Information for the 27th annual Chichibu Arakawa New Soba Festival. The popular annual festival is held in a very scenic part of Chichibu, with a 1.1 hectare buckwheat field. The festival was cancelled between 2020 and 2022 due to you know what, so this is the first time the festival will be held in four years. Come along to taste some of the freshest of fresh ‘new soba’!
Chichibu Arakawa New Soba Festival
The Spring Buckwheat Viewing, Autumn Buckwheat Viewing, and New Soba Festivals are held every year at Chichibu Hanami no Sato, a soba restaurant in Arakawa-Uedano, Chichibu City. Chichibu Hanami-no-Sato has a buckwheat field that is approximately 1.1 hectares in size, and at the spring and autumn buckwheat flower viewing festival, you can enjoy freshly made soba while admiring the buckwheat flowers. Meanwhile in November, at the “New Soba Festival”, as the name suggests, you can enjoy “new soba”, for 600 yen, subject to availability. The New Soba Festival is on the third Sunday of November annually. In 2023, that is the 19th of November.
Apart from the soba, there are about 15 stalls at the event. You can also enjoy live performances such as Chichibu Yataibayashi, shakuhachi, puppet show and some live music too.
>>Another place nearby with buckwheat flowers.
Information
Event: Chichibu Arakawa New Soba Festival ちちぶ荒川新そばまつり
Date: the third Sunday of November which in 2023 is the 19th of November.
The Chichibu Arakawa Spring Soba flower viewing Festival is on in early June and the Autumn Soba flower viewing festival is on in late September.
Time: 10 am to 3 pm
Cost: there is no admission fee to the venue. A bowl of soba costs 600 yen.
Venue: Chichibu Hanami no Sato, Arakawakamitano, Chichibu, Saitama 369-1802. View on Google Maps.
Access
Chichibu Hanami no Sato is about a fifteen to twenty minute walk from Chichibu Railway Bushu Nakagawa station. There is parking for about 150 cars at the venue. In addition, there are about 300 parking spots at Arakawa Sougou Undo Koen, from where a free shuttle bus goes to the venue on the day.
Editor’s note: this post was temporarily removed from the website during the pandemic and was republished on November 14th 2023.