O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!

Christmas has certainly arrived at the Ginza Tanaka store in Japan, with a dazzling Golden Christmas Tree heralding the season.

The 2.4m-tall tree, decorated with 19kg of gold plates, tiny hearts and other ornaments, brought on immediate oohs and ahhs when it went on display at the Tokyo store yesterday. It is on sale for 200 million yen (S$2.6 million) and will be on display till Dec 25. Said store manager Takahiro Ito: "We made this gold Christmas tree hoping it will be a reminder of a bright and shiny future like gold that wipes out gloomy news."