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 →
Did you know that Ogose has both an Hydrangea Road and hydrangea mountain!? Before you get too excited, unfortunately there is a bit of a tale of woe to divulge first…. Ogose Hydrangea The Ajisai-kaido (hydrangea road or hydrangea way) and Ajisaiyama (Mt Ajisai, ajisai is the Japanese for hydrangea)Read More →
The Yamabuki no Sato Historical Park: One of the few Yamabuki (yellow rose) flower spots, and the most famous for Kerria Japonica, in the Kanto plain. Yamabuki Yamabuki are a beautiful vivid yellow flower. The flower is often referred to as a yellow rose as the genus is in theRead More →
Strawberry Garden is the all-year-round strawberry and baum kuchen cafe of Moroyama’s famous strawberry farms Ichigo no Sato. It is in the Nishiokubo area of Moroyama where they also have a strawberry picking greenhouses. It is right on the border of Sakado. They also have a greenhouse for picking inRead More →
A Little known river play spot, where you can also barbecue, along the Oppe River at Daima Nozon Hiroba in Ogose. River play / BBQ Ogose Given the year that’s in it, we’ve been spending a lot of our time “off the beaten path”. On our spring adventures this yearRead More →
Sakuranoyama Park is located in Ogose Town, Saitama, Japan. It is a small park, but very picturesque in spring. As you can probably guess, it is thanks to the eponymous cherry blossoms (sakura) of the park. And as the name also suggests it is a mountainside (yama) park. The parkRead More →
Ogose town is full of surprises. This year we have visited the town several times and unearthed lots of hidden treasures. Such as the purple mountain, the crying dam, Cafe St Gallen (Kuroyama Kosenkan) to name but a few. Last year, when visiting Godaison, one of Ogose’s better known attractions,Read More →
Kuroyama is a beautiful, mystical, rugged area of Ogose town. It is best known for the three waterfalls of Kuroyama (Kuroyama Santaki), which were once ranked as the 9th most scenic waterfalls in Japan. They don’t enjoy as much fame these days and the area – while beautiful – doesRead More →
The crying dam and mannequin pis, Akasakazawa Dam, in the woods of the Kosugi area of Ogose hiking Town, Saitama Prefecture. The crying dam The Akasakazawa Dam is a dam of the Akasaka river, a tributary of the larger Mugihara river. It is nicknamed (and better known as) the cryingRead More →
Mitsuba Azalea Garden, the “Purple Mountain” of Saitama Prefecture – We’ve been uncovering several of Saitama secret gems these past few weeks. Today’s adventure brought us on to the Purple Mountain “Murasaki Yama” in Ogose Town. Three thousand Mitsuba Azalea – Rhododendron dilatatum – over three hectares of a privatelyRead More →