Saitama

Saitama (さいたま) is the capital of Saitama prefecture in the Kanto region of Japan. It came into existence after the merging of 4 former cities, including Urawa, the former capital, in 2001. Upon its creation, it became the tenth most populous city in the nation and the only capital city with its name written in hiragana instead of Chinese characters.

Understand
If Tokyo is New York, then Saitama is New Jersey, a bland commuter town that's half industrial, half suburban. Being composed of a bunch of towns agglomerated by bureaucratic fiat doesn't help: in Gertrude Stein's words, "there's no there there", and Tokyo wags joke about Dasai-tama ("Uncool-Tama"). But while you'd hardly plan a vacation touring Saitama, there are a number of sights of interest well worth a day trip, most notably the spectacular Railway Museum near Omiya.

Tourist information site
The local tourist association has a Japanese-only guide site with integrated Google Translate.

By plane
The closest major international airport is Narita.

A tiny number of JR Narita Express trains serve at Omiya Station—as of this writing, the 17:16 and 18:48 NEX departures from NRT T1 terminate at Omiya, and Omiya has two originating NEX services at 6:21 and 9:09. When it is available the NEX is fairly fast, taking around 110 minutes. At other hours, you can make it to Ōmiya station by taking the Narita Express to Tokyo and changing to the Tohoku/Joetsu Shinkansen; either route is covered by the Japan Rail Pass or JR East Pass.

JR Kanto Bus runs limousine bus service, the O N Liner, every hour from Narita Airport to and from the Saitama Shintoshin and Ōmiya train stations. The trip takes about two hours and costs ¥2750 each way.

The cheapest way to travel from Narita Airport to Omiya is to take a Narita Sky Access commuter train to Shin-Kamagaya station and change to the Tobu Urban Park Line. This takes about the same amount of time as the bus but only costs ¥1580.

From Haneda Airport you can take the Keikyu line to Shinagawa station and change to the JR Keihin-Tohoku line for the run to the Saitama area (80–90 minutes to Omiya, ¥1020). Hourly limousine buses also run to Ōmiya station (90 minutes, ¥1500).

By train
Saitama's (大宮駅) is a major train hub, connecting together the Tohoku Shinkansen and Joetsu Shinkansen lines, as well as the JR Keihin-Tohoku Line, JR Tohoku (Utsunomiya) Line, JR Takasaki Line, JR Saikyo Line, JR Kawagoe Line, JR Shonan-Shinjuku Line and Tobu Urban Park Line.


 * Just about all northbound Shinkansen trains from Tokyo and Ueno stop at Ōmiya station, with the ride from Tokyo taking 25 minutes. A reserved seat costs ¥2800, and a non-reserved seat, ¥1580, making the ride quite uneconomical compared to a local train. However, if you have a Japan Rail Pass or JR East Rail Pass, your trip is covered. Departures every 5–15 minutes. (Note: If you do decide to make this peculiar journey, note that seating is all-reserved on the Hayate and Komachi bullet trains.)
 * Regular trains on the Tohoku and Takasaki lines run from Ueno to Ōmiya in 25 minutes at a cost of ¥450. These trains make added stops at Saitama Shintoshin Station (さいたま新都心駅), near the Saitama Super Arena. Service every 10 minutes or less.
 * The Keihin Tohoku Line is a local service connecting Ōmiya and Saitama Shintoshin to eastern Tokyo, including from Tokyo station (50 minutes, ¥540), Shinagawa (one hour, ¥620) and Kawasaki (75 minutes, ¥780). Service every 10 minutes or less.
 * There is also service from western Tokyo to Ōmiya via the Saikyo Line and the Shonan-Shinjuku Line. Trains leave from Ikebukuro (25–35 minutes, ¥380), Shinjuku (30–40 minutes, ¥450) and Shibuya (30–40 minutes, ¥540). Service every 10 minutes or less.
 * The Shonan-Shinjuku Line is also the best way of reaching Ōmiya from Yokohama (one hour, ¥890). Service runs every 10–20 minutes. Keihin-Tohoku Line local trains make the same run in 80–90 minutes, departing every 10 minutes or less.
 * The Tobu Urban Park Line links Ōmiya station with Kasukabe (connection to the Tobu Skytree Line), Kashiwa (connection to the JR Joban Line), Shin-Kamagaya (connection to the Narita Sky Access Line and Shin-Keisei Railway) and Funabashi (connection to the Keisei Line and JR Sobu Line).

Get around
Most of the attractions are within walking distance of one of the city's train stations, but there are Community Buses with routes throughout the city.

Omiya Bonsai Village
The Omiya Bonsai Village (大宮盆栽村) is home to a handful of bonsai nurseries which moved here from central Tokyo following the great Kantō earthquake in 1923, they moved to this leafy suburb due to the easy access to fresh water. It's considered to be the 'Bonsai Capital' of the world. Visitors can roam around and visit each of the nurseries. Some bonsai can also be purchased. Pictures are not permitted.



Do

 * Watch football at Saitama Stadium 2002, home to the Urawa Red Diamonds, with one of the best atmospheres in Asia. Or at NACK5 Stadium if you somehow have sympathy to the weaker - it's home to Omiya Ardija, another pro team based in the city.
 * Watch football at Saitama Stadium 2002, home to the Urawa Red Diamonds, with one of the best atmospheres in Asia. Or at NACK5 Stadium if you somehow have sympathy to the weaker - it's home to Omiya Ardija, another pro team based in the city.
 * Watch football at Saitama Stadium 2002, home to the Urawa Red Diamonds, with one of the best atmospheres in Asia. Or at NACK5 Stadium if you somehow have sympathy to the weaker - it's home to Omiya Ardija, another pro team based in the city.
 * Watch football at Saitama Stadium 2002, home to the Urawa Red Diamonds, with one of the best atmospheres in Asia. Or at NACK5 Stadium if you somehow have sympathy to the weaker - it's home to Omiya Ardija, another pro team based in the city.
 * Watch football at Saitama Stadium 2002, home to the Urawa Red Diamonds, with one of the best atmospheres in Asia. Or at NACK5 Stadium if you somehow have sympathy to the weaker - it's home to Omiya Ardija, another pro team based in the city.

Eat
Jūmangoku Manjū (十万石まんじゅう) is a famous brand of cake from Gyōda, Saitama. Manjyū is a Japanese-style bun stuffed with red bean paste. Some department stores and souvenir stores such as Sogo department in Omiya station always sell it. One manjyū is ¥105.

Go next

 * Koshigaya
 * Kawagoe
 * Kasukabe
 * Ageo
 * Hasuda
 * Gyoda
 * Chichibu
 * Kumagaya
 * Tokyo