Midosuji Illumination and Osaka Hikari no Renaissance

Osaka's Festival of the Lights has two parts that overlap for two weeks. The first is the Midosuji Illumination, in which the gingko trees along four kilometres of the city's central avenue, from Hanshin-mae at Umeda to Namba-nishiguchi, are wrapped in lights in shifting colours from 3 November to 31 December, so that the whole length of the boulevard becomes a corridor of light between the department stores and the office towers. It holds the record for the longest illuminated avenue in the world.

The second is Osaka Hikari no Renaissance, held on the island of Nakanoshima in the Old Yodo river for roughly two weeks around the middle of December, from about 11 to 25 December. Its centrepiece is a projection show on the façade of the Meiji-era Central Public Hall, with light installations through Nakanoshima Park, a wall of light along the riverside and food stalls. Time a visit for that fortnight and you see both at once, with the Renaissance a short walk from the northern end of Midosuji.

Midosuji is walkable from any of the stations along its length, from Umeda to Namba, and the Nakanoshima sites are a few minutes from Yodoyabashi or Kitahama. Everything is free to walk, though the Renaissance's projection shows draw long queues on weekends. Expect cool rather than cold evenings, a very urban setting and an event that fits naturally into a night out in Osaka rather than demanding a trip of its own.