The Warabi Hata festival is an annual festival in celebration of the star festival, or “tanabata” as it is called in Japanese. The main date of the festival is usually on a Sunday closest to the Tanabata aka Star Festival. This year the festival falls on a weekend, so theyRead More →
Information for the State of Emergency in Saitama Prefecture, Summer 2021. On July 29th 2021 it was announced that a State of Emergency (SOE) will begin on Monday August 2nd in Saitama, Kanagawa and Chiba. In addition, the current State of Emergencies in Tokyo and Okinawa will be extended toRead More →
Washinomiya Shrine (previously Washimiya Shrine) is known as the oldest shrine in the Kanto region. It is located in Kuki City, Saitama Prefecture, just North of Tokyo. There is a lot a debate over the age of the shrine. Some put it at 1900 years old, which actually wouldn’t makeRead More →
Have you heard about the Peacock Shrine in Saitama City? Or maybe you know it as the Quiz Shrine? It is one of those shrines that is very famous among Saitama residents and further afield among the history buffs. But it is off the tourist trail. Maybe the locals preferRead More →
Moominvalley Park Harvest 2021 in the Moomin theme park at Metsa, Hanno, Saitama. This year it is called “Very Berry Harvest”. The featured image above is from the official Moomin Japan website. Update November 2021: due to its popularity, the Harvest “Balloon Sky” event has been extended until November 28th.Read More →
Koma Jinja aka Koma Shrine, Hidaka, Saitama Prefecture Many years ago my husband and I visited a shrine on the way home from Chichibu. I didn’t think too much of it to be honest. The thatched roof former residence – a nationally designated Important Cultural property – out the backRead More →
Honjo is quite far from us so its a city I didn’t visit much when the kids were very small. However, since all four of my kids started elementary school last year, I’ve been several times. And I will keep going back, as there is quite a lot to discoverRead More →
‘Tapioca and Tart’ at Layer cafe, located along the Arakawa riverbed on the grounds of a Karinto factory in Fukaya. Layer Cafe Layer cafe opened on the grounds of Asahi Karinto’s Hanazono factory in April 2020. Karinto is a type of sweet deep fried traditional Japanese snack food. The frontRead More →
Fukaya Sunflowers While driving to Northern Saitama today, along the Saikai Kaido (aka route 140) beautiful tall sunflowers already in full bloom captured my attention. Actually, in fairness, I think I spotted a camera man first on the foot path. I remember having the fleeting thought ‘ooh, wonder what he’sRead More →
Ukiya no Sato is a nature reserve in Kazo City, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It is part of what is known as the Saitama Green (greenery) Trust – conservation area number ten of fourteen areas in total in Saitama Prefecture. Ukiya no Sato The name of this nature reserve comes fromRead More →