Tokorozawa aviation museum (所沢航空発祥記念館 in Japanese) is in one corner of the engaging Tokorozawa Aviation Memorial Park. It is very easy to spot thanks to the hangar shaped design of the building and the airplane out front. Update March 2021: the Tokorozawa Aviation Museum is temporarily closed due to theRead More →
Congratulations to Kawajima Town and the Toyama Memorial Museum for the designation of the old Toyama residence as an important cultural property of the country. This is one that is close to my heart. As it was the very first place I visited after moving in to my new homeRead More →
You know your city gets the tourism seal of approval when they open a Trick Art Museum! All the great tourist cities have one; Odaiba, Takao, Atami, Karuizawa to name but a few. The most recent addition to the honor roll: Kawagoe. The Kawagoe Trick Art Museum, at the crossroadsRead 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 →
Kawaguchi, Saitama. A national holiday that falls on a Saturday usually equates full car parking lots, queues for entry, crowds and general pandemonium. So when we arrived at Skip City without encountering a traffic jam, secured a parking spot in a half empty parking lot, with no entry queues norRead More →
Saitama Museum of Rivers is located in Yorii town. It is home to the largest water mill in Japan. It has a number of facilities available under the general admission price including their main educational hall where children can learn about rivers in general as well as river dams, transport, trivia,Read More →
Saitama Space Museum (Urawa, Saitama City) – It’s spring break in Japan. It is also end of school year. Traffic tends to increase and queues lengthen, but there are still some hidden gems that evade the chaos. Saitama’s space museum, or officially the Saitama Municipal Youth Astronomical Museum, is oneRead More →
On this the 50th anniversary of the Shinkansen (bullet train), October 1st 2014, it seems fitting to introduce one of Saitama’s top attractions. Japan’s second largest Railway Museum in Omiya, 鉄道博物館. It is known locally as Omiya train museum and as Saitama railway museum nationwide. Whatever you chose to call it is a reallyRead More →