February in Saitama, 2023. There are some exclusive events and seasonal traditions that you can enjoy in Japan in the month of February. Between 2020 and 2022 there was slightly less to do, as many of the special / seasonal events didn’t go ahead. But the situation is much betterRead More →
A selection of 10 Strawberry Picking farms in Saitama, near and commutable from Tokyo, for the 2023 Ichigo-gari season. Strawberry Picking near Tokyo Strawberry picking is called “ichigo-gari” イチゴ狩り in Japanese. Ichigo イチゴ means strawberry and gari means picking or, literally, hunting. In Japan, strawberry picking is predominantly indoors, inRead More →
Saitama Prefecture is getting a new indoor petting zoo in Ageo City! The information is a bit thin on the ground, but from what we can tell the new “Ikimono Tankentai” is a type of petting zoo aimed at children. Ikimono means creatures or living things. Tankentai means expedition orRead More →
The Japanese New Year tradition of Hatsumode… Hatsumode is the first visit of the year to a shrine or a temple, an important and much practiced tradition in the New Year in Japan. There are many shrines and also temples all around Saitama where you can practise Hatsumode. It doesn’tRead More →
Cocoon City Halloween – Cocoon City have had a Halloween Parade for quite a few years now, but from 2017 they increased the number of parades as well as the number of Halloween events. Then in 2018 they added even more Halloween celebrations. However, they cancelled most of their HalloweenRead More →
October is a great month to get out and about in Saitama, and all of Japan. The night time temperatures have cooled right down and by mid October the day time temperatures are cool and comfortable. The occurrence of typhoons also decreases, but do bear in mind that there haveRead More →
Setsubun Saitama- Setsubun is a religious ceremony practiced every year on February 3rd. Historically setsubun, which literally means seasonal division, was a four day period marking the changing of the seasons. Risshun is, with rare exceptions, on February 4th. Risshun is the first day of spring and historically the startRead More →
Tobu Super Pool is one of the many offerings of what is officially called the Tobu Hybrid Park, but most commonly referred to as Tobu Zoo park. The pools are officially located in Shiraoka City, but as the vast majority of the Tobu Zoo park is in Miyashiro City theyRead More →
Third times a charm! Finally, the Hasuda Sunflowers are coming back in 2022. In both 2021 and 2020 they planted the sunflowers in the hope of opening to the public, but both times they had to cancel the festival due to the pandemic. However, the fields did actually open, lastRead More →
Saitama Prefecture Day Information for Saitama Citizen’s Day or Prefecture Day or Saitama day, kenmin no hi 県民の日 in Japanese. Saitama Citizen’s day is on the 14th of November each year. Kenmin no Hi literally means citizen’s day, but when I first came to Japan and until very recently itRead More →