With summer holidays around the corner, it has me thinking about places to bring the kids. In a “normal” year we visit Ireland for the whole of summer. However, due to the pandemic, we have been confined to Japan the last two years. As we are avoiding indoors at allRead More →
Yamazaki Park’s Seseragi Iris Garden, 2021. Second post of the day (first one here) and another mini one. The flowering season is so short that if I don’t get these posts out now they will be of no use for 2021. The Iris at Yamazaki Park in particular probably onlyRead 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 →
Sanba Keikoku – Known in English as either Sanba Gorge, Sanba Valley or Sanba Ravine. It is a beautiful river ravine suited to water play, swimming, fishing and barbecue. Despite the town’s remote location in nature rich Tokigawa, in Saitama Prefecture, the area is serviced by a (infrequent) train. TheRead More →
Kurakake Clear Stream Village: River BBQ and water play at Kurakake barbecue site in Higashimatsuyama, commutable from Tokyo on a day trip. Booking for the 2021 barbecue season at Kurakake is now open temporarily closed. They opened the booking on March 1st and then closed it due to prefectural directives.Read More →
Rice Field Art, Ancient Lotus, Cherry Blossoms, Observation Tower, Nature Hall, Winter Illumination and Park (with small playground) at Kodai Hasu no Sato in Gyoda Ancient Lotus at Kodai Hasu no Sato “Kodai Hasu no Sato (Ancient Lotus Pond)” treats visitors to the mysterious beauty of Gyoda lotus flowers thatRead More →
Musashi No Mura Family Land in the Green is an ideal amusement park for small children. They have a really good selection of amusements that are child friendly. There is also an area with farm animals and and an option to horse ride. You can pick fruits at certain timesRead More →
Tokorozawa Aviation Memorial Park is one of Saitama’s better known attractions. It has been around for a long time and given its proximity to Tokyo and other popular tourist areas, it has always enjoyed a steady flow of customers and great reviews. It is a great place for a familyRead 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 →
Kazo Hanasaki Water Park made quite an impression on me. It isn’t a huge park, but there is a lot to do in the relatively small area. So much so, I recommend it as one of those parks that it is worth a journey to with kids, even just once. ThatRead More →