2026 Information for the annual “enmusubi” wind chimes and glistening river at Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine. They are one of the most famous wind chime displays in Japan. Last year, they started earlier than ever and will do so again in 2026. This year they will have about 1500 wind chimes.Read More →
Information for the Koshigaya Yasaka Summer Festival in 2026. The Koshigaya Yasaka Summer festival is a festival of the Koshigaya Katori Shrine, one of the most prominent shrines in Koshigaya City. There are actually several different Katori Shrines in Koshigaya. This one is in the Osawa area. Hence it isRead More →
Information for the latest display at Aobaen in Saitama City. The display changes every 6 to 8 weeks. Currently, the display is of Japanese fans. Until the second half of 2024, they changed displays within a day, but recently they have been taking a break between displays of up toRead More →
Ose Shishimai, or The Lion Dance of Ose, was on in 2023 in Yashio City for the first time in four years. And has been on annually since. The festival is also known as “Doronko Shishimai”, or muddy lion. That is because it frequently rains on the days of thisRead More →
I have had Suguro Shrine on a round up post of the shrines and temples in the Sumiyoshi area for the last few years. But before the pandemic it had a post of its own, for the Chinowa Kuguri annually. I republished it in 2024 and will update this postRead More →
Ryusenji / Ryusen Temple is the said to be the home of papercut ‘Goshuin’. A ‘Goshuin’ is a stamp or seal that you can receive for a fee at temples and shrines in Japan. What makes Ryusen-ji’s so special is that they are intricately cut from paper, like a stencil.Read More →
The beautiful Yakyu Inari shrine has been slowly introducing new events at the shrine since it was made a National Important Cultural Property of Japan in 2023. For example, since 2024 they have a beautiful flower display in the purification font, or a hanachozu as its called in Japanese. TheyRead More →
Nogoji is Saitama’s most famous hydrangea (ajisai in Japanese) temple. The temple grounds are actually quite small, but even without the hydrangea in bloom they are quite picturesque. But the temple grounds really come to life in June. The shrine was completely off limits each June between 2020 and 2022,Read More →
You hear so much about “ajisai dera” (hydrangea temples) at this time of year in Japan. But what about hydrangea shrines? Hundreds of shrines throughout Saitama have some hydrangea on their grounds, but for some reason its all about the hydrangea temples! Well there is an actual reason – hydrangea’sRead More →
On a hunch yesterday, I decided to visit my five favorite places for “Nanja Monja” trees in Konosu. It would normally be a bit too early to see them in full bloom, but my instincts paid off, because the Nanja Monja are already in prime condition at four of theRead More →