Chichibu Muse Park is a sprawling recreational space in the hills of Ogano. It offers stunning views of the surrounding valleys and mountains, including Mt Buko. There are many sections to the park, offering both indoor and outdoor leisure / recreation facilities, and even accommodation. The park is suited toRead More →
Midori No Mura Festival – On the last day of Golden Week 2019, on Monday May 6th, Midori No Mura are having their annual spring festival. They will have their koinobori flying for the festival and the preceding weeks. It is a particularly child friendly event. Midori No Mura isRead More →
Ogano Deer Park is a small animal park on the site of Oshika shrine, more commonly known as the biker’s shrine. Ogano is named for the deer in the area, it quite literally means “small deer field”. Ironically, the area is not that well known for its deer, but isRead More →
In the most unlikely of places, in an old run down park in Ogano town, there is currently a Doko Demo “Anywhere Door”. An “Anywhere Door”, or doko demo door is one of the gadgets in the highly popular Doraemon cartoon in Japan. It is a bright pink door thatRead 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 →
Saitama Summer Pools 2021 – where is open and where is not. For all 20 pools open in a ‘regular’ year and mapped on Google see here. Update July 29th 20:18 JST.Saitama Prefecture announced today that Saitama will be under a State of Emergency from Monday August 2nd to TuesdayRead More →
Ryokami Sanroku Camping Ground is an old style riverside camping ground with cabins, deep in a mountain valley and cocooned by forest. The campsite is an isolated area of Ogano that has for the most part escaped tourism development. I think it is the most remote location in Saitama thatRead More →
Beautiful and photogenic September scenery in Saitama. September scenery Saitama Introducing some of Saitama’s notable floral and / or nature scenes in the month of September. This is meant as an index or one glance master-list. Please click on a photo / text beside the photo to be brought toRead More →
The Chichibu area is known for its Dahlia. The Dahlia Garden at Mt Ryokami Fumoto Hana no Sato is one of the largest and most popular places to see Dahlia in Saitama. The garden have confirmed that they will open to the public in 2021. Mt Ryokami Dahlia Garden TheRead More →
Summer in Saitama 2021 – Just like last year, summer will be quite different to life before the pandemic. We are still in the shadow of the Coronavirus outbreak in Japan. And with vaccinations having only really begun in May 2021, many of us will not get be able toRead More →