The Otaki Ice festival, illuminated Misotsuchi Icicles in 2023 – 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 →
Information for the Lucky Star exhibition at the Edit and Art Gallery in the Kadokawa Musashino Museum¹, in Tokorozawa Sakura Town, in Winter 2023. Like all exhibitions at Kadokawa Museum, it is recommended that you purchase a ticket in advance, particularly for a weekend. Tickets are already on sale. LuckyRead More →
I have been sharing the Halloween Afternoon tea at Shikitei for years, but in 2022 I introduced their summer afternoon tea for the first time. And now; information for their winter / Christmas Afternoon tea. Omiya Rikyu is a wedding venue, so the building and gardens are beautifully kept. TheRead More →
Numakage Ice Rink – Each year, the summer pool in Numakage park, Minami Ward, is transformed into an outdoor ice rink during the winter months. The rink opens late on weekends. If you just want to observe people skating you can enter the rink area for free. There are otherRead More →
The Shiki Illumination will get switched on for the 2022 / 23 season on Friday December 2nd 2022. Last year they used 25600 lights and while they haven’t given the figure for this year (yet), they have said they will be using more than last year. The featured image wasRead More →
The Toda City Illumination event “Toda Illumi” is relatively new, it only started in 2019. (There are also other illumination events in Toda City which have been around for longer). The city aim to make illumination synonymous with winter in Toda. According to Toda City, this year’s winter illumination willRead More →
The remains of Fujimi turret, also known as the Mt. Fuji Viewing Tower, are a historical landmark in Kawagoe. They are located relatively near to Miyoshino Shrine and Honmaru Goten. The very first time I visited Kawagoe, approximately 20 years ago, I traveled from Ibaraki with my then neighbor andRead More →
Cocoon City Illumination 2022 ~ 2023 – The annual illumination at Cocoon City will be switched on at 5 pm on Saturday November 12th 2022. After three years of a “star” theme, this year the illumination is called “Sparkling Milky Way”. Cocoon City Illumination The Cocoon City illumination display justRead More →
Information for the third annual winter illumination display, “Green Circus”, at Tokorozawa Sakura Town. Tokorozawa Sakura Town Tokorozawa Sakura Town has shops, restaurants, museums, a factory, offices, a public open space, event space, a shrine and even a hotel. An anime hotel at that. A summary of what’s available: KadokawaRead More →
For years, the illumination display in Seibuen, an amusement park on the cusp of Tokyo, was Saitama’s largest illumination display. Furthermore, it was one of the largest in all of Kanto, aka the Greater Tokyo area. It has been gravely missed since its cessation in 2020 due to renovations inRead More →