A nearly two million dollar golden Christmas tree has been put on display for the holiday season in Tokyo.

Tokyo’s jewellery store Ginza Tanaka unveiled its 2.4 meters tall Golden Christmas Tree, which is made from 12 kilograms of pure gold, worth 1.95 million US dollars.

It took 15 craftsmen four and a half months to complete the creation. The store says it’s the most expensive Christmas tree they’ve ever created.

Japan has overtaken France for the number of restaurants with three Michelin stars, according to the latest guide to the nation’s western cities to be released on Friday.

Japan is now home to 29 establishments that hold the highly coveted three-star rating, against 25 in France.

The latest version of the Michelin guide to Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe this year adds the former capital Nara and will be available both in Japanese and English.

Italian brand Roberto Cavalli has announced that it will open its first Japan flagship store in September, with the designer behind the label to visit Tokyo to mark the opening of the boutique in early November.

The store is located in the city’s upmarket Aoyama district and will also be the first directly owned and managed Roberto Cavalli boutique in Asia.

“Tokyo is on the world’s stage of fashion, glamour and sophistication,” said Cavalli. “This is a city of energy and inspiration.

The cities of the Asia-Pacific region dominate the list of the most expensive places in the world for expats to live, accounting for 18 of the priciest cities on the planet.

The unwanted prize for the most expensive city in the world went to Luanda, the capital of Angola, for the second straight year.

Luanda sits atop the cost tree due to its high number of oil workers and the nation’s reliance on imports, according to the annual study by Mercer.

According to local and international media, Tokyo‘s fashion business is gradually getting back to usual.

After the earthquake hit Japan on March 11, many brands including Louis Vuitton, Prada, and Cartier acted to bring some of their executive staff back to their home countries and closed local boutiques.

News outlets including WWD and Racked now confirm that on March 22, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dior, Chanel, and Forever 21 reopened their doors in the capital.

The Shangri-La Hotel in Tokyosaid Monday it would not accept any new bookings “until further notice”, citing the city’s uncertain power supply following Japan’s massive earthquake and tsunami.

The hotel said it hoped to resume normal operations as soon as possible but the decision highlighted problems the tourism industry will be forced to confront as Japan recovers from the deadly March 11 twin disasters.

“Following the natural disasters in Japan on 11 March 2011 and the resulting logistical difficulties and hazards, Shangri-La Hotel, Tokyo will not be accepting any new guests until further notice,” the statement said.