Firefly viewing and daylilies during rainy season, at Chichibu Muse Park, Ogano Town, Chichibu District, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Like many parks around Saitama Prefecture, Chichibu Muse Park raise fireflies and offer a supervised viewing event once a year. Its usually during rainy season, but rainy season ended earlier than everRead More →
June Saitama 2022~ the annual list of 15 things to do in June in Saitama! This post was adapted in 2021 for the “new normal”. As that is still the situation in 2022, the post reflects that. But the 2022 list has several new ideas, to keep the post freshRead More →
In praise of Culture Cafe Grandir and 5½ other reasons to visit “Little America”, Johnson Town, in Saitama Prefecture. Johnson Town Johnson town, at the site of the former American military Johnson Air base, is a collection of stores, cafes & restaurants and private residences in Iruma City, Saitama Prefecture.Read More →
Everyday UFO Catcher Amusement, a crane game center in Gyoda City Saitama Prefecture, claims to hold the world record for the most crane games in one store. Tripadvisor says that it is a Guinness World Record, but the official website does not claim it as a “Guinness Record”. Moreover, theRead 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 →
Annual information for the Metsa Village Umbrella Sky “Forest and Lake and Umbrella“ aka Umbrella Sky Project / Umbrella Street, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. The umbrella sky in Metsa* is one of the most famous and most popular summer events in Saitama Prefecture annually. To date, the event has gone aheadRead More →
O park Ogose, formerly Opark / You Park and – like so many places in Japan – many other names. Until 2019 it was best known as You Park. It was also called “Little Indian Village”, “Ogose Fureai Center” and “Yu Park” (or Yuu Park) . However, with the renewalRead More →
Did you know that you can see fireflies in Saitama all year round? The Tobu Zoo is home to the first and only firefly house in the world. And while it is fascinating to see fireflies anywhere or anytime, there is nothing quite like seeing them in the wild inRead More →
Unfortunately, for the third year in a row, the Terasaka Rice Terraces will not have their firefly viewing and candle night event in 2022. It was cancelled between 2020 and 2022 due to the pandemic. Hopefully next year I can write “For the first time in four years…”! Terasaka RiceRead More →
Rainy season in Japan – June is the rainy season in the Kanto area of Japan. It doesn’t rain all day every day, but it rains enough to put a damper on outdoor plans. Despite that, June is still a popular month for Saitama-jin to go camping and enjoy barbecuesRead More →