This spring the Taiwan Festa, a food and cultural festival, is in Lalaport Fujimi. Taiwan Festa If you recognize the name, it maybe because this is a travelling “festa” that has been held at several locations around the Kanto plain in the past. Including at Laketown Koshigaya, Japan’s largest shoppingRead More →
Cocoon City Christmas – Cocoon City is just one part of Saitama Shintoshin. The whole area of Shintoshin is the most Christmassy location I have found in Saitama prefecture to date. But in 2022, we have a Premium Outlets for the first time ever. Could it rival Cocoon City /Read More →
For years I have posted about the Premium Outlets Santa each November, secretly wishing that we had a Premium Outlets of our own in Saitama Prefecture! BUT NOW WE DO – FINALLY! Perhaps a Christmas Wish come true!? The Fukaya-Hanazono Premium Outlets opened in Saitama Prefecture on October 20th 2022,Read More →
Information for the Cainz Super Mall, Kawajima Interchange, and its annual Rainbow Festival. The Rainbow Festival is a small local type mascot event, with the mascots from each of the Rainbow Cities of Saitama Prefecture. The Rainbow Cities are Kawajima, Kawagoe, Moroyama, Ogose, Sakado and Tsurugashima. More information about theRead More →
New in Saitama in 2022: Crayon Shinchan play area in Lalaport, Fujimi. Unfortunately, the very first “permanent” (the irony) indoor TeamLab Islands in Lalaport Fujimi, closed permanently on January 17th 2021. The space were it once held a place in the heart of Lalaport, was empty for a year andRead More →
Da Vinci Store – just one of dozens of new shops and attractions at the Tokorozawa Sakura Town🔗. Tokorozawa Sakura Town is a unique entertainment mall. It is the brain child of Kadokawa Corporation and was developed with the cooperation of Tokorozawa City. Da Vinci Store The 507㎡ Da VinciRead More →
Metsä Village – Metsa Village opened in Hanno City in Saitama Prefecture on November 9th 2018. Metsa Village is the free part of the larger “Metsa”, a Finnish leisure park around Miyazawa lake. The charged area is a Moomin theme park Moominvalley Park. The resort encompasses relaxation, activities, shopping andRead More →
J.S. Pancake is a trendy chain cafe. The J.S. stands for Journal Standard, the name of the clothes shop behind the cafe. Each year for Valentines and White Day they have a special seasonal pancake. In 2023, they are using Nagasaki’s famous Koi Minori strawberries for their premium menu. J.SRead More →
The Onihei Edo-dokoro Parking Area is a rest stop in Hanyu, Saitama Prefecture, on the Tohoku Expressway on the way into Tokyo. It is most commonly called the Hanyu Parking Area despite their best efforts to market it by the name of the character it was called after. Onihei Edo-dokoroRead More →
Pottery Workshop Kawagoe – As the year comes to a close, I want to share one of our favourite experiences of 2018. At the start of the year, while my family were showing my cousin around Kawagoe, we passed a kura (storehouse) down an alleyway with crockery drying in theRead More →