Information for the State of Emergency in Saitama Prefecture, Summer 2021. On July 29th 2021 it was announced that a State of Emergency (SOE) will begin on Monday August 2nd in Saitama, Kanagawa and Chiba. In addition, the current State of Emergencies in Tokyo and Okinawa will be extended toRead More →
Washinomiya Shrine (previously Washimiya Shrine) is known as the oldest shrine in the Kanto region. It is located in Kuki City, Saitama Prefecture, just North of Tokyo. There is a lot a debate over the age of the shrine. Some put it at 1900 years old, which actually wouldn’t makeRead More →
Completely off the beaten path camping grounds in Ohtawara City, Tochigi. It is a really quiet campsite ideal for a group of families as it doesn’t seem to be that well known. Thus, in our experience, it was relatively easy to book for a few families to camp together. Disclaimer:Read More →
Have you heard about the Peacock Shrine in Saitama City? Or maybe you know it as the Quiz Shrine? It is one of those shrines that is very famous among Saitama residents and further afield among the history buffs. But it is off the tourist trail. Maybe the locals preferRead More →
Koma Jinja aka Koma Shrine, Hidaka, Saitama Prefecture Many years ago my husband and I visited a shrine on the way home from Chichibu. I didn’t think too much of it to be honest. The thatched roof former residence – a nationally designated Important Cultural property – out the backRead More →
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 →
‘Tapioca and Tart’ at Layer cafe, located along the Arakawa riverbed on the grounds of a Karinto factory in Fukaya. Layer Cafe Layer cafe opened on the grounds of Asahi Karinto’s Hanazono factory in April 2020. Karinto is a type of sweet deep fried traditional Japanese snack food. The frontRead More →
Fukaya Sunflowers While driving to Northern Saitama today, along the Saikai Kaido (aka route 140) beautiful tall sunflowers already in full bloom captured my attention. Actually, in fairness, I think I spotted a camera man first on the foot path. I remember having the fleeting thought ‘ooh, wonder what he’sRead More →
Ukiya no Sato is a nature reserve in Kazo City, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It is part of what is known as the Saitama Green (greenery) Trust – conservation area number ten of fourteen areas in total in Saitama Prefecture. Ukiya no Sato The name of this nature reserve comes fromRead More →
A round up of events in Saitama in summer 2021. Includes information on those events and fireworks that have been cancelled in 2021 and those that are going ahead. Update July 28th 14:08 JST. This information is all very tentative at the moment. Saitama Prefecture is poised to request aRead More →