Each year on Saitama Citizen’s Day, the ‘kencho’, prefectural office, is open to the public and they hold a festival in the area. The theme this year is “Fly me to Saitama”, based on the movie series of the same name, that will have its second chapter released in cinemas on November 23rd. This is just one of scores of events on in Saitama annually on November 14th for Saitama Citizen Day. In addition, dozens of locations are free in or have a reduced entry price on the day. You can see a round up of those here.
Open day at the Saitama Prefectural Office
This is a huge event annually, except for during the pandemic! It was on in 2022, but it was a much smaller event than usual. You can enjoy dozens of events, attractions, entertainment and food on the grounds of the Saitama Prefectural Office (Kencho). The theme this year is based on the movie “Fly me to [the] Saitama” and a highlight for many is that Gackt himself will make an appearance on the day. The Gackt live stage is a free event, however, it is limited to 500 people. You have until 11.59 pm on November 7th to apply online to be one of them! He is not the only special guest, there will be several more and some heroes and mascots will also make an appearance on the day.
The day commences with the police marching and the police band performing for the opening ceremony. There will be police and other emergency vehicles on site for people to explore. There is a sports corner, a gourmet corner, a farmer’s market, a VR booth and dozens of live performances. In addition, you can join a tour of the governor’s office and parliament building. You can see the full line up on the official event page linked at the bottom of the post.
Information
Event: Saitama Prefectural Office Open Day 県庁オープンデー
Date: November 14th annually
Time: from 10 am to 4 pm.
Cost: there is no entry fee.
Venue: Saitama Kencho / Prefectural Office, 3 Chome-15-1 Takasago, Urawa Ward, Saitama, 330-9301. View on Google Maps.
Access
The Kencho is about a ten to fifteen minute walk from JR Urawa Station.
Nearby, you might be able to see some Autumn colors at Bessho-numa Park, which is about a 10 minute walk west of the kencho. Another place of note, but to the east of the kencho and relatively near Urawa Station is Tsuki Shrine.
Editor’s note: this post was temporarily removed from the website during the pandemic. The event was on in 2022, but on short notice and it was a low key event so I waited until 2023 to republish the post.
Gackt? I guess a character from the movies? it all sounds very interesting….