For the fourth year in a row, the Higashimatsuyama Fireworks have been cancelled on account of the pandemic. There will be no firework displays in Higashimatsuyama city in 2023. Official notification Higashimatsuyama Fireworks 2020 The 2020 Higashimatsuyama fireworks have been cancelled due to the Coronavirus Outbreak. The 2020 Higashimatsuyama summerRead More →
Information for the Oedo Niiza Festival in 2023 第8回大江戸新座祭りは令和5年7月16日(日)！ The Oedo (Ooedo) Niiza Festival is on again this July. It was one of the few festivals that went ahead in 2022. This is a relatively new festival, started in 2015. However, it replaced the Niiza Awa odori festival, which ranRead More →
Information for the annual Heritage Resort Fireworks in Kumagaya City, on the border of Namegawa town. For the last three summers, due to the pandemic, there were very few firework displays in Japan. However, throughout that period Hotel Heritage was one of the few places that had fireworks. Moreover, inRead More →
Have you heard about the Peacock Shrine in Saitama City? Or maybe you know it as the Quiz Shrine? It is one of those shrines that is very famous among Saitama residents and further afield among the history buffs. But it is off the tourist trail. Maybe the locals preferRead More →
Fukaya Sunflowers While driving to Northern Saitama today, along the Saikai Kaido (aka route 140) beautiful tall sunflowers already in full bloom captured my attention. Actually, in fairness, I think I spotted a camera man first on the foot path. I remember having the fleeting thought ‘ooh, wonder what he’sRead More →
Ukiya no Sato is a nature reserve in Kazo City, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It is part of what is known as the Saitama Green (greenery) Trust – conservation area number ten of fourteen areas in total in Saitama Prefecture. Ukiya no Sato The name of this nature reserve comes fromRead More →
Kumagaya is hot, hot, hot, but the heat brings out the best in the sunflowers at Endo Farm! Furthermore, they have the coolest sunflower maze to put a smile on any face! Moreover, they have sunflower illumination / light up on select dates! Endo farm, which has really made aRead More →
A round up of events in Saitama in summer 2021. Includes information on those events and fireworks that have been cancelled in 2021 and those that are going ahead. I’ve also added information for 2022. Cancelled Cancelled Events Summer 2021 with information for 2022 also Ageo Summer Festival – scheduledRead More →
Saitama Summer Pools 2023 年の埼玉県屋外プール１８選。Information for eighteen pools that are open and where is not. Dates and conditions included. Plus each of Saitama’s outdoor seasonal pools mapped together on a Google MyMap. ⚠There are no tickets at the gate at any of the prefectural or Saitama City municipal outdoor /Read More →
Along the scenic route 299 from Hidaka to Yokoze (Chichibu), there is a very picturesque temple – Chonenji – that scintillates in June with stunning hydrangea. I had this one saved on my Google Maps with a note “hydrangea”. However, I have absolutely no recollection of making that note orRead More →