Nature, hiking, flowers, Cats, horses, playground, “Health Road”, an honesty shop, seasonal events and a picking farm with a quaint cafe and antique store. All atop a hill in Yatsu no Sato, Namegawa Town. In September 2019 when visiting Hilltop farm and cafe I walked across the road to investigateRead More →
English information for カフェN36° Café N36° Café N36° (カフェN36°) is a cafe with a dog run in Okegawa City, Saitama Prefecture. But rather than being ‘a cafe with a dog run’, it feels more like a dog run with a cafe! The cafe was doing a roaring trade today, despiteRead More →
Shrines and Temples – and a couple of other things to do – near the early blooming cherry blossoms of Sumiyoshi Sakura no Sato in North Eastern area of Sakado. Please note that the cherry blossoms do not bloom every year. You can check for their status on the SumiyoshiRead More →
Tokorozawa Dolls Festival officially known as Tokorozawa Hina Monogatari from February 14th to March 14th 2021. The Tokorozawa Doll’s Festival Tokorozawa celebrates its doll production history with this “monogatari” festival. Monogatari are described as a narrative tale. They are believed to have developed from oral storytelling of fiction, that evenRead More →
Seasonal information for the Plum Blossoms Shinrin Park On Tuesday the 19th of January 2021 various TV stations announced that the plum blossoms had opened in the Kanto Plain. In addition, Shinrin Park also posted on their website that the plum blossom season has begun. There are currently a typeRead More →
Halloween Kitamoto – Tentative information for Halloween in Kitamoto in 2021. Trick-or-Treat, Halloween Photo Spots, Costume Competition and booths with food and hands on experiences in the Kitamoto Higashichuo Shopping district. The costume contest is usually in the afternoon from 1 pm. You can apply in advance to participate onRead More →
The Setsubun festival at Fudougaoka Fudouson Souganji Temple in Kazo is famous throughout Kanto and beyond. (Souganji / Soganji / Sogan Temple is one of the three major Fudo Temples.) The festival has been carried out for almost 400 years. Apart from the common practice of mamemaki, throwing beans toRead More →
The State of Emergency in Saitama will run until February 7th 2021. At first glance the State of Emergency seemed quite limited in its reach. However, as more information becomes available, it is in reality a type of soft lockdown. For one, several public facilities will actually close. Including dozensRead More →
Sun City Illumination The Sun City night illumination will be on turned on from November Saturday November 14th and will run until Sunday February 28th 2020. The illumination is turned on at 4.30 pm each day. Normally, the display is until 10 pm, but due to the Coronavirus the hoursRead More →
The Yamabuki no Sato Historical Park: One of the few Yamabuki (yellow rose) flower spots, and the most famous for Kerria Japonica, in the Kanto plain. Yamabuki Yamabuki are a beautiful vivid yellow flower. The flower is often referred to as a yellow rose as the genus is in theRead More →