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 →
Garden Cafe Greenrose ~ View the stunning roses and seasonal blooms over a cup of tea and cake during the open garden period… Garden Cafe Greenrose is a private garden that opens to the public for the rose season twice a year. Roses bloom in Saitama during the spring andRead More →
Kamitome Festival: Experience life like a local at this annual local traditional festival in Miyoshi Town in Saitama Prefecture. Read More →
Azalea Ogose – beautiful azalea sightseeing spot in Ogose town, Saitama. Information for the 2023 Azalea festival is included in this post. It is a little sad when the prunus (plum, cherry, peach blossoms) finish in Japan. But only a wee bit, because right behind them comes a multitude ofRead More →
Ogose Plum Grove / Bairin is one of three big plum blossom forests in the Kanto area. Bairin 梅林 is the Japanese for a plum grove, or quite literally a plum forest. The whole of Ogose is a virtual plum blossom forest, you can see stretches of beautifully gnarled treeRead More →
This is the third part of a four part series about the rather unusual and entertaining Santome Village (Santome Community) in Miyoshi Town, Saitama. It is also referred to as Konjaku Mura. In this segment, I introduce the Kunugi no Mori Environmental School and what Ishizaka has called an “AmusementRead More →