Miyoshi Festival and fireworks – I haven’t been in many years, but for a number of years in a row we attended this local festival in Miyoshi town beside Tokorozawa. One of the reasons I liked this particular festival is because it is at the start of September when theRead More →
Each year in May, Ogose hold a memorial service and fireworks at the World Unknown Soldiers Tomb [sic] on Mt. Taikan. The festival is always held on the second Saturday of May. However, it wasn’t on in 2020 or 2021 due to the pandemic. They had a small service inRead More →
Information for the annual Ogose Festival, a summer festival held annually in Ogose Town, in the Iruma District of Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It may seem early to be posting about summer festivals, but summer is only three weeks away! The last time the Ogose festival was on was in 2019.Read More →
Takinoiri is a countryside area in Moroyama Town in the Iruma-gun of Saitama Prefecture. This remote rural scenic town is only about an hour from North West Tokyo by car. Unfortunately, by public transport it is a little trickier to get to and takes considerably longer. However, if you wantRead More →
A weird and wonderful junk yard ~ meets open air museum, at one of Kannabe Doken construction company work yards, reportedly once the Ogose Sake Brewery. For this week’s photo Friday, I want to share with you one of my happy places in Ogose town! And I promise you, thisRead More →
The late-blooming cherry blossoms are early this year. No surprises, given how early the Somei Yoshino (main) variety were. The term ‘yaezakura’ is used in Japanese as a collective term for several varieties of the beautiful fluffy late blooming cherry blossoms that have more than 5 petals. They are mostRead More →
Information for the all year round strawberry cafe, Strawberry Garden, and the seasonal – famous barrier free sightseeing – strawberry picking farm, Ichigo no Sato, in Moroyama town, Saitama (near Tokyo) Japan. Ichigo no Sato is one of the most famous strawberry picking farms in the Kanto plain. Moreover, itRead More →
A completely off the beaten path spot for hydrangea – Katsuragi Kannon. I’ve mentioned Katsuragi Kannon on a couple of posts on the blog in the past. But I’ve been waiting to have the right photos (which I often do) before giving it its own post! Finally, today, I gotRead More →
The summer pools / aqua park at New Sunpia Hotel and Resort in Ogose is one of the most popular in all of the prefecture. In fact, Walkerplus, gave them a coveted “Walker Award” in 2022, naming them as thee most popular summer pools in all of Japan. Despite beingRead More →
Izumo Iwai Shrine, the Yabusame shrine, in Moroyama town in the Iruma-gun of Saitama Prefecture. Please note that the yabusame event is not open to the public in 2022. Following on from yesterday’s post about the horse blessing temple, today a shrine known for its horse back archery! Moroyama TownRead More →