Celebrate Christmas festivities with a stunning Christmas tree of light along with delicious food from the Kagoshima Christmas Market. Sit underneath a ceiling of stars and enjoy live music and performances. Located right outside Kagoshima-chuo station this Christmas Market is easy to access, making for a great night out in Kagoshima.
After stumbling across the Christmas Market at Hakata Station, I discovered that Kyushu was actually holding many Christmas Markets across different JR Station locations. Kagoshima-chuo station happened to be another of those market locations, and despite being a lot smaller in size than the Hakata one, this market still had beautiful lights and some lovely stalls. The highlight of this market was definitely the huge Christmas Tree in the middle. Not your standard leafy green with red and gold baubles, this tree was a new contemporary design using smooth modern surfaces, geometric patterns, and changing lights.
As with the Christmas Market at Hakata Station, this one at Kagoshima-chuo also had some food stalls and craft stalls. Although there was a much smaller range of food and drinks to buy, there was still some delicious looking fried chicken, roast potato, hot chocolate, coffee, and a selection of alcoholic drinks. The smaller size of the market was actually a plus in my opinion, because there were fewer people so the overall atmosphere was more relaxed and enjoyable than the crowded Hakata market. There were a lot more empty seats on the benches and tables provided, so it was much easier to find a space to sit down and enjoy the live performances.
Despite the smaller scale of the overall venue, the Christmas lights at Kagoshima-chuo station didn't disappoint. Not only was the large Christmas tree lighting up the whole area, but there were many smaller Christmas trees with fairy lights lining the road leading towards the market. The ceiling of the market area was also covered with a beautiful starry pattern of lights. The flooring was also a bit different from the Hakata Christmas market, being covered in a green carpet making it feel like a grassy floor. With its convenient location right outside Kagoshima-chuo station and Amu Plaza, this Christmas Market is the perfect place to make a quick evening stop after shopping at the plaza!
Jaime Wong @jaime.wong
I love Japan for its people, culture, food, scenery, and overall ambiance and never-ending list of things to explore and enjoy. I lived in Kyoto for one year as an exchange student, and was able to travel around various parts of Japan during that exchange time. Now I'm back in Auckland, NZ, but a...