Omiya Summer Festival at the west gate of the station is held annually on the 31st of July. However, due to the Coronavirus outbreak the event was not held in 2020. Omiya Summer Festival West Gate This fun and lively summer festival is ideal for kids as it has aRead More →
Honjo Gion Festival – This festival occurs every year on the 2 days preceding “umi no hi”, an annual holiday in Japan. However, in 2020 the event was cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak. It attracts about 40,000 people. There are 70 stalls. One of the unusual features of this festival is the 雨乞獅子“rainRead More →
Setsubun Kijin Shrine is one of only a few shinto shrines in all of Japan that worships “oni” – Japanese demons or ogres. Kijin is written with the Kanji – Chinese characters – of demon and God. It is not a particularly large shrine, nor is it particularly aesthetic, butRead More →
First Sunrise Gyoda– There is a beautiful Japanese New Year’s tradition of watching the first sunrise of the new year “Hatsuhinode“. Next year the first sunrise will be particularly special, as it will be the first sunrise of a new decade: 2021 – 2030. First Sunrise Gyoda Every year theRead More →
Chichibu Night Festival 2020 – held annually on December 2nd and 3rd. The Chichibu Night Festival 2020 is scheduled for December 2nd and 3rd 2020. However, due to the current Coronavirus situation there is a chance there maybe changes or even a cancellation as we get closer to the date.Read More →
The 100 caves of Yoshimi will have a festival this coming Saitama Prefecture Day, November 14th. And every year on the same date in celebration of the prefecture’s day. The unusual attraction in Yoshimi will be free in for the occasion. Usually it costs 300 yen per adult and childrenRead More →
Yabusame is the military art of discharging an arrow at a target while riding on a running horse. Each year in both Autumn and Spring Moroyama town celebrates this ancient military art form. Moroyama is the only place in Saitama where teenage boys perform the yabusame as a cultural riteRead More →
The Iruma Air base air show happens annually on the 3rd of November. November 3rd is a public holiday in Japan for Culture Day. This is a popular event that attracts thousands of spectators. For many years we watched this show from a riverbed near enough to the base toRead More →
For the second year in a row the Tokorozawa Festival has been cancelled. In 2019 the festival was cancelled last minute on account of typhoon in Hagibis. In 2020 they cancelled the event early on in anticipation of a second or third wave of the Coronavirus outbreak. Official notification. TokorozawaRead More →
An unique event for your list of things to do in Saitama: Information for the annual “ryusei” rocket festival in the Ogano area of the Chichibu District in Saitama Prefecture Japan. Read More →