Information for events, flowers and the two water play areas at Kawaguchi Green Center. Kawaguchi Green Center, on the border of Tokyo, is one of Japan’s top 100 urban parks. The main water play area, a wading river in the maple garden, is on from May 2nd in 2026 and the “splash square” started last Friday.
Kawaguchi Green Center
The Kawaguchi Green Center is one of Saitama’s better known destinations, probably due to its proximity to Tokyo. Kawaguchi City is considered both a suburb city and a commuter city of the Tokyo Metropolitan area. It is bordered by Tokyo both to the east (Adachi city) and the south (Kita Ward, Akabane). The Kawaguchi Green Center is not huge, but it is an oasis in a densely populated residential area. It has a really great playground that is included in the entrance fee to the park, and another smaller, rip off, athletic playground you have to pay into. There is also a lovely mini train, which is reasonably priced. They have some nice events during the year too, some of which you will find on insaitama.
Unfortunately, the park has lost some of its appeal since closing parts of the flower areas and demolishing two of its most popular seasonal attractions in 2022. They were the ice rink in winter and the outdoor swimming pool in summer. Kawaguchi Green Center may not have a pool anymore, but it does have two water play areas…
Water play areas Kawaguchi
There are two water play areas in Kawaguchi Green City. The main one is the “maple stream”; a wading river in the maple garden. The leaves are mainly green now, but the center is also worth a visit in Autumn when the leaves are shades of orange and red. The maple garden is in the center of the green area by the main playground. The mini train runs by it and you go through the cute tunnel pictured above to get to it. What I like about this water play area is that a lot of it is in the shade of the beautiful maple trees. Much needed on a hot, summers day. The maple stream is on from May 2nd in 2026 and will be on from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm until Monday September 28th.
There is another water play area in one of the green fields. It’s not the most practical, because it has no shade, but it looks like a lot of fun for small children. A large, high sprinkler jets out water on the half hour for half an hour, from 9.30 am to 3.30 pm. That usually starts in the second half of June, and is on daily (weather permitting) until around the last weekend of September. (They don’t turn it on rainy days OR when the temperatures aren’t suitable, they don’t specify the temperature range).
June flowers at Kawaguchi Green Center
When I visited on Sunday June 15th 2025 some of the roses in the small rose garden were also still blooming. The roses are back-dropped by a European looking chapel, where the former Emperor and Empress of Japan once stayed. The rose garden is beside the mini train station building. The mini train station is at the front of the children’s play area where the maple garden is also located. There are some hydrangea in the children’s play area. They had only just started to bloom that day, so I imagine there are more hydrangea in bloom later in the month of June, possibly to early July.
There are more hydrangea near the small athletic playground that you have to pay into. It is a picturesque area, where the hydrangea line a foot path. There is a garden here too which also has iris and daylilies, which you can see in the featured photo at the top of the post. The daylilies were blooming on the 15th (June 2025), as were the iris. But the latter (the iris) were past their prime. There are other flower displays around the park and right now they have a pineapple display in a small part of the large greenhouses in the park.
Early Summer Festival at Kawaguchi Green Center
In 2026, the early summer festival is on Saturday May 23rd and Sunday May 24th. Each day there are some food trucks in the park. On both days they have segway type machines that people can pay to try (300 yen). They will have a bouncy castle play area that costs 500 yen for one go. On the 24th they will have some live music at 11.30 am and again at 3 pm – just half an hour each time. Also on the 24th they will have park yoga. It costs 500 yen. A mascot will also visit on the 24th. Official event page.
Other events at Kawaguchi Green Center
- Autumn Night Garden
- Halloween decorations and photo spots are usually put up at the end of September and are up for the full month of October
- The annual chrysanthemum exhibition is on from the end of October to around the November 23rd public holiday annually
Information
Event: Water play area Kawaguchi Green Center
Dates: wading river from May 2nd and “splash square” from a date yet to be confirmed in June, both until September 28th 2026.
Time: from 9.30 am to 4 pm for splash square and until 4.30 pm for the wading river.
Cost: it costs 310 yen for an adult to enter the park and 100 yen for children, there is no additional fee for the water play area or the fantastic playground in this area. But you do have to pay extra for the mini train. You also have to pay extra for the athletic playground that is on the far side of the park.
Venue: Kawaguchi Green Center 川口グリーンセンター , 700 Araijuku, Kawaguchi, Saitama 333-0826. View on Google Maps.
Access
By public transport: Kawaguchi Green Center is about a ten min walk from the Araijuku Station on the Saitama Rapid Railway Line. There is a bus from bus stop no.7 from the east exit of Kawaguchi station bound for Green Center グリーンセンター.
By car: there is free parking for 630 cars. The nearest highway exit is Kawaguchi Chuo on the Tokyo Gaikan motorway.
2025.06.25