Ogose Plum Blossom Festival – The Ogose Bairin Plum Tree Festival in Ogose Town, Saitama is considered one of the three big plum blossom festivals in the Kanto region. The 2021 festival dates have been confirmed as from February 13th to March 21st. Early March is generally considered the best timeRead 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 →
The O park Bio Resort and Hotel have a sky lantern event for the month of December. The full name of the event is “Satoyama Sky Lantern Night”. However, it is only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. And please note that there is a charge of 2000 yen perRead 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 →
Kuroyama waterfalls light up and live music For anyone looking for a local festival attended by small numbers in a rural area commutable from Tokyo, this event maybe of interest. Kuroyama waterfalls are three waterfalls close together in Ogose, Saitama. There are two right beside each other, Odaki and Medaki,Read More →