Just a couple of hours drive from Tokyo you can find the Tokyo German Village, an theme park that is inspired by.. You guessed it right; Germany of course. Don’t let the name of the park fool you though; this park is not really situated in Tokyo but on the Boso Peninsula, more precisely in a place called Sodegaura in Chiba. For those who didn't know, Chiba is Tokyo’s neighbouring prefecture to the east, and believe it or not this is also the prefecture where you can find Tokyo Disney Land...

Browse places to stay in Chiba on Agoda.com. Free cancellation.

To be honest this German Village is not really that particularly German. You can get German sausages and beer and the architecture of the buildings are somewhat inspired by Germany, but the likeness ends there. Still, it is a charming place to visit if you're wanting to get out of Tokyo for the day.

German village and.. Dinosaurs..

They do have a range of fun activities available though, such as for instance golf and a small park where you can play with dogs. Just be aware that most of the activities come with additional fees.

One of the few activities you can take part in for free. Wohoo!

Archery also comes with an additional fee

The Winter Illumination

One of the reason we chose to visit the German Village was however their evening Winter Illumination show. The German Village is doing this big illumination event annually during the winter season, with more than 250,000 LED lights spread over the huge open space of the park. Not surprising it is one of the biggest illumination events in the Kanto area, so if you're a fan of illuminations this is definitely an event worth checking out. This season the winter illumination lasts from November 1st (2016) until March 31st (2017). We stayed until the evening to see the light show, and it was pretty impressive with all the lights. There were also a number of tourist busses visiting the place just for the illumination, so as you can imagine it was a bit crowded.

The illumination starts at sunset and lasts until 8pm. Just in time to enjoy the view of the sunset and the illumination at the same time.

Finally, here is a short video from the illumination. Hope you enjoy it!

■ Basic Info

・Name of Theme Park: Tokyo German Village (東京ドイツ村)
・Address：〒299-0204 Chiba Prefecture, Sodegaura, Nagayoshi, 419
・Phone: 0438-60-5511
・Opening Hours: 9:30AM–8PM
・Admission: Adults 1,200 yen / high & junior school 800 yen / kids 600 yen
・Official Home Page：http://t-doitsumura.co.jp/
The Winter Illumination: 1. November 2016 - 31. March 2017 from sunset to 8pm