A new wind chime cafe opened in Kawagoe on June 1st and don’t you know, I went to check it out! This is the first chance I’ve had to introduce it on the blog. As I am going on holidays soon, I needed to get event posts out first. But it is wind chime season in Kawagoe now, so for those who are coming to see the famous wind chimes of Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine I want to get this post out on the worldwide web! Also, be sure to check out this other new wind chime spot in Kawagoe!
Motomachi Terrace
Koedo (Coedo) Kawagoe Motomachi Terrace is actually relatively near Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine. It is located on the ‘far end’ of the tourist area and you pass relatively near if walking to Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine from the end of the warehouse district. They are about a ten minute walk from each other. Motomachi Terrace is to one side of Kawagoe Festival museum. It is actually right beside the free air conditioned rest area by the main vehicle gate at the back of the museum. It is also near penny candy alley. But it is not on the main thoroughfare so it would be easy to miss, if you weren’t looking out for it.
Wind chime cafe
Koedo Kawagoe Motomachi Terrace has beautiful wind chimes, of the same design as Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine, in the indoor eating area. The space is actually quite small, but it has dozens of wind chimes. There are also pictures of the fish amulets from Hikawa shrine too, as you can see above. There is also an outdoor eating area and some wind chimes on display outside the building too. The chimes have “love ice” written on the strips. Because the catchphrase of the cafe is “Coedo Kawagoe Love Ice”.
The main offerings of the cafe are (sweet) potato ‘chips’, which have become increasingly popular in Kawagoe, and kakigori. They are crunchy with a honey tint. The Kakigori is not cheap, at 1500 yen for one, but they are deluxe ‘designer’ snow cones. They call them “love snow cones” (koisuru kakigori). There are six main flavors.
I really can’t remember what the cafe was before it opened as a wind chime cafe, but I am pretty sure it was a cafe too. What I do I remember is, it had lovely red parasols outside it. It has off white / beige parasols now and they put white cushions on the chairs pictured above. I also remember the space from the vending machines, because they have beautiful images of a lady wearing a kimono displayed on them!
Information
Cafe: Koedo (Coedo) Kawagoe Motomachi Terrace 元町テラス
Address: 〒350-0062 Saitama, Kawagoe, Motomachi, 2 Chome−3−10. View on Google Maps.
Phone: 0492276255
Hours: 11 am to 5 pm on weekdays and 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday and Sunday. There maybe days that they open late or take a holiday. They day I visited, I arrived at 11 am and they weren’t open yet. I waited until 11.20 am and they still weren’t open. So I ran some errands and popped back later!
Cost: budget for at least 500 yen for the sweet potato chips, but the kakigori costs 1,500 yen.
Access
Its about a 25 to 30 minute walk from Kawagoe Station and about a 15 minute walk from Hon-Kawagoe station. But you can also get any bus that goes up the tourist area as the cafe is a two minute walk from Fudanotsuji bus stop. There is no official parking. There is a coin parking lot across the road, behind Chabudai.
love snow cones? well there you go! A nice idea for a cafe though – better than one with cats! (IMO)