January in Kanto

Hi everyone,

I've visited Japan many times but always in Oct/Nov or Mar/Apr. This time I'm excited to be coming on January 3rd to attend Wrestle Kingdom at Tokyo Dome. (Jan 3-13)

Most likely I will just stay in Tokyo, and I am aware that the first two weeks of January are a quieter time. Despite that, I wondered if there is anything particular that's worth doing specifically during the start of January (other than visiting temples/shrines) that you might recommend? Something like Sakura is to Spring, Autumnal colours / illuminated gardens to November etc...

Nothing comes to mind for me, nor have I found much online - but if there's anything that jumps out or somewhere that's a must visit at that time - it would be great to hear.

Thanks!

Some “Xmas” light events might still be ongoing in early January.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2303.html

Plus some people recommend buying Fukubukuro (I don’t see the attractiveness of buying stuff I haven’t even seen even if in theory it’s cheaper than buying them one by one)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukubukuro

The Kanto region is sunny in winter. The reasons are as follows. The Kanto region is located east of the spine mountains (the Japanese Alps and Yatsugatake Mountains), and in winter, because of the prevailing winds from the west, clouds stay west of the mountains, and snow falls mainly on the west side, so the Kanto region to the east is “dry”. Of course, the wind does not always blow from the west, so there can be snow in the Kanto region, but overall the weather is good. These are good conditions for viewing mountains. For example, if you want to see Mt. Fuji, it is best to see it in the morning (because the sun hits it) and from the east in winter.

In fact, good weather in winter is only found in a limited number of regions in Japan: Kanto, Kushiro (Hokkaido), and Miyazaki. This is often very clear when the winter weather forecast shows the whole Japan.

Japan's New Year's sporting events are the Ekiden (long-distance relay races, unique to Japan), with the Business Groupe Relay Race held in Gunma and the Kanto Student Ekiden (Hakone Ekiden) in Tokyo and Kanagawa. These are usually held under beautiful weather.

I like the New Year's event at the Tokyo National Museum. Probably a twenty twenty-five will be held, too. https://www.tnm.jp/modules/r_event/index.php?controller=past_dtl&cid=5...
I saw the actual running of Hakone Ekiden about 3 times on the street. (Held on January 2 and 3)
At places where there are many spectators, flags of the sponsoring newspaper company will be distributed, and they wave them while cheering.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakone_Ekiden
Light-up events are also held in Enoshima and Lake Sagami.
https://enoshima-seacandle.com/event/shonannohoseki/
https://www.sagamiko-resort.jp/events/illumillion.html

Please refer to this as well.
https://tokyocheapo.com/events/january/
https://www.gotokyo.org/en/story/guide/january/index.html
This is not the latest information, but you can also ice skate at Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse and other places.
https://akarenga-artrink.yafjp.org/
https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/things-to-do/ice-skating-in-tokyo-and-yo...

I also like hanabira mochi, which can be eaten until around January 8.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanabiramochi
They are sold at Japanese confectionery stores, but the stores and sales volume are limited.
They were sold at Taneya.
I bought them at a department store in Yokohama, but they are also sold at a department store in Tokyo.
https://taneya.jp/shop/
I think ozoni is also a New Year's food.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C5%8Dni
When I looked at this, I saw some stores where you can eat them all year round.
https://www.veltra.com/jp/yokka/article/local-zoni-shop-in-tokyo/