Kawagoe

Take a journey back in time to the Edo period under an hour from Tokyo is Kawagoe. With its old clay warehouses known as (kurazukuri) and tiled roofs you really feel as if your in centuries past.

Kawagoe is a city in Saitama prefecture and really has a nostalgic atmosphere.  With beautiful temples and shops and back streets to get lost in.

I especially liked a chop stick shop there called Yuzen.  As you may know I’m a bit of a collector and there were so many to choose from. You can even have your name engraved on a pair while you wait.  As it was July I decided to go for a pair with dragonflies on which reminded me of the dragonflies I’d seen darting around the lotus flowers.

Kawagoe has a famous land mark a bell tower Toki no Kane.

There is also a narrow street called Kashiwa Yokocho (candy alley) brimming with shops selling sweets,rice crackers,cakes and ice cream.

I was a little late arriving here and a lot of the shops were closing but it was still a lovely place to visit. I found a delightful tea shop and picked up some hojicha to take home. I can also recommend visiting the Kitain Temple near by.