Popular, Local and Family friendly mall in Higashimatsuyama, Peony Walk

Peony Walk is a large mall in the city of Higashimatsuyama.  It’s nearest station is Takasaka, which is probably best known as the station for Saitama Children’s Zoo.  Until the mall was built a few years ago, there wasn’t much in the area at all. Now there are a number of other stores and services popping up, as well as a huge number of housing developments.

Peony Walk Higashimatsuyama

The mall made news in 2019 when it was flooded by the Toki River during typhoon Hagibis. It closed until the end of December 2019. At one point it was rumored that they would not be reopening it. Thankfully that was one rumor that proved not to be true.

Just as it was getting back on its feet the Coronavirus outbreak in 2020 once again temporarily closed some of the shops in the mall. However, since August 2020 the mall could open and there have been few restrictions, except they are not hosting as many events as usual. There has been a slight increase in events in 2022, but still not quite back to “normal” yet.

Play Areas

There are a few free play areas in the mall. Apita which is split over two floors has a play area on each floor.  On the first floor there is a lego play area at the front of the store as well as a small play area beside the toy department of Apita at the back of the store.

The area at the back has toys out for the kids to play with at play stations and there are sample toys and kid’s computers kids can play with in some of the aisles. There is also a permanent display of Tomica cars and Plarail trains.  

The other free play area is on the second floor, beside the baby and maternity area of the clothes department. It is a padded area with soft blocks suited to babies and toddlers.

The Xebio Sports and camping shop beside Apita also has a free play area. It is a fake tree with a counter around it and cubby holes with toys for the kids to play with. It also has two TV screens playing DVDs.  

The Libro Book store and Village Vanguard, also on the 2nd floor, both have some sample books and toys out for kids to play with for free. There is also a small playground outside in the overflow car park beside K’s Denki. In the extension outdoor mall “Life Garden” there is a Tsutaya with a play area with some sample toys and books for kids to play with, plus a screen showing Anpanman cartoons.

Sweets Fantasy Pacc’n Kids Park

Apart from these free play areas, there is an arcade / amusement area, Sweets Fantasy Pacc’n Kids Park, on the 2nd floor. It has two sections; the arcade with amusements and the other is a fun center suitable to toddlers.  In the amusement area they have coin operated rides for children as well as UFO catchers (crane / claw games), slot machines, purikura machines and other coin operated attractions. The amusement area is extremely popular, partly because the crane / claw games are very fair. The rides for children cost between 100 and 200 yen.  The fun center fees start at 300 yen for 20 minutes.

Peony Walk Events

Peony Court on the 1st floor hosts a number of free and paid events. Many of their events are suited to toddlers and children.  They celebrate the big seasonal events such as Halloween and Christmas too. This month they have a Euro Bungee Trampoline, a giant cardboard maze and a popular clown.  For further information on events in Peony Walk and in Saitama in general, please have a look at the events section of this blog.

Family Friendly

What I like about this local mall with a family feel is that it is easily accessible, with lots of free parking including wider car spots and priority parking for wheelchair users and lower mobility patrons as well as for pregnant women and those with small children. Inside the family friendliness continues with family toilets and rest areas, baby friendly shopping trolleys, free and paid play areas for toddlers, and an area in the food court with low tables and colourful decor for small children to eat in. There are also a number of other kid friendly eateries on the 1st floor.  They also have places you can change a baby’s nappy as well as nursery rooms with a microwave  and burco.

There is also a good selection of shops with baby or infant products and clothes. The bakery, Grano Grano, that sells allergen free bread. You can pick up international food and drink from the Kaldi Coffee Farm store. And there is a Karuizawa Farmer’s Market for delicious jams, preserves and sauces.  The malls corridors and aisles are wide and it is easy to navigate with a stroller. However, on the 2nd floor one side of the mall is carpeted and it is more difficult to push a shopping trolley in that section. The signature shop of the mall is Apita. They are a reasonably priced department store with ladies, mens, kids, babies, maternity, funeral and business wear and shoes as well as baby goods on the 2nd floor. They also have a supermarket and toy store on the first floor.

Peony Walk Information

Access

The mall is only a kilometer from the Takasaka station and about six kilometers from the HigashiMatsuyama Interchange on the Kanetsu expressway.  You can get a bus from Takasaka station for 100 yen per adult and 50 yen per child, although walking is just as quick as the bus stops twice.