A succinct guide to Tokorozawa Sakura Town, Japan’s newest and coolest pop culture town.
Sakura Town Shin Tokorozawa is part of the Cool Japan Forest Project, an initiative between Kadokawa Corporation and Tokorozawa city. It is located in Saitama Prefecture, very close to Tokyo. The development includes a library museum (with bookshelf theater), and an atypical shrine to name but three of the cool attractions. The town also has dozens of anime manhole covers, some of which are lit up at night. Events abound, both daily and seasonal, meaning there is always something new to do or see in this entertainment town.
This post was written in advance of the opening and was the very first article in English about the complex. It has been updated several times, after visiting it multiple times, with even more information and the latest events / news. Last update: April 2026.
Tokorozawa Sakura Town
The Tokorozawa Sakura Town Cool Japan Forest Project development includes shops, restaurants, a factory, offices, a public open space, event space and a shrine. Moreover, there is the excellent Kadokawa Culture Museum, which has several exhibition spaces, such as the Grand Gallery, the EJ Anime Museum and the Edit and Art Gallery. (The links lead to an article in English with the most recent exhibition information). The impressive resort was originally supposed to open on July 17th 2020, but the opening event was pushed back to November 6th on account of the pandemic. For the one year anniversary in 2021, the first Pokemon Manhole Covers in Saitama Prefecture were unveiled.
There was an anime hotel at the resort until 2023, but unfortunately it closed down due to lack of business. In addition, the teamlab Acorn Forest closed on January 8th 2024.
Sakura Town Events
Moreover, the entertainment town also runs several events concurrently. Apart from events within the individual premises, there are also general events. For example, in Autumn they have a Halloween Kids Fes and in winter a night illumination event. Another example is the Christmas market and events held in December. They also celebrate New Years, cherry blossom season, Setsubun… etc. They also have a splash pool in summer (more on that further down).
Upcoming events:
➡Summer Festival
Tokorozawa Sakura Town’s Summer Festival 2026 is a lively two‑day celebration on August 8th–9th featuring retro‑style bon odori dancing, kid‑friendly games and activities, craft beer stands from well‑known local breweries, and a vibrant mix of stage performances including live storytelling, nostalgic Showa‑era music shows, and special guest acts. Across the Central Plaza and Senjin Terrace, visitors can enjoy festival foods, illuminations, and family attractions from afternoon into the night, creating a warm, old‑fashioned summer atmosphere designed for friends, families, and solo visitors alike.
➡Interactive Rhinoceros & Stag Beetle Insect Exhibition
Another popular annual event at Sakura Town is the Interactive Beetle Exhibition that is on during the summer holidays. In 2026, it starts from Saturday July 18th and is on until August 16th. However, it is only open on weekends and then daily from August 8th to 11th and again from the 13th to the 16th. The entrance fee is 500 yen for elementary aged students and 1200 yen for anyone of JHS age or older. Official event page.
➡Galaxy☆Park – Gingano Asobiba
➡Sakagura Fes
This year’s Sakagura Fes “Made in Saitama”, is a Sake Festival. It is on Saturday July 4th and Sunday July 5th 2026. Tasting tickets bought in advance are cheaper. They are on sale now. More information on the ticket sale site, in English.
★Don’t forget there are also additional events on at the Kadokawa Museum on the grounds of Sakura Town. You will find information for the water play a few paragraphs down.
When did Tokorozawa Sakura Town open?
By and large, you can say it opened in the autumn of 2020. But different parts of the entertainment town opened on different dates. For example;
- Kadokawa Culture Museum
- The Grand Gallery – August 1st 2020
- Bookshelf Theater – November 6th 2020
- The EJ Anime Museum – November 6th 2020
- Smaller galleries and facilities – November 6th
- The Teamlab Acorn Forest in Musashino Woods – August 1st 2020 and closed on January 8th 2024.
- Kadokawa Restaurant – August 3rd 2020
- Musashino Jurin Cafe, a Sayama Green Tea cafe in Musashino Woods in Higashitokorozawa Park and designed by Kengo Kuma – mid September 2020
- The (Entertainment Japan) EJ Anime Hotel – opened on October 1st 2020 and closed permanently on May 31st 2023.
- The 507㎡ Da Vinci Store, a ‘new type of bookshop’ aiming to connect people and books through “discovery and association” – November 6th 2020
- 28 Anime LED Manhole Covers – around August 2020
- Pokemon Manhole Covers – November 2021
- November 17th 2022: the 10th annual Manhole Summit
Grand Opening of Tokorozawa Sakura Town
Moreover, the grand opening of the Tokorozawa Sakura Town was on November 6th 2020. There were several events for the special occasion. For example, the much anticipated EJ anime museum opened with a Newtype Anime Chronicle event. Other spaces and galleries within Kadokawa Culture Museum also opened with unique exhibitions, such as the Ken and Julia Yonetani exhibition. In addition, the second exhibition in the grand gallery started on the opening day of Sakura Town. It was the highly successful Yokai Pandemonium exhibition by author Hiroshi Arahata.
And in the main building of the town there was an anime camp. Visitors received a commemorative present from the organizers. In addition, anime characters were on site for character greetings and special exclusive photo spots. As well as food booths and exclusive merchandise sales.
Also within that building the Da Vinci store opened on the 6th. The Da Vinci store is a ‘new type of bookshop’ aiming to connect people and books through “discovery and association”. Kadokawa says, “we aim to be an “experience-based bookstore” that constantly provides new discoveries and experiences to our customers.” There are approximately 40,000 books in the store, including 5000 books and magazines from this year by Kadokawa Cooperation. It also has about 10,000 different character and anime goods on sale, including exclusive goods.
The Complete Guide to Tokorozawa Sakura Town
Kadokawa Musashino Museum
The museum, called Kadokawa Musashino Museum or Kadokawa Culture Museum (Kadcul for short), combines a library, galleries and museums. It looks absolutely stunning. It has multiple floors and the library has nine areas including a Bookshelf Theater. Initially they were calling it a “forest of books”, but they changed the name around July 2020.
Within Kadokawa Museum the museums and galleries are all run separately. There is always something to do or see. For example, the anime museum hosts different exclusive exhibitions a couple of times a year. You can keep abreast of the most current exhibition in the EJ Anime Museum in this post here. The Grand Gallery is the main exhibition hall. The Grand Gallery also hosts several different exhibitions within a year. You can get information for the current (or upcoming) exhibition here.
It is strongly recommended that you book in advance for any of the exhibitions at Kadokawa Culture Museum, especially on the weekend. Each exhibition and part of the facility have different costs, but on average budget for around 2000 yen per adult.
Water play
The water feature beside the Kengo Kuma designed Kadokawa Museum turns into a paddling pool in the hotter months! In 2026 you can wade in the small pool of water from Golden Week to about the end of September. However, there will be times when it closes suddenly due to weather, cleaning or other mitigating factors. On the days that it is open you can use it between 10 am and 6 pm. More water play areas in Saitama Prefecture.
Cool Japan Shrine
The shrine is a modern type shrine that they call the “Cool Japan” shrine in English! Its actual name is Musashino Reiwa Shrine. At night they light up the large torii and in summer it blows cool mist. The fortune telling light up started out as a seasonal event, but it proved to be so popular they never stopped it! In December they have additional light up features for Christmas and the 12 meter high Christmas tree gets switched on in early November. >>More on this unique shrine<<
EJ Anime Hotel
Unfortunately, the 33 room EJ Anime Hotel closed permanently on May 31st 2023. Reportedly it closed due to lack of business. As of August 2024 they still haven’t transformed the space into something new. It will be interesting to see if they open something new in the building. Perhaps another hotel?
Watch this space!
LED Anime Manhole Covers
The anime theme can even be seen in the manhole covers. Furthermore, they are all made with LED lights so they glow at night. Tokorozawa Sakura Town has 28 different anime manhole covers, all based on anime by the publishing giant behind the town: Kadokawa. Including two Gundam manhole covers. There was a special Gundam exhibition in the EJ Anime Museum of Kadokawa in January and February of 2022. One manhole features Amuro Ray and Gundam, the other Char Aznable and Zaku, both pictured below. Hopefully over the years we’ll see a special exhibition for each anime featured in the manhole covers of Tokorozawa Sakura Town! Most of the manhole covers are on the walk from the station to Higashi Tokorozawa park.
The manhole covers were added in November 2020 in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the inauguration of Tokorozawa as a city. Moreover, for the one year anniversary of the entertainment town, in November 2021, they unveiled Pokemon Manhole Covers. These were the first Pokemon manhole covers in Saitama.
Team Lab Acorn Forest
In the Musahino Woods of the Higashitokorozawa park area of the resort there was a permanent outdoor exhibition by Teamlab. Saitama Prefecture was actually the very first place in all of Japan to get an indoor Teamlab… unfortunately that particular one closed down in 2020 due to the pandemic. And unfortunately, the outdoor exhibition in Sakura Town closed on January 8th 2024.
Tokorozawa Sakura Town 2026 Information
Apart from all of this there are also restaurants, cafes and other entertainment facilities and shops in the Tokorozawa Sakura Town.
Address: 〒359-0023 Saitama, Tokorozawa, Higashitokorozawawada, 3 Chome−３１−3
Phone: +81570017396
Cost: there is no charge to walk around Sakura Town. However, if you want to see any of the exhibits in Kadokawa Museum or hang out at the Teamlab, there is a cover charge. Budget for around 2000 yen per exhibit. You can see the most up-to-date prices in the official link below.
Access: about a ten minute walk from Higashi Tokorozawa station. Anime themed LED Manhole Covers light the way to the complex from the station!
Parking available – it costs 200 yen for each 30 minutes, but the first 30 minutes are free. Moreover, the charge is capped at 600 yen on weekdays and 1800 yen on weekends. (Prices are subject to change. Always check the official site for the most up to date information).
Some of the images on this post are from the official website.