Kawagoe

Kawagoe (川越) is an old trading outpost of the ancient capital Edo. Located in Saitama prefecture, the city is now a small suburban city of around 33,000 people, but the preserved warehouse district draws around 4 million visitors to the city each year, and has earned the city the nickname of "Little Edo" (Koedo).

Tourist Information


The local tourist association has a multilingual tourist guide site, Koedo Kawagoe Web (小江戸川越ウェブ).

By train
Kawagoe Station (川越駅) is a stop on the JR Saikyo Line and the private Tobu Tojo line. From Tokyo the fastest route is the Tobu Tojo line from Ikebukuro, which takes 30 min on the express and costs ¥450. From Omiya the Saikyo line takes 17 min and costs ¥320.

Hon-Kawagoe Station (本川越駅) is closer to the temple district and is part of the private Seibu-Shinjuku line. Express trains from Shinjuku take 47 min and cost ¥480.

By bus
Long-distance buses from Osaka, Nagoya, Kanazawa and Toyama, Limousine Bus Route from Haneda Airport and Narita Airport, Daytime bus service from the Fujisawa and Tokyo Disney Resort.

Get around
While it's perfectly feasible to walk around to the main sights, the city also has a network of buses. The most interesting for visitors are the Koedo Kawagoe loop bus , a regular bus that covers all the main attractions in a 40-minute loop, a one-day pass costs ¥300. And the vintage Co-edo Loop Bus that also loops around the main attractions in about an hour and cost ¥500 for a day pass.

See
Kawagoe is known as "Little Edo" (小江戸 Koedo), after the old name for Tokyo, and its old wooden houses of the Ichiban Gai area, still draw tourists looking for a taste of days gone by.

Warehouse district
Following an event known as the Kawagoe Great Fire in 1893, wealthy traders supplying the old Edo capital with boats down the Shingashi river, began to reconstruct their warehouse in the Kurazukuri style. While very costly to build, this method of construction - while still looking distinctively Japanese - is made from fire-resistant materials, rather than the clay and wood traditionally used. The buildings are crowned with steep tile roofs featuring immense, fire-deflecting Onigawara (Ogre tiles). Although virtually all of Japan has lost such buildings in the pre world war II era, unusually a preservation movement arose in the town in the mid 1960s, after a great deal of the traditional warehouses had been demolished, to preserve what was left of the historic district, and develop it as an attraction.

Today the warehouse district covers a few hundred square meters, about 1.5 km north of Kawagoe station. While narrow sidewalks along a fairly trafficked road takes away some of the charm, it is still a worthwhile excursion from Tokyo, for those interested in catching a fleeting glance of the elusive "old Japan".

Buy
Kashiya Yokocho (菓子屋横丁) – This is a traditional shopping district. You can buy many kinds of cheap candies. One of the most popular foods is fugashi. It is very long, like a sword. Its taste is sweet.

Eat
Kawagoe is known for its violet sweet potato, which can be eaten as imokenpi (fried sticks), imokoi (potato and red bean in glutinous rice), or ice cream.

Sleep
Most people choose to make Kawagoe a day trip from Tokyo, but there are some options:

Go next

 * Saitama
 * Kawajima
 * Tsurugashima
 * Hidaka
 * Hanno
 * Tokorozawa
 * Sakado
 * Kumagaya
 * Chichibu