A long term resident of Saitama Prefecture
The Taisho (Taishou) period was between 1912 and 1926. Yono in Urawa Ward have been hosting an event in commemoration of the period for almost 30 years. If it had not been for the you-know-what it actually would be more than 30 years! The last time they held the eventRead More →
October is a great month to get out and about in Saitama, and all of Japan. The night time temperatures have cooled right down and by mid October the day time temperatures are cool and comfortable. The occurrence of typhoons also decreases, but do bear in mind that there haveRead More →
Iruma Mando Festival – Mando or Mandou 万燈 means 10,000 lights and is a type of Japanese lantern. For this, the biggest annual festival held in Iruma, the festival field is decorated with Mandou (pictured). There are a huge amount of events you can enjoy from traditional floats and music to modernRead More →
The Urawa Misono Festival¹ and fireworks were cancelled in both 2020 and 2021. I am so happy they are back in 2022. For one, the day time event is a railway festival, held in and around Urawa Misono Station. Who doesn’t love a railway festival!? Moreover, at night fireworks areRead More →
The Saitama Museum of Rivers only started celebrating Halloween around 8 or 9 years ago, and then a series of events prevented them from having Halloween festivities since 2018. In summary – a typhoon in 2019 and then the pandemic! However, they are celebrating in 2022 and on four differentRead More →
Anitamasai – Saitama’s largest Anime / Manga festival normally takes place in October annually in Omiya. Entry to the grounds is free. However, in both 2020 and 2021 on account of the Coronavirus the event was moved online. The organizers have confirmed that the 10th annual Anitamasai is scheduled forRead More →
Information for the Cainz Super Mall, Kawajima Interchange, and its annual Rainbow Festival. The Rainbow Festival is a small local type mascot event, with the mascots from each of the Rainbow Cities of Saitama Prefecture. The Rainbow Cities are Kawajima, Kawagoe, Moroyama, Ogose, Sakado and Tsurugashima. More information about theRead More →
Tokorozawa are planning to hold the much loved Tokorozawa Festival in 2022, for the first time in four years. In 2019 they cancelled the festival last minute on account of typhoon Hagibis. In 2020 they cancelled the event early on in anticipation of a second or third wave of theRead More →
The Chichibu Rocket Festival is most commonly referred to by its Japanese name “Ryusei Matsuri” even in English, possibly due to the uniqueness of this 400 year old festival. Ryusei literally means dragon power. The Ryusei Festival, or “Chichibu Yoshida Dragon Power”, is a National Important Intangible Folk Cultural PropertyRead More →
Shinrin Park (aka Musashi Kyuryo National Government Park) confirmed today, September 2nd 2022, that they are planning to host their annual Halloween night in the Forest again this year. They had it in both 2020 and 2021 too for the record, despite the record. And I for one was veryRead More →