Ten places for night illumination in Saitama Prefecture in the winter of 2021 / 2022. Despite the fact the vast majority of night illumination events went ahead during the pandemic in 2020 – 2021, this winter (2021 / 22) several places have opted out of winter illumination. Thankfully, although someRead More →
In this article you will find ten places for gingko trees in Saitama Prefecture, close to Tokyo. They are divided into two sections: 1) gingko tree avenues and 2) sacred or ancient gingko trees at a shrine or temple. The best time for viewing varies greatly between location. For example:Read More →
The best time to view Autumn leaves in Nagatoro is generally November. Stretching six kilometers along the Ara river from Iwadatami, resplendent fall colors decorate the Nagatoro Valley. Trees include Momiji, Kunugi and Oak. Taking the famous Kudari line down the river is a great way to take in theRead More →
The Otaki Ice festival, illuminated Misotsuchi Icicles in 2022 – One of the most famous, and beautiful, winter scenes of Saitama is at the Otaki Ice Festival. Located in the former Otaki village (now part of Chichibu city) in the Chichibu-Tama-Kai National Park. The Misotsuchi Icicles are the only naturallyRead More →
The Ashigakubo Icicles in 2022. The icicles are generally open to the public from the first week in January to the last week in February. Yokoze town generally release the expected dates around mid December. All things equal, they will probably be open to the public from around January 8thRead 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 →
Saitama’s best Kawazu zakura spot? Its funny, all these years I thought Saitama didn’t really have a particularly head turning kawazu zakura spot. And then last year, I realized that we do, its just not been marketed very well. I have dozens of books about Saitama – not one hasRead More →
In Spring 2021, the newest Starbucks in Saitama will open in Sayama City. It will be the first branch of the coffee chain to open in Sayama city. Moreover, it will be the very first Starbucks to open in a public park in Saitama Prefecture. In addition, it has terraceRead More →
EJ Anime Hotel opened within the “cool Japan” Sakura Town Shin Tokorozawa in Autumn of this year, 2020. The Sakura Town is a project by the Kadokawa Corporation- one of the largest publishing companies in Japan – and Tokorozawa city. Apart from books, mooks, magazines and manga, Kadokawa also produceRead More →
Saitama Cherry Blossoms – Hanami and cherry blossom season 2021. At the time of writing this in October 2020, Japan were aiming to reopen the country to international tourists from April 2021*. It is now March and unfortunately this will not happen. It would have been nice to have beenRead More →