Ho ho ho! Merry kaiju!

Japan really gets into a festive season at this time of year, putting up all sorts of colorful lights that twinkle through the winter nights. While you won’t see too many people with Christmas lights on their homes, you can find beautiful displays at public places such as shopping centers and parks, including Kurihama Flower Park in the city of Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.

While the park is plenty beautiful by day, it’s currently holding its Winter Illumination 2020 celebration, in which visitors can see lovely light displays in its Cosmos Plaza and Adventure Land sections.

But while the cosmos flowers and surrounding foliage look quite nice, it’s probably safe to say that the most memorable part of a Christmas visit to Kurihama Flower Park is going to be the moment you see none other than Godzilla illuminated for the holiday season.

So what’s the King of the Monsters doing hanging out in this park about an hour south of Tokyo? Thankfully, he’s not here to destroy the city, but to bring smiles to the faces of children (and, let’s be honest, grown-up kaiju fans too). The nine-meter (29.5-foot) tall Godzilla statue is also a slide, with riders gliding down his gargantuan tail.

▼ We visited a while back, and are still grateful he didn’t eat us.

But why Yokosuka? Because in the original Godzilla movie from 1954, after Godzilla emerges from the sea, the very first place Godzilla sets foot on dry land is the Yokosuka shore. So while Godzilla may technically be registered as a resident of Tokyo, his life in Japan actually started in Kanagawa Prefecture.

Kurihama Flower Park’s Winter Illumination is going on now and continues until December 27. We’re not sure if Godzilla does as much checking to see who’s been naughty and who’s been nice during the year as Santa has, but we’d still recommend being on your best behavior around the big guy.

Park information
Kurihama Flower World / 久里浜花の国
Address: Kanagawa-ken, Yokosuka-shi, Shinmeicho 1
神奈川県横須賀市神明町1番地
Website

Sources: Kanagawa Parks, PR Times
Top image: PR Times
Insert images: PR Times, Kanagawa Parks, SoraNews24
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