We will update the exact 2026 dates and any new installations (last year added a mirrored tunnel section near NHK Hall) as soon as the committee's announcement goes live.