Shinrin Park (aka Musashi Kyuryo National Government Park) confirmed on September 6th, that they are planning to host their annual Halloween night in the Forest, despite the coronavirus. Whoop, I am so happy! They did last year too, for the record, and we were able to keep up our oneRead More →
The “Hanachozu Week” in Gyoda often features on local and even national news, as well as on social media platforms. The “Hanachozu Week” is actually two weeks long monthly. It is on the first two weeks of each month. During the period there are dozens of “hanachozu” floral water fontsRead More →
Each year in August thousands of water hyacinth bloom at a roadside station in Kazo City. Doyono Furusato Otone Roadside Station attracts thousands of visitors each year when the water hyacinth are in bloom. Water hyacinth is native to the tropics. Supposedly they came to Japan in the Meiji era.Read More →
Kinchakuda Red Spider Lily Festival 2021, Hidaka, Saitama Japan, last updated August 27th 2021. The 2020 festival was cancelled on account of the Coronavirus outbreak. Moreover, on the 17th of September 2020 the city cut the spider lilies that had grown to prevent more people coming. On August 27th 2021 theyRead More →
In both 2020 and 2021, the Higanbana festival in Satte’s Gongendo Park was cancelled on account of the Coronavirus outbreak. The other large spider lily festivals in Saitama, such as at Kinchakuda, were also cancelled. In 2021, Gongendo Park opened for all other seasonal blooms – daffodils, cherry blossoms, hydrangeaRead More →
Cluster Amaryllis / Higanbana / Red spider lilies at the Terasaka terraced Rice fields in Yokoze. In 2020 the Terasaka Terraced Rice fields are off limits to the public. Not only was the festival not on, they announced that they would be cutting all the red spider lilies to deterRead More →
Moominvalley Park Harvest 2021 in the Moomin theme park at Metsa, Hanno, Saitama. The featured image above is from the official Moomin Japan website. Moominvalley Park Harvest 2021 Last year, 2020, was the inaugural Harvest event at Moominvalley park. I donned it the harvest balloon sky, as the berry displaysRead More →
Iwatsuki Hisaizu “the peacock” Shrine is a very photogenic shrine and one of Saitama’s largest. Moreover, it is the only one I know of with resident peacocks! The Peacock Shrine! Initially the shrine was gifted three peacocks from a member of staff of the Imperial Palace. Over the years, theRead More →
The Naked Men Festival, Kamikawa, Saitama. Naked Men Festival The naked men festival is on the 19th of November annually, in Kamikawa town, Saitama prefecture. And during the time the festival is on there is also a winter cherry blossom festival on a ten minute drive away. The cherry blossomsRead More →
Nagatoro spring leaves light up 2021 – In Japan they have a word for new leaves on a tree 新緑 “Shinryoku” which literally translates as ‘new green’. It is often translated into ‘fresh green’ in English. It is not a word we use in Ireland and it doesn’t really conveyRead More →