Ogose Plum Grove / Bairin is one of three big plum blossom forests in the Kanto area. Bairin 梅林 is the Japanese for a plum grove, or quite literally a plum forest. The whole of Ogose is a virtual plum blossom forest, you can see stretches of beautifully gnarled treeRead More →
Rose Town Tea Garden, Ome City, Tokyo, Japan. Just over the Saitama Tokyo border lies the suburban city of Ome. When you hear “city” and “Tokyo” you’d be forgiven for imagining a metropolis like Ikebukuro or Ueno, but Ome is so far removed from the typical image of Tokyo thatRead More →
Information for the Akamagawa Floating lantern night at Ishihara Mokkokan Cafe and Retro showroom in Kawagoe City. But first information about Mokkokan; Mokkokan Mokkokan is a small mall of eateries, a gallery “Ishihara Mokkokan”, workshops (/classes), a housing company and a small showroom of retro goods! It is near theRead More →
This is an update of an older post about the Sakura in Saitama. For a sakura guide written specifically for 2021: Saitama Sakura 2021 Saitama Sakura – Saitama may not be particularly well known for our cherry blossoms, but we still have plenty of places to enjoy cherry blossoms, cherryRead More →
The Taisho (Taishou) period was between 1912 and 1926. Yono in Urawa Ward have been hosting an event in commemoration of the period for thirty years. If it had not been for the you-know-what it actually would be more than 30 years! But they did have the festival in 2022,Read More →
An account of a visit to Hitsujiyama Park, Chichibu, for the Shibazakura Festival. >>This year’s festival information is here<< Hitsujiyama Park Hitsujiyama Park is located in the hills of Chichibu City. The park is particularly famous for its “shibazakura” fields, a dainty flower of shades of white, pink and purpleRead More →
In this article: the low down on Maruhiro – free play, roof top Ferris wheel (until 31.8.2019) and rides, video arcade, family facilities, kid friendly restaurant, cute animal shaped desserts and tax free shopping. In addition, you can find special information for attending the Kawagoe Festivals with kids, as wellRead More →
The Tanabata Festival (Star Festival) is normally held from August 4th to August 7th annually in Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine. The main date of the festival is August 7th and they have additional events that day. Sometimes they put up the tanabata decorations earlier, like in 2015 when this post wasRead More →
Free resources for Setsubun – setsubun is on February 3rd annually, except for rare exceptions. For example, in 2021 for the first time in 124 years, it fell on February 2nd. Setsubun marks the end of winter. Most families celebrate at home, but there are also dozens of events carriedRead More →
Origami Hearts, Valentine’s Craft. An easy origami paper craft for children of all ages. In addition, some basic ideas for using the completed hearts as teaching tools with some fun activities. From a Mom of four in Japan. I am a native English speaker from Ireland, but my children whoRead More →