Exclusively on “In Saitama”: a new wind chime festival in Kawagoe City. I’m calling them the candy cane wind chimes, because they hang from red and white poles that remind me of candy cane! ⚠The end date for these wind chimes was not decided before I go on holidays, so I will not be able to update this post with the end date. Therefore, I have removed it from the “in season now” and “summer events” categories.
Wind Chime Festival
Last week when I was driving to Cafe Magnolia to try out the trendy cube shaped cheesecake, I passed Naritasan Kawagoe Betsuin Hongyoin. (Hereafter I just call it Naritasan). There was quite a bit of traffic and I got stopped right outside where the turtle pond is. You can’t see the turtle pond from the street, due to the high wall. But I could see vibrant lanterns peeping out from behind the wall. Intrigued, I decided to go Naritasan on my next visit to downtown Kawagoe. And that was today!
Candy Cane Wind Chimes!
Not only are there beautiful red lanterns on display at the turtle pond, but there is a colorful display of wind chimes also. Incredibly, apart from the official website (linked in information) these wind chimes have not made it on to the worldwide web yet. They maybe on social media though, but they have yet to feature on any of the event / tourism websites. Not even the Kawagoe tourism websites!
However, due to this, I unfortunately do not know when the wind chimes will be up until. The official website only says when they started, which was June 1st, but not when they will take them down. The kind ladies in one of the tourism offices inquired for me, but it would seem Naritasan have not decided the end date yet. Just “sometime in July”. Hopefully, if more people go and visit them, they’ll stay up longer!
It is not a particularly large display, but it is very striking. Also, they are very different to the famous wind chimes of Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine. They make a different sound too. You can purchase a prayer plaque to write your wish / prayer on and have it hung from the chimes. According to the official website, they are on display in celebration of the “Aoba Matsuri”. Aoba matsuri is a festival for Kobo Daishi’s (the founder of Shingon Buddhism) birthday, which falls on June 15th. Aoba literally means blue leaves, what we call “new green” in English.
>>Find even more events on in July in Saitama Prefecture this year.
Information
Event: Wind Chime / Aoba Festival 風鈴まつり（青葉まつり）
Dates: from June 1st until a date to be decided in July 2023. I will not be able to check for the date after July 14th. Please check the official site, linked below, for the most recent information.
Time: from 8 am to 4 pm
Cost: free to view or you can buy a plaque to hang from a wind chime with your prayer / wish on it.
Venue: Naritasan Kawagoe Betsuin Hongyoin 成田山川越別院（本行院）, 9-2 Kubomachi, Kawagoe, Saitama 〒350-0055. View on Google maps.
Access
Naritasan is about a 20 to 25 minute walk from Kawagoe station. From Honkawagoe its about a 12 to 15 minute walk. The Koedo Kawagoe loop bus that goes from the East exit of Kawagoe Station stops in front of Naritasan. It is the third stop (2nd if you exclude the station) on the route, after Kitain.
There is a small parking lot on the grounds, but you can also park at Kitain. Kitain recently improved their charging system. It used to be a flat rate of 500 yen for the day, but they now charge 200 yen for the first half hour and 100 yen for every half hour after that. Which actually makes it cheaper than most if you are only visiting for an hour or two. The standard rate in Kawagoe for parking is 200 per half hour.
Official event page on the Naritasan website
Information in English about Naritasan – and its famous monthly antique fair.