Information for one of Saitama’s most famous campsites: the scenic, riverside Nagatoro Auto campground. Chichibu is one of my favorite areas in Saitama due to the abundance of nature. It is a very beautiful part of Saitama, and indeed the Kanto area. And due to its accessibility from and proximityRead More →
Parks in Kawagoe – Oisezuka Park on the outskirts of Kawagoe, near Tsurugashima and Sakado Cities. It is relatively close to Kawajiama Town too. It is neither the largest nor the most popular, but it has a few things going for it that bring a regular stream of visitors. Moreover,Read More →
One of my friends famously said “If you’ve seen one temple, you’ve seen them all”. There is a truth in that. However, I am quite “into” temples (and shrines). And for me, the magnificence of a temple doesn’t always lie in its appearance, but rather in the history and meaning.Read More →
Gojo waterfall, Hidaka. When I first wrote this post in 2016 there was no information in English anywhere around the web. I looked up information in Japanese and it said that the falls are named after The five virtues of Confucius, which is written “gojou” or “gojyou” in English. ButRead More →
Kuki Shobu Park is a prefectural park that is best known for the lake that it is centered around. It is quite picturesque so you often see photos of it on Instagram. Particularly since they put in an “Anywhere Door“. Although, it is not very big and there isn’t aRead More →
Ukishima Inari Shrine is an unassuming shrine you pass on the walking route from Miyoshino Shrine heading to Naritasan and Kitain Temple. It is not particularly well known or adorned, but it has some beautiful trees including some gingko trees and other trees that are golden in November and create aRead More →
Heisei no Mori – or Heiseinomori – is a park in West Saitama in a town that has recently become better known, due to its exit on the Ken-o Expressway. Kawajima town, also referred to as Kawashima town, is beside the cities of Sakado, Kawagoe, Higashimatsuyama and Okegawa. The park hasRead More →
Besshonuma Park, Minami Ward, Saitama City – a great park for families all year round, but particularly in Autumn when the trees around the lake are shades of yellow, orange, red and green. I read an article on the WordPress DailyPost with suggestions for surviving NaBloPoMo. One of them wasRead More →
Akiha no mori Park – We stumbled across this park by accident while taking a respite from visiting a relative in nearby Saitama Iriyo Center. Unless you find it by accident as we did, you would need a car and a satnav (GPS) to get to this rural park inRead More →
Information for Miyoshino Shrine and Hatsukari Park and the Craft Sake Festival with a dual event ‘introducing the Charm of Kawagoe‘. 三芳野神社、川越 Miyoshino Shrine The Miyoshino shrine features in a famed traditional song (Warabe uta) that is known by Japanese people all over Japan. The song name is “Tooryanse”. AsRead More →