Kawagoe Park, also known as Kawagoe Water Park, Kawagoe Suijo Kouen, or Kawagoe Aquatic Park, is a great all year round park in a rural area of Kawagoe. Kawagoe Park is home to one of Saitama’s largest aqua parks which opens seasonally in summer. The park is particularly renowned forRead More →
Best of Saitama: the sprawling lush Musashi Kyuryo National Government Park, aka Shinrin Park: Musashi Kyuryo National Government Park West Gate Central Gate North Gate South Gate The Playgrounds of Shinrin Park Adventure Playground Musashi kids dome Giant Ball Area Ponpoko Mountain (Water play areas are included in seasonal attractionsRead More →
Hidaka Sougou (Sogo) Park is a local park, much used by the locals. The Japanese sougou 総合 is used to indicate a multi-purpose park and that is exactly what Hidaka Sougou park is. It is often translated into Hidaka Total Park or Hidaka Comprehensive park in English. The park isRead More →
Asu Sports Park in Hanno City is just across the road from the very unique Akebono Children’s Forest. It has a nice playground for younger kids as well as a spider web climbing frame for all ages. The area around the spider web climbing equipment and the toddler play equipmentRead More →
We’ve been hanging out in Shiroyama park quite a lot recently. Thanks to the Family Walker magazine featuring the new piece of playground equipment (the red and white pirate ship pictured below) and suggesting it as a hanami location. We had visited a few times in the past, but it didn’t make that much ofRead More →
Kumagaya Sports & Culture Park is a vast park in Kumagaya City, Saitama Prefecture. Since the Rugby World Cup in 2019 it needs little introduction, but when I first wrote this post in 2015 it wasn’t that well known outside the prefecture. But the park has improved greatly over theRead More →
Mihashi Park – Mihashi Recreational Park, 三橋総合公園, is a park enjoyed by locals in Nishi ward. Unlike other parks in the area it has plenty of free parking and for the most part it is free to play in, but the sporting facilities have a nominal fee. They also haveRead 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 →
Hiratsuka Park – Ageo has some really great parks, but Hiratsuka Park is not one of them! The probably sounds a bit harsh, but it pales in comparison to the other parks in Ageo such as Maruyama Park and Kamihira Park. It is grand for a quick visit or if youRead More →
Kawagoe Sports Park or Kawagoe Undo Koen in Japanese. Written in 2013, updated in 2017. The first time I visited Kawagoe Sports park (川越運動公園）I wasn’t all that enamored with it. From the point of view of a parent, there is little to entertain older children and it is most suited to aRead More →