An urban restaurant in the middle of nowhere, Tenoha is an innovative space in Higashimatsuyama. This is one of those posts that could sit in drafts for years, because I’ve too much to say about it, that it is daunting. So I will go for an abbreviated version, with justRead More →
Musashi no Mori is a chain coffee shop / cafe with branches all over Japan. Their coffee is particularly renowned and appraised. The menu and recipes are the same throughout all branches. The architecture and interior decor is also very similar between most branches. However, some branches have lovely outdoorRead More →
The name is quite misleading. Outdoor cafe yamagoya is not outdoors. In fact, it only has three small wobbly tables outdoors. Which are right on the road. From indoors you do have a view a small bamboo forest. I think it is more that they designed the cafe on theRead More →
A round up of the events on in the month of November in Saitama prefecture, near Tokyo, in 2024. I add new events all the time, once I have confirmed them. >>October events here. >>December events here. Saitama Prefecture Event Information 埼玉県のイベント情報 Daily Events in November 2024 Events that areRead More →
The first ever Family Starbucks opens tomorrow, September 14th 2024, in Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo, but we got a sneak preview today. Apart from being the first ever family and child orientated Starbucks, it also has a few other ‘Japan firsts’. For example, Kids Frappuccino. It is the first branchRead More →
If you’ve ever been in Kawagoe warehouse district before, no doubt you’ll have noticed the large European looking building among all the old Edo buildings. If you were there in 2023 to early 2024, you may have been curious as to why it was behind hoarding. Well, it is becauseRead More →
Winterland cafe is located in the hills of Tokigawa town along the Shirashi Pass. It is a cafe famous among cyclists, but little known otherwise. I found myself sitting in this homely cafe on a rainy day in July 2020. The cafe had just opened back up that day afterRead More →
It is the time year when resolutions abound and one of mine is to get as many drafts published as possible this year. In that vein, introducing Sanposha, a bakery in rural Kawagoe, which has been sitting in drafts for far too long! Although, it is a bakery, you canRead More →
Big Mouse Coffee and Fermentation shop is a cafe in a ‘kominka’ (old Japanese country house) in a rural part of Nishi Ward in Saitama City. It is located in a former ‘Forest of Horses and Art’ that was destroyed by typhoon Hagibis. The Kominka used to house a bonsaiRead More →
Delicious, colorful, magical kakigori… and cheap too! Surprisingly cheap given that it is in a high end restaurant specializing in Kyoto Style food. Moreover, the restaurant is located in Saitama Prefecture’s capital city, albeit in a somewhat rural area of the city, in Nishi Ward. Be sure to check outRead More →