Metsa Village is the ‘free’ part of the Moominvalley theme park in Hanno, Saitama. Each year they have a Christmas market. In 2018 and 2019 they had a lot of additional events and Christmas decorations during the period. However, in 2021 there was just the food market. In 2022, theyRead 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 between 100,000 (bad weather day) and 200,000 (good weather day) spectators annually. However, in both 2020 and 2021 theRead More →
The Hanno Festival is scheduled to take place this Autumn for the first time in three years. However, it will be a smaller festival than usual. The last time this festival took place was the 49th annual Hanno Festival and fireworks in 2019. However, in 2022, they are not planningRead More →
Iruma Mando Festival – Mando or Mandou 万燈 means 10,000 lights and is a type of Japanese lantern. For this, the biggest annual festival held in Iruma, the festival field is decorated with Mandou (pictured). There are a huge amount of events you can enjoy from traditional floats and music to modernRead More →
Kinchakuda is synonymous with “manjushage” red spider lilies in Saitama. Furthermore, it is the most famous of the three red spider lily festivals of Saitama. Moreover, the carpet of spiny red flowers is one of the most famous autumn scenes in all of Japan. There are also several other notableRead More →
To me, Kato Farm in Hidaka is a farm for the foodies, rather than the kiddies! It is a dairy farm that is quite small and, frankly, quite lackluster. But there is a reason their produce has won numerous awards over the years. They produce and sell premium milk andRead More →
In praise of Culture Cafe Grandir and 5½ other reasons to visit “Little America”, Johnson Town, in Saitama Prefecture. Johnson Town Johnson town, at the site of the former American military Johnson Air base, is a collection of stores, cafes & restaurants and private residences in Iruma City, Saitama Prefecture.Read More →
The 2022 winter event at Moominvalley Park (in Metsa, Hanno, Saitama Prefecture) is called Moomin Valley Night Walk, “Illu-mori-no-oto” . The ‘illu’ is short for illumination, ‘mori’ means forest and ‘oto’ means sound. The ‘no’ marks possession, so in English it might be translated as the ‘sound of the illuminatedRead More →
Sai no Mori Iruma Park is a park that is always buzzing – in both senses of the word. For one, you have the constant hum of aircraft, a sound I personally love. Moreover, anytime I have ever visited it, no matter what time of year, the park is alwaysRead More →
Moominvalley Park Harvest 2021 in the Moomin theme park at Metsa, Hanno, Saitama. This year it is called “Very Berry Harvest”. The featured image above is from the official Moomin Japan website. Update November 2021: due to its popularity, the Harvest “Balloon Sky” event has been extended until November 28th.Read More →