Tokyo Tower Power Down Event – Zojoji Temple

Last night myself and several thousand others Tokyoites visited the annual power down event at the grand Zojoji temple right next to the famous Tokyo Tower, the Candlenight. The event itself is part of a nationwide to conserve energy and about 19 000 tourist spots around the country turn of the lights for two hours while throwing events to drum up enthusiasm about it. The tourist spot that was powered down here was naturally Tokyo Tower itself! Naturally, this being an event about saving energy, it got pretty dark and very nearly impossible to get any decent photos.

The event was three hours long and had booths from up north selling local specialities as well as performances from various artists, including the massively famous half Japanese, half Taiwanese singer Yo Hitoto (一青 窈). My favorite of her songs is this one, Hanamizuki. Tickets to her concerts are usually quite expensive so to see her live for free was quite a treat!

Zojoji was even on the news and you can see the NHK news item here. The whole concert will also be transmitted on J-Wave radio tonight at 22:00 so if you are in the Tokyo area it might be good to tune in to 81.3 fm.

Note: If you think you recognize Zojoji temple it might be because you saw it in a big shoot out scene in the movie Wolverine (2013).