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 →
Kawajima Town, central Saitama, is celebrating 50 years this year. In celebration of the anniversary there have been several events on this year, particularly this month. This Classic Car Festival seems very apt, given that many of the cars on display will be as old as the town itself! TheyRead More →
Every year Tobu Zoo and amusement park puts on a fantastic night illumination show for the winter months. It is one of the better known, and larger, night illumination displays. In both 2020 and 2021, it was actually one of only a handful of places that had their winter illumination. However,Read More →
Last year, 2021, Tobu Zoo revived both the Night Zoo and Halloween parade for the first time in two years. However, due to the pandemic it was only open until 7 pm and only available in October. This year, 2022, it will be more like a normal year with theRead More →
The Chichibu Rocket Festival is most commonly referred to by its Japanese name “Ryusei Matsuri” even in English, possibly due to the uniqueness of this 400 year old festival. Ryusei literally means dragon power. The Ryusei Festival, or “Chichibu Yoshida Dragon Power”, is a National Important Intangible Folk Cultural PropertyRead More →
Last year, 2021, I saw on my Google Analytics that some new visitors had found my website through a search for “Nagatoro river boating during the SOE?” Ironically, at that time, I had very little on the blog about the river boating in Nagatoro, just a brief mention on theRead More →
A beautiful natural hot spring in Chichibu, Seine no Yu is a private natural hot spring that is popular among tourists and locals alike. Hot spring in Chichibu On a recent trip to Ogano, which is just next door to the Yoshida area, we decided last minute we wanted toRead More →
Hatago Coedoya is a relatively new hotel in Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture, just 30 minutes from Tokyo. But more than a hotel, it offers trendy dining in the Enmusubi Yokocho, or Enyoko for short. There is also a craft cafe in Enyoko, where currently you can decorate your own windRead More →
Summer in Saitama 2022 – In 2020 and 2021 summer was quite different to life before the pandemic. And although we are still in the shadow of the pandemic in 2022, life does feel somewhat more ‘normal’ than the past two years. For example, several water play areas and poolsRead More →
To me, Kato Farm in Hidaka is a farm for the foodies, rather than the kiddies! It is a dairy farm that is quite small and, frankly, quite lackluster. But there is a reason their produce has won numerous awards over the years. They produce and sell premium milk andRead More →