Kawagoe Sports Park or Kawagoe Undo Koen in Japanese is a local type park on the outskirts of Kawagoe, near both Ageo City and Nishi Ward in Saitama City. It is most used for its sporting facilities, but in spring people come from further afield for the cherry blossoms. They have some beautiful mature somei yoshino trees and a particularly nice (but small) yaezakura cherry blossom area. They also have some Gyoiko cherry blossoms.
Kawagoe Sports Park
The first time I visited Kawagoe Sports park (川越運動公園）I wasn’t all that enamored with it. From the point of view of a parent, there is little to entertain older children and it is most suited to a small child. However, four years after I published this post, in 2017, they upgraded the playground and so I have upgraded the park from a 2 star rating to a 3 star rating! Toddlers and preschoolers will enjoy this colorful playground. Its a nice place for hanami with kids now too.
The main combination unit of the playground has three slides. One is a tunnel windy one and two are bumpy ones. There is also a climbing net, a climbing wall and stairs. There is a smaller combination unit for toddlers. It has some small climbing activities and two colorful slides. There is a giraffe statue in the center. There is climbing net activity for all ages beside it with fish statues on the top of the poles that support the nets. On the right of the playground is a flying fox type activity. There is another play area right beside this playground, but they are separated by fencing. It is where the sandpit and spring rides are. There are also some fun audio aural play equipment in the sand pit area.
The park is officially a sports park. It is home to a sports hall with a number of facilities. There is also an athletic track in the park. There are plenty of benches and seats in the park and some picnic tables too. The park boasts a mini bell tower, a symbol of Kawagoe. In the summer they have a very small wading river.
Cherry blossoms Kawagoe Sports Park
There are somei yoshino cherry blossoms beside the playground and around the green beside the playground. There are some more at the back of the park, behind the tennis courts. There are yaezakura, double flowered, late blooming cherry blossoms too. In the photo above, the yaezakura are the pink cherry blossoms and the somei yoshino are the white ones. The somei yoshino typically bloom late March to early April and the yaezakura in the middle of April. In 2025, for the first time in years, they bloomed at the same time, and I was able to get the photos above.
Information
The official hours of the park are 9 am to 9 pm. Parking is free and abundant. However, when there is a big sports event on you may have to use one of the overflow car parks which are a bit of a walk away. There is a bus terminus there, one of the buses goes to Kawagoe station. There are toilets and vending machines.
Nearby Attractions
- Best of Saitama Maruyama Park | AGEO
- Isanuma Park | Kawagoe
- Akihanomori Park in Nishi Ward | SAITAMA CITY
- Flowers at Isa Marsh and the East bank Flower Garden
- Autumn Leaves at Kitain Temple Kawagoe