13 Local Government Light Events and Projection Mapping Projects: Comparing Aims, Budgets and Visitor Numbers from Public Records

From public records, we gathered the budgets and results of 13 cases of projection mapping and light events held in fiscal 2025–2026 by local governments or by executive committees in which local governments participate. Ceilings set in calls for proposals (tax included) range widely, from ¥9,500,000 in Shimada, Shizuoka Prefecture, to ¥265,000,000 for a Tokyo Metropolitan Government–linked executive committee. Visitor numbers have been published for some, such as 52,680 over seven days in Takanawa, Tokyo, and about 52,000 over three days in Kagawa Prefecture, but in many cases no figures on budgets or evaluations of effects have been released. Based on calls for proposals, specifications, meeting materials (financial statements) and press releases from each local government and executive committee, and press releases from organizers and production companies (as of October 26, 2026), this article sorts out aims, budgets, dates, visitor numbers and evaluations of effects.

Ceilings shown at the call-for-proposals stage were compiled for seven cases in our article comparing calls for proposals for projection mapping. This article focuses on cases where the subsequent results—visitor numbers, economic ripple effects and financial statements—can be traced, and adds new calls for proposals for fiscal 2026. Budgets include contract ceilings, contributions to executive committees and actual expenditure in financial statements, which have different meanings, so the type is noted for each case. All figures are values from published materials; items not stated in the materials were not estimated and are marked “not published.”

List: Budgets and visitor numbers for 13 cases

The key points of each case’s budget and visitor numbers are as follows. Amounts include tax, and visitor numbers follow the wording of the publishing body.

• Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Takanawa, “TAKANAWA LIGHT JOURNEY” (fiscal 2025): Metropolitan contribution ¥180,000,000, actual expenditure ¥177,245,920 / 52,680 visitors (7 days)

• Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Shinjuku, “TOKYO LIGHTS 2026”: Metropolitan contribution ¥280,000,000 (fiscal 2025 budget plan) / about 80,000 visitors (9 days)

• Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, “TOKYO Night & Light” (year-round): Not published / cumulative 1.55 million (as of the August 2026 announcement)

• Tokyo Metropolitan Government, projection mapping in the Rinkai Fukutoshin waterfront area (fiscal 2026): Ceiling ¥170,000,000 / not yet held

• Senso-ji, Tokyo, “ASAKUSA CULTURE & LIGHTS 2025”: Not published / more than 150,000 for the projection mapping (5 days)

• Projection mapping at Osaka City Central Public Hall for “OSAKA Hikari no Renaissance”: Ceiling ¥18,700,000 (fiscal 2025 and 2026) / about 4.35 million for “OSAKA Hikari no Renaissance 2025” as a whole

• Production of works for the “32nd Kobe Luminarie” (fiscal 2026): Ceiling ¥158,000,000 / not yet held

• Shimada, Shizuoka Prefecture, “Shimada LUMI LINK” (fiscal 2026): Ceiling ¥9,500,000 / not yet held

• Seto, Aichi Prefecture, event marking 1,000 days before the 100th anniversary of the city’s founding (fiscal 2026): Not stated in the specifications / not yet held

• Nagoya City, “Nagoya Castle Night Light-Up: Be GOLD” (fiscal 2026): Not published / no announcement as of October 26

• Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture (co-organizer), “Tsuruga-jo Castle Projection Mapping”: Not published / about 20,000 over 3 days in fiscal 2025

• Kagawa Prefecture, “Anabuki Arena Kagawa Projection Mapping” (fiscal 2025): Not published / about 52,000 and about 36,000 (3 days each)

• Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, “Yatsushiro Station Projection Mapping” (fiscal 2025): Ceiling ¥23,666,000 / not published

Tokyo: Four projects run by executive committees, and Senso-ji

In the four Tokyo Metropolitan Government projects, executive committees in which the metropolitan government is involved serve as organizers and run the calls for proposals. For Takanawa and “TOKYO LIGHTS,” the budgets and financial statements funded by metropolitan contributions, as well as the results, are published as meeting materials on the website of the Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Takanawa, “TAKANAWA LIGHT JOURNEY”

Bodies: Organized by the Takanawa Gateway Area Projection Mapping Executive Committee (secretariat within the Promotion Division, Tourism Department, Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs, Tokyo Metropolitan Government); co-organized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government; sponsored by East Japan Railway Company
Aim: “To promote the attraction of visitors to the area during nighttime hours and help boost nighttime tourism” (executive committee materials)
Budget: Fiscal 2025 budget ¥190,000,000 (metropolitan contribution ¥180,000,000, sponsorship ¥10,000,000). Actual expenditure was ¥177,245,920 (of which contract fees ¥176,509,200), and ¥12,754,080 will be returned to the metropolitan government. The contract amount for planning and operation was ¥166,014,200 (tax included, Sunny Side Up Inc.)
Dates and scale: February 5–11, 2026 (7 days), 18:00–20:30. Around Gateway Park in front of Takanawa Gateway Station, two video works of about four minutes each and “LUMINOUS GATEWAY,” a spatial production of light and smoke
Visitors: 52,680 (total over 7 days; executive committee materials of March 10, 2026). The KPI was a total of at least 42,000 visitors
Evaluation of effects: Economic ripple effects not published as of October 26
Materials: Metropolitan announcement, results, financial statement, budget revision and KPI

The metropolitan government co-organized it as the first projection mapping event at TAKANAWA GATEWAY CITY. According to executive committee materials of January 23, 2026, to achieve the KPI, social media ads encouraging visits were ordered on a single-source basis from Sunny Side Up, which had been contracted for planning and operation, and the budget was raised to ¥190,000,000 with the addition of ¥10,000,000 in sponsorship. The result was 52,680 visitors, exceeding the KPI, and the financial statement says the remaining budget will be returned to the metropolitan government.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Shinjuku, “TOKYO LIGHTS 2026”

Bodies: Organized by the Projection Mapping International Award TOKYO Executive Committee; co-organized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government; supported by Shinjuku City
Aim: “To further raise Tokyo’s presence and to broaden the base of, and establish, projection mapping initiatives by private businesses and others” (guidelines for proposals for the implementation contract)
Budget: In the executive committee’s fiscal 2025 budget plan, the metropolitan contribution was ¥280,000,000, of which contract fees were ¥265,500,000. The proposal ceiling for the implementation contract was ¥265,000,000 (tax included)
Dates and scale: May 23–31, 2026 (9 days). An international projection mapping competition at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building No. 1 and Tomin Plaza, and a Light Art Park (12 works) centered on Shinjuku Central Park. The international competition received 412 entries from 65 countries and regions
Visitors: About 80,000 (announced on June 2, 2026, by the TOKYO LIGHTS Executive Committee PR office; no counting method stated). The previous year’s event drew a cumulative total of about 25,000 (metropolitan announcement of December 1, 2025)
Evaluation of effects: Economic ripple effects of the 2026 event not published as of October 26. The metropolitan government has published estimates for the fiscal 2024 international award (see below)
Materials: Closing announcement, metropolitan announcement (April 2026), executive committee budget plan, guidelines for proposals

Built around the “Projection Mapping International Award TOKYO” that the metropolitan government has continued, the 2026 edition held the international competition at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building for the first time and ran for nine days together with the Light Art Park in Shinjuku Central Park. In its closing announcement, the organizer called the roughly 80,000 visitors “a record high.”

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, “TOKYO Night & Light”

Bodies: Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Tokyo Projection Mapping Executive Committee
Aim: “To create a new tourism resource that adds color to Tokyo’s nights, in order to revitalize nighttime tourism promotion” (metropolitan announcement)
Budget: Not published in the metropolitan government’s announcements
Dates and scale: Screened year-round since February 2024 (every day except in bad weather and on other occasions). Projected onto the east facade of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building No. 1, with a projection area of about 14,000 square meters
Visitors: An announcement of April 18, 2025 said “about 520,000 people viewed it in one year.” The cumulative number of viewers passed one million in October 2025 and reached 1.55 million as of an announcement on August 7, 2026
Evaluation of effects: Not published in the metropolitan government’s announcements
Materials: Metropolitan announcement (April 2025), metropolitan announcement (November 2025), metropolitan announcement (August 2026)

Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Rinkai Fukutoshin: Fiscal 2026 call for proposals

Body: Tokyo Nighttime Promotion Project Executive Committee (secretariat within the Promotion Division, Tourism Department, Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs, Tokyo Metropolitan Government)
Aim: The guidelines describe the project as “implementing the planning and operation of an event centered on projection mapping that makes effective use of facilities and other assets in the Rinkai Fukutoshin area, a waterfront tourist destination representative of Tokyo”
Budget: The ceiling for proposals for the “Fiscal 2026 Contract for Planning and Operation of the Projection Mapping Deployment Project Through Cooperation with the Private Sector” is ¥170,000,000 (tax included)
Dates and scale: The guidelines do not state dates. They require coordination with a separately contracted business for part of the security on December 31, 2026
Visitors: Not announced, as the event has not yet been held
Evaluation of effects: No results, as the event has not yet been held
Materials: Guidelines for proposals

Senso-ji, Tokyo, “ASAKUSA CULTURE & LIGHTS”

Bodies: Organized by the Asakusa Culture & Lights Executive Committee. In 2025 it received the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ fiscal 2025 “Subsidy for Cultural Resource Utilization Projects (Project to Promote the Utilization of Attractive Cultural Properties Nationwide),” and in 2026 it uses the same subsidy (fiscal 2026) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau’s “Projection Mapping Promotion Support Grant”
Aim: The press release reporting the 2025 results contains no sentence explicitly stating the event’s aim
Budget: Project costs and the amounts of subsidies and grants are not published in press releases or on the official website
Dates and scale: In 2025, projections onto the Hozomon Gate, Five-Story Pagoda and Nitenmon Gate from December 3 to 7, 17:30–21:30. In 2026, projections onto the Main Hall and Hozomon Gate (south side) from Friday, October 30 to Tuesday, November 3 (national holiday), 18:00–21:30. The projection mapping is free with no registration required, while the special viewing of the Denboin Garden and Emado is charged (¥2,300 for adults in advance)
Visitors: In 2025, more than 150,000 for the projection mapping, about 2,000 for the special viewing and about 3,000 for the special night viewing (production company press release of May 18, 2026)
Evaluation of effects: Not published
Materials: Announcement of 2025 results, official website

Although it is not organized or commissioned by a local government, we included it as an example at a temple that uses a national subsidy and a grant from the metropolitan government and the Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau. Subsidy programs available for the utilization of cultural properties and light events are summarized in our article on subsidies available for light-ups and projection mapping.

Kinki: Osaka’s Festival of the Lights and Kobe Luminarie

Projection mapping at Osaka City Central Public Hall for “OSAKA Hikari no Renaissance”

Body: Osaka Festival of the Lights Executive Committee (made up of Osaka Prefecture, Osaka City, the Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau, business organizations and others). The call for proposals was posted on the website of Osaka City’s Economic Strategy Bureau
Aim: To “attract a broad range of people to Osaka, lead to tourism promotion and enhance Osaka’s urban brand power” (2026 guidelines)
Budget: The ceiling for the contract for producing the projection mapping at Osaka City Central Public Hall is ¥18,700,000 (tax included), the same in fiscal 2025 and 2026. The best proposer (prospective contractor) was the same business in both years, with proposed amounts of ¥18,689,000 in fiscal 2025 (four proposers) and ¥18,694,500 in fiscal 2026 (three proposers)
Dates and scale: In 2025, screened for about seven minutes every 12 minutes from 17:00 to 21:00, December 14–25. In 2026, 15 days from Friday, December 11 to Friday, December 25
Visitors: The number for the Central Public Hall screening alone is not published. During the core program period (November 3 – December 31, 2025), “OSAKA Hikari no Renaissance 2025” drew about 4.35 million (about 3.88 million in fiscal 2024) and “Midosuji Illumination 2025” about 7.15 million. The “Osaka Festival of the Lights 2025” as a whole drew about 45 million (cumulative from April 9, 2025 to January 31, 2026). All figures were calculated based on pedestrian traffic surveys and the like (announcement by Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City, March 27, 2026)
Evaluation of effects: The economic ripple effect was about ¥803.2 billion, of which about ¥618 billion came from the Expo special lighting period and about ¥185.2 billion from the core and area programs (about ¥121.5 billion in fiscal 2024). It was calculated by a private think tank commissioned using the Osaka Prefecture input-output table. In a visitor survey, about 93% answered “very good” or “good”
Materials: 2026 call for proposals, 2026 selection results, 2025 call for proposals, 2025 selection results, announcement of visitor numbers and economic ripple effects

The screening on the wall of the Central Public Hall is part of the core program “OSAKA Hikari no Renaissance” within the “Osaka Festival of the Lights,” run by an executive committee made up of Osaka Prefecture, Osaka City and others. Production work was put out to tender in fiscal 2025 and 2026 with the same ceiling. The 2026 dates and content are introduced in our article on the Osaka Festival of the Lights 2026.

Kobe: Production of works for the “32nd Kobe Luminarie”

Body: Kobe Luminarie Organizing Committee (chaired by Kobe Mayor Kizo Hisamoto; made up of Hyogo Prefecture, Kobe City, the Kobe Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Hyogo Tourism Bureau and the Kobe Tourism Bureau)
Aim: “Held to honor the souls of the victims of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and pass on its lessons, as well as to further promote the city’s appeal and attract visitors to the Kobe area” (announcement of the decision to hold it)
Budget: The contract ceiling for producing the works is ¥158,000,000 (tax included). The selected business is Latina Fortis Co. If the work is judged satisfactory, the contract may be renewed for up to three years (32nd to 34th editions)
Dates and scale: Ten days from Friday, January 29 to Sunday, February 7, 2027. Works with a total of about 390,000 bulbs will be installed at Meriken Park, Higashi Yuenchi and the former Foreign Settlement. Part of the Meriken Park venue is a paid area (advance tickets ¥500 on weekdays and ¥750 on weekends; same-day tickets ¥1,000 on weekdays and ¥1,500 on weekends)
Visitors: Not yet held. The number of visitors to the previous (31st) edition is not stated in the news or introduction pages of the official website
Evaluation of effects: Not published on the official website
Materials: Announcement of the decision to hold it, guidelines for proposals for producing the works, selection results

In addition to producing the works, the organizing committee separately invites proposals for PR, ticket sales for the paid area and promotional video production, and publishes the selected businesses on its official website.

Tokai: Shimada, Seto and Nagoya in fiscal 2026

Shimada, Shizuoka Prefecture, “Shimada LUMI LINK”

Body: Shimada City (Commerce and Industry Division, Industry and Economy Department)
Aim: “To create liveliness in winter and provide an opportunity to stop by, spend time in and tour the town center” (specifications)
Budget: Proposal ceiling ¥9,500,000 (tax included; excluding the cost of security for the lighting ceremony). The prospective contractor is Liberty Co.
Dates and scale: Friday, November 20, 2026 – Sunday, January 31, 2027, 17:00–22:00. A giant object, the “LUMI CUBE,” will be placed around the station plaza at the north exit of Shimada Station, and projection mapping shown on “Obi-Ria”
Visitors: Not announced, as the event has not yet been held
Evaluation of effects: The specifications require a survey of satisfaction and other measures, and the implementation guidelines require proposals to include methods for evaluation, effect measurement and verification
Materials: Call for proposals page, implementation guidelines, evaluation results, event information

Seto, Aichi Prefecture: One night on the wall of the city hall’s north building

Body: Seto City
Aim: “To ensure a high quality befitting a milestone event and to realize an event that will remain in visitors’ memories” (specifications)
Budget: Not stated in the specifications
Dates and scale: About 15 minutes from around 17:30 on Saturday, January 9, 2027. A production based on projection mapping on the wall of Seto City Hall’s north building (1st to 5th floors, about 40.4 m wide × 18.75 m high). An event marking 1,000 days before the 100th anniversary of the city’s founding, with a contract period until January 29, 2027
Visitors: Not announced, as the event has not yet been held
Evaluation of effects: Not published
Materials: Specifications

Nagoya City, “Nagoya Castle Night Light-Up: Be GOLD”

Body: Nagoya Castle General Office, Tourism, Culture and Exchange Bureau, Nagoya City
Aim: “Hospitality unique to Nagoya Castle, held during the Asian Games and Asian Para Games, when many people visit from Japan and abroad” (article on Nagoya Castle’s official website)
Budget: Not published on the official website
Dates and scale: September 19 – October 4 and October 18–24, 2026, 17:00–20:00. Light-ups, projection mapping, interactive art and mist effects were staged in three areas: the castle keep and Honmaru, the corner turrets and stone walls, and the Ninomaru Garden. Admission was ¥500 for adults (¥1,000 from October 1, 2026) and free for junior high school students and younger
Visitors: Not announced as of October 26
Evaluation of effects: Not published
Materials: Official page, article on Nagoya Castle’s official website

Tohoku, Shikoku and Kyushu: A castle, an arena and a factory wall

Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, “Tsuruga-jo Castle Projection Mapping”

Bodies: Organized by the Tsuruga-jo Night Walk Executive Committee; co-organized by Aizuwakamatsu City; with cooperation from the Aizuwakamatsu Tourism Bureau
Aim: The 2026 press release contains no sentence explicitly stating the aim (it says the content will be enhanced “in response to the positive reception” of the previous year)
Budget: Not published in press releases
Dates and scale: Friday, November 20 – Sunday, November 22, 2026, 17:30–21:00, Tsuruga-jo Castle Park. Free, no advance registration required. A video of about eight minutes is projected repeatedly onto the keep and stone walls with intermissions of about three minutes, overlaid with a sea-of-clouds effect
Visitors: About 20,000 over three days in fiscal 2025 (production company press release of September 17, 2026)
Evaluation of effects: Not published
Materials: 2026 announcement

Kagawa Prefecture, “Anabuki Arena Kagawa Projection Mapping”

Body: Executive Committee for Creating Tourism Content Utilizing the Prefectural Arena (within the Tourism Promotion Division, Exchange Promotion Department, Kagawa Prefecture)
Aim: “To promote nighttime tourism, we will hold events utilizing the prefectural arena” (prefectural page)
Budget: The fiscal 2025 project cost for the projection mapping is not published in the prefecture’s press releases
Dates and scale: “Anabuki Arena Kagawa Projection Mapping 2025: Halloween” from October 29 to 31, 2025, and “2026: Valentine” from February 13 to 15, 2026 (3 days each)
Visitors: Halloween, about 52,000 (about 18,000 on October 29, about 22,000 on the 30th and about 12,000 on the 31st). Valentine, about 36,000 (including about 700 on cruise boats operated on the 13th and 14th). Both figures announced by Kagawa Prefecture
Evaluation of effects: Economic ripple effects of ¥320–390 million for Halloween (final figure, reduced from the preliminary ¥360–420 million after correcting an error in a coefficient) and ¥280–320 million for Valentine. Estimated using the executive committee’s questionnaire surveys, the Kagawa Prefecture tourist site parameter survey (2025) and the Kagawa Prefecture input-output table (2020), among others
Materials: Halloween visitor numbers, Halloween economic ripple effects, Valentine visitor numbers, Valentine economic ripple effects

For the same project’s fiscal 2026 autumn event, the contract limit for planning and operation was ¥120,000,000 (tax included). The specifications set the period as October 2–15, 2026, and the venue as the Seafront Promenade at Sunport Takamatsu, called for “light effects such as light-ups and lighting on the north roof” of the arena, and projected an average of about 5,000 visitors a day. The prefecture announced that “Kagawa Oktoberfest 2026,” held during this period, drew about 145,000 visitors (an average of about 10,400 a day).

Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, “Yatsushiro Station Projection Mapping”

Body: Yatsushiro City
Aim: “To promote touring around the city at night and to promote stay-based tourism” (call for proposals page)
Budget: Proposal ceiling ¥23,666,000 (tax included; fiscal 2025 call for proposals). The specifications require estimates to reflect ¥5,775,000 (tax included) for setting up a projection room and related costs
Dates and scale: The contract period ran from the date of signing to March 31, 2026. The projection surface is the south wall of the No. 9 boiler at Nippon Paper Industries’ Yatsushiro Mill. As a projection test, a video announcing the “Yatsushiro Myoken Festival” (November 22–23) was projected from November 17 to 22, 2025. The work also included building a system that allows the city to add and delete videos and set projection start and end times
Visitors: Not published (not stated in the city materials we checked)
Evaluation of effects: Not published
Materials: Call for proposals page, specifications

Rather than an event with fixed dates, this contract covers equipment for projecting onto a factory wall and even a system allowing the city to set videos and projection times.

Comparing budgets: Ceilings from ¥9,500,000 to ¥265,000,000

Arranging the ceilings shown in calls for proposals (tax included) from smallest to largest gives: Shimada ¥9,500,000; Osaka City Central Public Hall ¥18,700,000; Yatsushiro ¥23,666,000; Kagawa Prefecture (fiscal 2026 autumn event) ¥120,000,000; Kobe Luminarie (production of works) ¥158,000,000; Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Rinkai Fukutoshin ¥170,000,000; and Tokyo Metropolitan Government, “TOKYO LIGHTS” ¥265,000,000.

However, the scope of work included in the ceilings is not uniform. Shimada excludes the cost of security for the lighting ceremony, while Yatsushiro includes ¥5,775,000 for setting up a projection room. Kobe Luminarie’s figure covers only production of the works, with PR and ticket sales put out to separate tenders. Kagawa Prefecture’s autumn event is a planning and operation contract that also covers tents, stages and more, of which the light effects are only a part.

In Takanawa and “TOKYO LIGHTS,” the metropolitan government provides contributions to an executive committee, which then contracts businesses. Against a Takanawa budget of a ¥180,000,000 contribution and ¥10,000,000 in sponsorship, actual expenditure was ¥177,245,920, and ¥12,754,080 will be returned to the metropolitan government. For “Tachikawa Twinkle Garden,” an event in Tachikawa in fiscal 2024, contract expenditure was ¥124,300,000 against a contribution of ¥150,000,000, and ¥25,568,821 was returned to the metropolitan government. Ceilings and contributions are budget frameworks; actual expenditure can be confirmed in financial statements.

Proposed amounts are close to the ceilings. The best proposals for Osaka City Central Public Hall were ¥18,689,000 in fiscal 2025 and ¥18,694,500 in fiscal 2026, and the second- and third-place proposals in fiscal 2026 were both ¥18,700,000, the same as the ceiling. Kobe Luminarie’s guidelines explicitly state that the contract may be renewed for up to three years if the work is satisfactory.

Dates and visitors: Counting methods and sources are not uniform

Durations range from about 15 minutes on one night in Seto to three days for Kagawa Prefecture and Tsuruga-jo Castle, five days at Senso-ji (2025), seven days in Takanawa, nine days for “TOKYO LIGHTS,” ten days for Kobe Luminarie, 12 days (2025) and 15 days (2026) for Osaka City Central Public Hall, November to the following January in Shimada, and year-round at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building.

How people are counted differs by body. The Osaka Festival of the Lights gives cumulative numbers “calculated based on pedestrian traffic surveys and the like,” for each program and overall. Kagawa Prefecture adds daily figures (Halloween) and notes the inclusion of cruise boat users (Valentine). The Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s executive committee materials give total numbers for the period (52,680 over seven days for Takanawa), and the projection mapping at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building is announced as a “cumulative number of viewers.” The roughly 80,000 for “TOKYO LIGHTS” comes with no counting method.

Sources also vary. The figures for Osaka, Kagawa Prefecture and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government appear in materials from local governments or executive committees, while the numbers for Tsuruga-jo Castle and Senso-ji were published in production companies’ press releases. As with the Central Public Hall screening, when an event is part of a larger one, figures for it alone may not be released. Few cases set visitor targets: Takanawa set a KPI of at least 42,000 total visitors, and Kagawa Prefecture’s fiscal 2026 autumn specifications projected an average of about 5,000 visitors a day.

Evaluation of effects: Osaka, Kagawa and Tokyo published economic ripple effects

Economic ripple effects were published for the Osaka Festival of the Lights, Kagawa Prefecture’s project and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s fiscal 2024 projects. The “Osaka Festival of the Lights 2025” covered April 9, 2025 to January 31, 2026, and was calculated at about ¥803.2 billion by a private think tank commissioned using the Osaka Prefecture input-output table. Visitor survey results (about 93% answering “very good” or “good”) were also included.

Kagawa Prefecture’s project estimates effects using the executive committee’s questionnaire surveys, the Kagawa Prefecture tourist site parameter survey, the Kagawa Prefecture input-output table and other sources, and presents them as a range, such as “¥320–390 million.” For the Halloween edition, the final figure was reduced because part of a coefficient had been miscalculated in the preliminary estimate.

For its fiscal 2024 projects, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has published estimates using the “Tokyo Metropolitan Input-Output Table Economic Ripple Effect Estimation Tool.” The method counts event costs as new demand and adds visitor spending; the Tachikawa event had a total effect of ¥232 million against event costs of ¥124 million (total effect / event costs: 1.87), and the fiscal 2024 international award a total effect of ¥598 million against event costs of ¥483 million (1.24). For Tachikawa, the length of stay was set at 30 minutes because one piece of content lasted 30 minutes, and 1.74% from a visitor survey was used as the share of overseas visitors. Estimates for Takanawa in fiscal 2025 and “TOKYO LIGHTS 2026” had not been published as of October 26. Visitor numbers and economic effects of other events are also introduced in our roundup of visitor numbers and economic effects of light events.

Some specifications require evaluation methods. Shimada requires surveys on satisfaction and other measures, and Kagawa Prefecture’s fiscal 2026 autumn event requires a project implementation report including visitor numbers and survey results, as well as a tally of vendors’ sales.

Editor’s perspective

Of the 13 cases, only three—Takanawa, “TOKYO LIGHTS 2026” and Osaka—allowed both a budget (a ceiling, contribution or financial statement) and visitor numbers to be confirmed from published materials. Even then, Osaka’s visitor figure is for “OSAKA Hikari no Renaissance” as a whole, not for the commissioned Central Public Hall screening alone. Takanawa was the only project for which we could trace everything from budget to financial statement and visitor numbers, and even for Takanawa no economic ripple effects had been released as of October 26. Kagawa Prefecture, which released economic ripple effects, did not include project costs in its announcements.

When comparing, it is necessary to align four points: the work included in ceilings (equipment, security, PR, etc.), the difference between contributions and financial statements, whether figures are cumulative counts or period totals, and whether the source is a local government or a production company. Some cases define indicators and reporting formats at the specification stage, such as Takanawa’s KPI, Kagawa Prefecture’s report requirements and Shimada’s survey.

In the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s fiscal 2024 estimates, the portion of the total effect attributable to visitor spending was 0.05 to 0.15 as a ratio of event costs (international award and Tachikawa). Most of the effect came from the event spending itself, so economic ripple effects need to be checked not only as totals but also broken down into the event-cost portion and the visitor-spending portion.

Frequently asked questions

How large are local government budgets for projection mapping?

The ceilings in calls for proposals confirmed in this article (tax included) range from ¥9,500,000 in Shimada, Shizuoka Prefecture, to ¥265,000,000 for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s executive committee. The production contract for Osaka City Central Public Hall was ¥18,700,000, and Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, ¥23,666,000. The scope of work included in the ceilings differs from case to case.

How are visitors counted?

The Osaka Festival of the Lights publishes cumulative numbers based on pedestrian traffic surveys and the like. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s executive committees announce total numbers for the period, and the projection mapping at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building announces a cumulative number of viewers. Some announcements do not give counting methods, and some figures are published only in production companies’ press releases.

Who calculates economic ripple effects?

The Osaka Festival of the Lights commissioned a private think tank to calculate them based on the Osaka Prefecture input-output table. Kagawa Prefecture’s project estimates them using the executive committee’s questionnaire surveys, the prefectural input-output table and other sources. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has published results for its fiscal 2024 projects using its own estimation tool.

Articles organized by each stage of planning are compiled in our article guide for those planning projection mapping and light events.

*Information as of October 26, 2026. Please check the official websites for the latest information.

*Top image: Luke Jerram’s “GAIA” exhibited in the Light Art Park (Shinjuku Central Park) at “TOKYO LIGHTS 2026” (from a press release by the TOKYO LIGHTS Executive Committee PR office)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on materials published by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City, Kagawa Prefecture, Yatsushiro City (Kumamoto Prefecture), Shimada City (Shizuoka Prefecture), Seto City (Aichi Prefecture), the Nagoya Castle General Office, each executive committee and the Kobe Luminarie Organizing Committee, and press releases from organizers and production companies (as of October 26, 2026).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team

A note from the publisher

*Disclosure: Of the events featured in this article, the projection mapping at Osaka City Central Public Hall for “OSAKA Hikari no Renaissance,” the work “Edo, City of Water: The Outer Moat” for “TOKYO Night & Light,” “Tsuruga-jo Castle Projection Mapping,” “ASAKUSA CULTURE & LIGHTS” and “Anabuki Arena Kagawa Projection Mapping” (the March 2025 edition) were produced or otherwise handled by HITOHATA, INC., an affiliate of HITOHATA ASSOCIATION, the general incorporated association that operates TOKYO ART SPHERE (About us).

HITOHATA, INC., an affiliate of HITOHATA ASSOCIATION, the general incorporated association that operates TOKYO ART SPHERE, plans, directs, produces and operates projection mapping on National Treasures, Important Cultural Properties, World Heritage sites and urban landmarks, as well as immersive exhibitions. Planning events with expected effects on attracting visitors and on the local area is also within the scope of consultations. Inquiries, including at the stage before a budget has been set, are accepted through HITOHATA, INC.’s contact form (which has an inquiry category for local governments and public projects). Past work is introduced in HITOHATA, INC.’s project portfolio.