Cocoon City Christmas – Cocoon City is just one part of Saitama Shintoshin. The whole area of Shintoshin is the most Christmassy location I have found in Saitama prefecture to date. But in 2022, we have a Premium Outlets for the first time ever. Could it rival Cocoon City /Read More →
Numakage Ice Rink – Each year, the summer pool in Numakage park, Minami Ward, is transformed into an outdoor ice rink during the winter months. The rink opens late on weekends. If you just want to observe people skating you can enter the rink area for free. There are otherRead More →
Starlight Illumination Shinrin park aka Musashi Kyuryo National Government Park. The Starlight illumination is the last of the three annual night illumination displays held in the central gate area of the vast park. This year, 2022, it will run from Friday December 9th on Fridays, Saturdays and Sunday nights only.Read More →
The Chichibu Night Festival is held on the 2nd and 3rd of December annually. On account of the pandemic, the festival was very basic in 2020 and 2021. They only carried out some of the religious parts of the festival. Moreover, in 2021 it was for invited guests only. Also,Read More →
Heirinji in Niiza City, right by Kiyose in Tokyo, is one of thee most special places for autumn leaf viewing in Saitama Prefecture. More than being just beautiful, the temple has a rich and fascinating history. I have waited a long time to share information about the temple, so IRead More →
The Shiki Illumination will get switched on for the 2022 / 23 season on Friday December 2nd 2022. Last year they used 25600 lights and while they haven’t given the figure for this year (yet), they have said they will be using more than last year. The featured image wasRead More →
New in 2022 in Kawagoe: Kawagoe Baum Lab by Fueki Shoyu I’ve been sharing – or rather trying to share – some of the dozens of new eateries that opened in Kawagoe during the pandemic. There’s just not enough hours in the day! Kawagoe Baum Lab actually opened in theRead More →
The Toda City Illumination event “Toda Illumi” is relatively new, it only started in 2019. (There are also other illumination events in Toda City which have been around for longer). The city aim to make illumination synonymous with winter in Toda. According to Toda City, this year’s winter illumination willRead More →
Ko (Kou / Kō) Shrine, 鴻神社, is the principal shrine of Konosu City. The Kanji is 鴻, “otori”, which is from konotori, which means oriental stork. The shrine is home to the konotori legend from which Konosu city gets its name. Konosu is also written with the same kanji 鴻Read More →
As a very special treat for the 100 year anniversary of the municipality of Kawagoe, the main hall of the Senba Toshogu is open to the public for the first time in more than 70 years. The shrine is normally only open on Sundays. Moreover, on Sundays while you canRead More →