Find out what’s happening in Saitama today and what’s on in Saitama this weekend with the best Saitama event list on the web. If its on in Saitama, its on insaitama.com!
**During the 2021 State of Emergency and Coronavirus Outbreak, events are subject to change and cancellation at a moment’s notice. Please do always check with the official website for any last minute changes or cancellations.**
Strawberry Picking Moroyama - Ichigo No Sato Moroyama Barrier Free Sightseeing Strawberry Farm has been on the radar for the last few years. First, it was because it had a few famous people visit and it featured on some TV programs. Then, it was because they opened an all year
The Nagatoro Cherry Blossom Festival is one of the most popular in the whole of Saitama. It is also one of the longest, stretching from the end of March to the end of April, even early May some years. There are a total of 3000 cherry blossom trees in different
Glamorous Hyde Park is an initiative by Inariyama Park to enjoy a living area in the great outdoors. Essentially it is day glamping, the term coined for glamorous camping. Hence the park uses the word glamping in this annual seasonal event. Please note it is only available on Fridays, Saturdays
Historically this post was about the Horse Riding event in the Icelandic Poppy Fields of Shinrin Park (Musashi Kyuryo National Government Park), Namegawa Town, Saitama. However, in 2020 and 2021 due to the Coronavirus there is no horse riding events at Shinrin Park. For the record, most of the walking
The cherry blossom season of Minoyama in Minano Chichibu usually opens around the 8th of April with best viewing at the end of April. However, this year, like most other places around the Kanto plain, the cherry blossoms are early blooming. The Somei Yoshino cherry blossoms were a whole two
Peony Festival in Botanen, Higashimatsuyama There are two famous Peony festivals in Higashimatsuyama. One in the gardens beside Yakyu Inari (the baseball shrine) and one in Botanen park. Botanen park has approximately 6500 peonies of 150 different varieties of peony. Making it the largest peony garden in all of Japan.
The Azalea (Tsutsuji in Japanese) on Monomiyama bloom from around mid April to early May. In fact, its not uncommon to be able to see some azalea as early as end of March. However, the main / prime viewing period doesn't start until mid April. Higashimatsuyama have not yet announced
Renge Kuki City Renge is, from my understanding, a type of lotus flower that grows in the grass rather than a marsh. Kuki City is famous for its renge. It blooms from around the end of the first week of April until early May. It is a delicate purple flower.
Every year Shinrin Park* host one of the longest “spring festivals”. They split it into two. The first part "Happy Spring Festival" is from mid February to the first week of April. Part two is the "Happy Spring Festa" which starts around mid April. Normally it runs until the end
Shibazakura Matsuri Chichibu in 2021- In 2020, Hitsujiyama Park had every intention to go ahead with the shibazakura festival. However, when a State of Emergency was declared the event was cancelled. Moreover, the shibazakura hill was completely closed off to the public in 2020. However, in 2021 they are once
Peony Festival at Yakyu Inari Shrine – Yakyu Inari Shrine is located in Higashimatsuyama, Saitama, just 1 hour and 10 minutes from Ikebukuro on the Tobu Tojo line. It is one of many shrines to the God Inari. However, what makes it special is that its Chinese characters (“Yakyu” 箭弓) are pronounced
Umbrella Sky / Street Japan. The official name is "Forest and Lake and Umbrella", but it is also known as "Moomin Valley and Umbrella" or umbrella sky project. It is held in Metsa* in Hanno, Saitama Prefecture (just North of Tokyo) every summer since 2019. However, this year 2021 it
The Kasukabe Wisteria Festival has been cancelled again this year. However, the Wisteria of Ushijima - Tokaen (also in Kasukabe city) is open to the public. The wisteria garden opened yesterday Saturday April 17th and will remain open until Wednesday May 5th. Every year the garden opens from the middle
In celebration of 75 years of Thomas the Tank Engine, the EJ Anime Museum in Kadokawa Culture Museum in Tokorozawa Sakura Town will host a Thomas the Tank Engine exhibition from April 24th to May 16th 2021. The event is called "Thomas and Friends exciting festival". The theme of the
Kawajima Rose Festival - Heisei No Mori Park in Kawajima Town is home to the longest rose tunnel in Japan. It isn't a huge park, but it is very nice for children. There is a really fun playground and in the summer there is a nice wading river. https://www.instagram.com/p/BjARQI6gJgE/ The
Wading pool Saitama Children's Zoo - It is hard to believe it is already the time of year for wading pools and rivers. Las year, things were quite different with so much still unknown about the Coronavirus. Normally, the wading / splash pool in the Children's Zoo opens for the
First tea festival of the season. Eighty eight nights is translated from the Japanese Hachi Ju Hachi Ya. It means a night that marks the end of the cold frosty nights. Moreover, it is the start of an important stage in the farming calendar. It refers to the 88th day
For the second year in a row the Kasukabe Big Kite Festival has been cancelled. The event is normally held on May 3rd and 5th annually. However, it was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the novel Coronavirus, COVID-19. A free online video of the kite in flight and
Water Play Shinrin Park - One of the better (non-swimming-pool) water play areas in Saitama is in Shinrin Park. There are two separate places you can play with water in Shinrin Park, both near the West Gate where most of the children's facilities are. The "Mori no Oasis" is a
Kounosu Flower Festival - The poppy festival that is held annually in Konosu is quite well known, but they also have other flowers and flower events around the same time. Hence overall the festival is referred to as a flower festival, not just a poppy festival. In 2020 on account
In 2020 the Ina rose festival was cancelled and the park was closed to the public on account of the State of Emergency in response to the pandemic. The park opened to the public after the State of Emergency was lifted and has remained open. In 2021, not only will
Yorii Hojo Festival The 59th annual Hojo Festival in Yorii was scheduled to take place on May 10th 2020 between 9 am and 3 pm. However, in 2021, they didn't even schedule the festival. It was just announced as cancelled. Due to the novel Coronavirus Covid-19 the Yorii Hojo Festival
Yokoze Puppet Play - Every May on the second Sunday of the month there is a very special event in Yokoze. The famous puppet play of Yokoze, which is an Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Saitama. One person magically operates the puppets in this mesmerizing puppet theater. He uses what
Rose Festival Yono - For the second year in a row, the Yono Rose Festival has been cancelled. Hopefully this year they won't cut the roses like they did in 2020. In 2020 they had already cut the roses on April 24th. It is April 26th 2021 and there has
Chichibu Poppy Festival - In 2020 there were no "poppies in the sky"! The Chichibu Poppy Festival "Poppies in the Sky" was not only cancelled, the flowers weren't grown. Moreover, the whole area was off limits to the public. Thankfully, in 2021 they are planning to go ahead with the
The 2021 Ranzan Lavender festival has been cancelled. In 2021 they are concentrating on cultivating sections of the field that were damaged by typhoon Hagibis in autumn 2019. The festival was also cancelled in 2020 due to the Coronavirus Outbreak. Furthermore, there is no access to the lavender fields. Moreover
Where can I ride a hot air balloon near Tokyo? The Tokorozawa Aviation Memorial Park offers the general public the chance to ride in a barrier free hot air balloon at a very special price on fixed dates through the year. On a clear day you can often see both
The 2021 Iris Festival in Tokigawa Iris Gardens has been cancelled due to the Coronavirus. It was also cancelled in 2021. The Iris bloom in the garden for the month of June. They are relatively near (by car) the lavender fields of Ranzan. Last year I combined a trip to