Lynda Hogan is a long term resident of Saitama Prefecture and has been promoting Saitama Prefecture voluntarily for the last 12 years. Lynda is an official Hikijin ambassador representing the seven towns of the Hiki District as well as Higashimatsuyama City and Higashichichibu Village. She has appeared on NHK Cool Japan's Saitama specials. She is also an administrator on the 79,000 member strong Japan Travel Friendly Discussion Group Facebook Group. Formerly she was the Saitama representative of the Association of Foreign Wives of Japan. She is currently a level 9 Google Local Guide, in the top 1% of local guides in all of Japan according to Google. Lynda is a long term contributor to Kyodo News Corporation’s City-cost.com website and more recently writes for Japan Travel, among other travel websites, too. If you would like to work with Lynda, please drop her a line here:
https://insaitama.com/contact-us/
Bara no Komichi is an atelier and garden cafe in Ageo City in central Saitama. Bara is the Japanese for rose and Komichi means pathway or small passage. As you might guess from the name, the showpiece of the garden is its roses. But the garden and cafe are openRead More →
The summer Afternoon Tea at Shikitei Cafe looks good enough to dive into! The cafe and restaurant in Omiya Rikyu Saitama City, is offering a lagoon themed princess afternoon tea for their summer season in 2022. Omiya Rikyu is a wedding venue, so the building and gardens are beautifully kept.Read More →
Ten rose gardens in Saitama Prefecture, commutable from Tokyo. The main period of bloom for roses in Saitama is the month of May. However, there are also autumn roses that bloom in October. In addition, there are winter roses too and even a few varieties that bloom out of theRead More →
Golden Week was practically a non event in 2021. As we were approaching the Olympics, the Japanese Government were being particularly cautious. Thus, very few events were on. In 2022, things still aren’t back to normal, but there are more events on than last year. But, unfortunately, in order toRead More →
Komonoyasan means accessory shop. But this little gem along the Toki River is actually an outdoor cafe, rich in character and charm. Furthermore, it is a particularly photogenic cafe; in a scenic natural setting with dozens of photo props. Currently, you can get a front row seat to the yaezakuraRead More →
A mini post to introduce an open garden of moss phlox in Tokigawa. A beautiful private garden of pink, white and purple moss phlox. I absolutely adore moss phlox. Long before I even came to Japan. But after seeing the moss phlox of both Mt Fuji and Hitsujiyama since comingRead More →
The Kazo Citizen’s Peace (Heiwa) Festival is held on May 3rd annually. May 3rd is a national public holiday that falls during Golden Week. The festival is a type of spring festival, but the highlight is the jumbo carp streamer. It is the world’s longest carp shaped windsock. The carpRead More →
Spectacular views at Kodama Senbonzakura Park where approximately 1100 cherry blossoms line the Koyama River for an (approximate) five kilometer stretch. Kodama Senbonzakura Park Senbonzakura means “a thousand cherry blossoms” in English. Sen means “a thousand”, bon is a counter – in this case for trees. And zakura is howRead More →
Have you heard of Yoko Sakura 陽光桜 or, in English, Sunlight Cherry Blossoms? They were made relatively better known thanks to a movie about their creator in 2015. I say creator, because they are manmade. Cultivated by a school teacher, by crossbreeding the Taiwan and Amagi Yoshino cherries, in memoryRead More →
Cherry blossoms along the Koma River at the Izumicho Sakura Embankment in Sakado City, Saitama. Koma River Cherry Blossoms Sakado There are several places you can see cherry blossoms along the Koma River in Saitama Prefecture. But perhaps the best known are those at the Izumicho Sakura embankment beside SakuraRead More →