Koedo Kurari is a small shopping area with food and souvenirs housed in three former sake breweries. They host several events and markets throughout the year. At New Year, they generally have a small New Year market on January 3rd as well as live Taiko performances, known as the New YearRead More →
Hatsu hinode is the wonderful Japanese tradition of watching the first sunrise of the New Year. Only three sleeps to go! Until we embrace the New Year with a crisp start! Because whenever we can, we start our New Year in the freezing cold of dawn to watch the firstRead More →
New in 2022 in Kawagoe: Kawagoe Baum Lab by Fueki Shoyu I’ve been sharing – or rather trying to share – some of the dozens of new eateries that opened in Kawagoe during the pandemic. There’s just not enough hours in the day! Kawagoe Baum Lab actually opened in theRead More →
For the first time in three years – Kawagoe Yabusame. I am no expert on yabusame, by any means. But as far as I am aware the yabusame in Moroyama is the most famous in Saitama Prefecture and this one in Kawagoe is small and lesser known. Even though IRead More →
The advertisement for the 2022 Kawagoe Tojin Soroi festival says ‘for the first time in 3 years’. But the festival was actually on in part in 2021. However, there was no parade and that is typically the main feature of the festival. This year will be more like a usualRead More →
You can find one of the official top 100 Natural Scenic Spots of Saitama, a manjushage* colony, in Kawagoe. It is on the outskirts of Kawagoe in an area called Hiratsuka Shinden. It is located along the Iruma river, between Ochiai bridge on route 254 and Hiratsuka bridge on routeRead More →
Akimode and Yatagarasu Suzu no Wa at Kawagoe Kumano Shrine, Autumn 2022. The three legged crow lanterns are up! The ring of bells is waiting to be unveiled. And the paper dolls are prepped and waiting to go. This is the scene at Kawagoe Kumano Shrine tonight, in preparation forRead More →
The Kawagoe Festival is held annually on the third Saturday and Sunday of October. However, due to the pandemic, Kawagoe city cancelled the festival in both 2020 and 2021. But great news for 2022 – the city are planning the festival. As it is the 100 year anniversary of theRead More →
Mrs Hamburger is the crème de la crème of the relatively new Enmusubi Yokocho food court in Hatago Coedoya hotel in Kawagoe. Enmusubi Yokocho, or Enyoko for short, is a food court not just for gastronome, but for Instagrammers too, with food that is as picturesque as it is delicious.Read More →
Kawagoe has dozens of equinox flower, aka red spider lily, spots. Several of them quite hidden from the mass public. Equinox flowers is the literal translation of “higanbana”, a flower most commonly called red spider lily in English. I generally use “Red Spider lily” myself, but for this post IRead More →