Kawagoe

Kawagoe, located in the Musashi Plain, started to thrive in the Japanese Middle Age. Its castle 🏯 is built in 1457 under the supervision of Japanese architect Ota Dokan (1432 – 1486), also in charge of the Edo castle (in nowadays’ Tokyo) around the same time period. In the 16th century, the 2 most powerful clans of the area, the Uesugi and the Go-Hojo, battle over the domain, but Kawagoe is soon seized by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537 – 1598) following the 1590 Siege of Odawara. Later the domain ends up under the control of Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543 - 1616).

During the Edo period (1603 – 1868), thanks to its closeness to the new Eastern capital, Kawagoe becomes a strategic base in the north, ruled by several generations of feudal lords serving the Tokugawa's. The city is thriving through commerce, especially the trade of silk, Sayama green tea and sweet potato 🍠 (satsumaimo).

Despite major fires 🔥 that destroyed several ancient buildings (the most damaging occurring in 1893), Kawagoe’s city-center is still displaying the remains of its wealthy feudal past. That is why so many Tokyoïtes take the 50km trip north, to enjoy Kawagoe's atmosphere reminiscing of the old Edo that has pretty much disappeared from the capital. Like Sawara in Chiba prefecture, the city is nicknamed Koedo, which means the "little Edo" of Saitama.

An easy traditional getaway trip from Tokyo

Most of the interesting sites to visit on a day-trip are located within walking distance from Kawagoe JR station’s east exit. The first place is Wakitamachi neighborhood and its shotengai, a covered shopping street named Crea mall, quite lively and modern.

Then, the historical city-center unfolds, with its characteristic traditional warehouses, the kurazukuri (蔵造り) lining up along the main avenue. The old architecture, reconstructed and preserved in the Edo period style, is quite enjoyable.

However, the time traveling illusion is quickly shattered by the reality of tourism, as Kawagoe is overcrowded on weekends and on good weather days. Visitors flock in the handful of historical streets and their miscellaneous shops and restaurants. It becomes hard to move around, to the point of needing to queue up to move forward, pedestrians and drivers alike as cars 🚙 are allowed in the area! Local authorities have even noticed an increase of the foreign tourists numbers in 2023 after the Covid 🦠 crisis. They worry the city may be plagued by over-tourism, especially as it is already a popular weekend destination for Tokyoites.

At the corner of a street, the tower Toki no Kane (時の鐘) is the pride of the city, and is enlisted in the 100 Soundscapes of Japan (日本の音風景100選 Nihon no otofukei hyakusen). This wooden bell tower is 16 meters high and was constructed in 1893. It is sheltering a bell cast in 1694 and that is rung 4 times a day (at 6 a.m., noon, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.). The surrounding streets are also home to 20th century (Meiji and Taisho eras) buildings, with a Western-style architecture.

The visit of the city-center ends in the lovely Kashiya Yokocho street, famous for its many traditional sweets shops and their delicious perfume. For this reason, the street is also included in the selection of 100 fragrant landscapes of Japan (かおり風景100選 Kaori fukei hyakusen).

A day in a merchant town of feudal Japan

We recommend expanding Kawagoe’s discovery beyond its old merchant’ side, and toward more spiritual places that can also be less crowded, especially:

• Hikawa-jinja, a more than 1,500 year old shrine;
• Shingashi-gawa River and its banks lined with cherry trees blooming in spring;
• Kawagoe Castle, whose remains include Honmaru Goten, the lord’s residence dating back to 1848; and,
• Kita-in temple, founded in 830 and renowned for its impressive collection of 540 Rakan (Buddha’s disciples) statuettes and the preservation of a few pavilions that were moved from Edo Castle.

Visitors interested in the Edo period Japan can also explore the Edo-Tokyo Tatemono-en (Edo-Tokyo Open-Air Architectural Museum) in Koganei Park in the west of Tokyo.