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, has given them a coveted “Walker Award” in 2022, naming them as thee most popular summer pools in all of Japan. DespiteRead More →
Izumo Iwai Shrine, the Yabusame shrine, in Moroyama town in the Iruma-gun of Saitama Prefecture. Following on from yesterday’s post about the horse blessing temple, today a shrine known for its horse back archery! Moroyama Town is known as the yabusame town thanks to the yabusame that is performed atRead More →
Once upon a time, Lake Kamakita drew hundreds of visitors each year for its autumn colors. It was one of Saitama’s most famous autumn leaves spot. However, over the years the area became very dilapidated. It still is. Most of the buildings around the lake have fallen to ruin, includingRead More →
The O park Bio Resort and Hotel will have their annual sky lantern event again this December, 2021. The full name of the event is “Satoyama Sky Lantern Night”. However, it is only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Also, please note that there is a charge of 2000 yenRead 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 →
Did you know that Ogose has both an Hydrangea Road and an ajisai mountain!? Ajisai is the Japanese for hydrangea. And in 2022, they will have an hydrangea festival for the first time in three years. But before you get too excited, unfortunately there is a bit of a taleRead 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 →