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/
We visited the Toy’s Kingdom during the summer, while staying in Karuizawa. They have a huge marketing and advertising campaign this year and its working; I would never have known about the place otherwise. It is a nice place for young children and it’s quite reasonably priced. Toy’s Kingdom They haveRead More →
To be quite frank I was a little disappointed with Poppo Town, a Railway Cultural Village in Gunma, but I had high expectations due to the excellence of the Saitama Railway Museum which we visit often. There is no comparison between the two. The Saitama Railway Museum is in aRead More →
Disaster Prevention Day and Disaster Training centers, Saitama Japan 2020. One could say this whole year has been a disaster. And we certainly couldn’t have foreseen what this year had in store for us. Prevention? Yes, we could have done better to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus, but hindsightRead More →
I was suitably impressed with Ario mall in Ageo when it first opened. However, over the years the mall has gone completely downhill and lost most of the attractions that once made it one of Saitama’s most family friendly malls. Ario Ageo The only thing that really remains that isRead More →
Sakado Play Centre and Planetarium In the spirit of play-a-day, or basically trying something new everyday, I brought my daughters to a different prefectural paid and run Children’s Community Centre today. It had lots of fun things for the kids to do, but 2yo was most excited by the giant inflatableRead More →
I really enjoyed visiting Tokyo Dome City with my kids. It took us two hours to reach our final destination, but it was completely worth the journey. First, we went to Tokyo’s first themed café, the Moomin Bakery and Café. We escaped having to queue to be seated by opting to haveRead More →
Yesterday, we went to Miyoshino Jidose children’s centre to participate in a free event for toddlers. Half way through the hour long event, DD1 decided she’d had enough. It is very relaxed at these events for preschoolers, so there is no problem leaving the room during the event to doRead More →
Information for the small, but affordable Chikozan Park Zoo in Sayama City, Saitama Prefecture. Also included: information for the animal onsen – monkeys and capybaras – each winter at the zoo. In addition, new (on this post) in 2023: the Hina Dolls Display, Guinea Pig version! With the excellent SaitamaRead More →
Enomoto Dairy Farm – family run, amiable dairy farm in rural Ageo, Saitama, but close to big cities and even Tokyo itself. The Enomoto Dairy Farm reminds me of the farms at home in Ireland. Its most famous acclaim is its delicious ice-cream, or as they call it ‘gelato’, which hasRead More →
February 1st 2013, Okegawa Children’s Park, 桶川市子ども公園わんぱく村 Today’s play-a-day was a new park for us, but I’m guessing Okegawa Children’s Park has been around a long time. The “monster” in the center of the park is a giveaway; it could do with a lick of paint. I don’t think itsRead More →