Hakodate Christmas Fantasy

In Hakodate, the Christmas tree stands on the water. Moored off the red-brick warehouses of Suehiro-cho, it glows every night from December 1 to 25 — and every night at six, fireworks rise to meet the lighting of the tree. No evenings off. The dark winter sea, the red of the old warehouses, the lit tree between them: that is the whole composition, and it needs nothing else. The show runs only until Christmas, twenty-five nights in all. Knowing exactly when something ends has a way of making each night count double.