A giant Christmas tree was set aglow Wednesday at JR Tokyo Station to mark the opening of an event to raise money for refugees around the world.
Princess Kiko and kindergartners from an international school in Tokyo pressed a button to light the 10-meter-tall tree, donated from the United States and hand-decorated by volunteers.
During the weeklong Light up the Life of a Refugee Child event hosted by Refugees International Japan, daily concerts and sales of handicrafts and calendars will be held at the station, which is used by about 1.75 million people per day.
Refugees International Japan raised about 10 million yen last year from the event. More than 95 percent of the money will go to aiding refugees in Africa and other parts of the world, according to the organization.
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