The Kawagoe Festival is one of the largest and best Autumn Festivals in all of Japan. Moreover, the festival is an Important Intangible Cultural Property of Japan. In addition, the Yama, Hoko, Yatai float festivals are an UNESCO cultural heritage. The festival started at Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine in 1648 afterRead More →
Kinchakuda is synonymous with “manjushage” red spider lilies in Saitama. Furthermore, it is the most famous of the three red spider lily festivals of Saitama. Moreover, the carpet of spiny red flowers is one of the most famous autumn scenes in all of Japan. There are also several other notableRead More →
Saikasai – Asaka City Summer Festival. This festival is on the first Sunday of August and the preceding Saturday and Friday annually. The festival was on in 2022 too, but they didn’t have the popular firework display to avoid crowding. But, thankfully, the fireworks are back in 2023. However, theyRead More →
2023 Information for the annual wind chimes and glistening river at Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine. Updated, on July 1st 2023, after visiting the 2023 display. The Enmusubi Wind Chimes at Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine are generally displayed from the first weekend of July to the first week in September. They follow theRead More →
Kawagoe Aquatic / Aqua Park aka Kawagoe Suijo Kouen, or Kawagoe Water Park, is one of the bigger and most popular summer pools in Saitama. In 2022, Walker listed it as the 5th most popular aqua park in all of Japan. In addition, now that several pools have closed permanently,Read More →
‘Tanbo’ Art – art made from rice in a ‘tanbo’, the Japanese for rice paddy. A must see in summer / early Autumn in Saitama. The rice for the 2023 Guinness World Record Rice Paddy Art was planted today. Yes, the rice is not painted – it is planted toRead More →
Kumagaya Uchiwa Festival is one of the Kanto (aka Greater Tokyo) area’s largest summer festivals. Uchiwa means fan, as in a hand held fan used to cool down in the summer. Therefore, sometimes people call the festival Kumagaya Fan Festival in English. It is open to the public from July 20thRead More →
For the first time in four years, the Kumagaya Fireworks are back to normal! This will be the 71st annual Kumagaya Firework display. Kumagaya Fireworks in 2023 The Kumagaya fireworks display started in 1948, making these one of the longest running annual fireworks in Saitama. They are held each yearRead More →
For the first time in four years the Chichibu Poppy Festival is set to go ahead. It was set to go ahead in 2021 too and then the day before the festival was due to start they had to cancel it! It is highly unlikely that will happen in 2023.Read More →
Ten cherry blossom spots in Kawagoe. The list includes “famous” locations as well as off the beaten path cherry blossom spots in Kawagoe. All locations are mapped on a Google My Map at the bottom of the page. There is another very special and completely off the beaten path cherryRead More →