There are many things I miss about Japan, but festivals have to be near the top of that list. This weekend marks the 368th anniversary of the first Kawagoe Matsuri, the main festival event in our former hometown.
If you’re in the area, take some time and check it out. Kawagoe is less than an hour from Tokyo by local trains. In the meantime, enjoy our posts from the 2014 festival and the 2015 festival.
In the process of documenting our experiences living in Japan over the last two years, I somehow failed to write a basic “This is where we live” post. So let’s remedy that!
Kawagoe’s post-Edo Period history began with its founding in 1889. In 1922, it became Saitama Prefecture’s first official city. Today, it’s Saitama’s third-most populous city—roughly the same size and population as Anaheim, California.
But Kawagoe’s history extends much further back. Located near the foothills of the Okuchichibu Mountains, it’s a rich agricultural region. The area played an important role in feudal Japan due to its central location in the Kanto Region, earning it the nickname “Koedo,” meaning “Little Edo” (Edo being the former name of Tokyo).
In 1545-1546, a massive battle took place at Kawagoe Castle between warring samurai clans. More than 85,000 soldiers from the Uesugi clan attempted to take the castle from the Late Hōjō clan. Just 3,000 Hōjō soldiers held off the attack until 8,000 reserves arrived.
Despite being significantly outnumbered, the Hōjō mounted a sneak attack in the middle of the night, ending not only the siege but also wiping out the Uesugi family. Kawagoe Castle became the western line of defense for Edo and the Kawagoe Domain earned its place as an important stronghold for the ruling Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo Period (1603-1868).
While the story may be the stuff of movies, it actually became the stuff of video games. The Siege of Kawagoe Castle was featured as a storyline in the 2010 Nintendo Wii game “Samurai Warriors 3.”
The preservation of Kawagoe’s history makes it a popular tourist destination. It’s an easy 30-minute train ride from Tokyo and offers something for everyone.
The centerpiece of the city is Toki no Kane, or the Bell of Time. The tower was originally built between 1624 and 1644. The original was destroyed by the Great Fire of Kawagoe in 1893 and rebuilt a year later. Today, it still rings at four key times during the day.
After the fire in 1893, fireproof warehouses built from clay and tile began to spring up all over the city. Kurazukuri Street retains the look with warehouses dating back to the 18th century, housing artisan shops, cafes, museums and more.
Kashiya Yokochō (Confectioner’s Row) is one of the most popular stops—certainly one of our favorites! On the narrow pedestrian alley, locally-run shops sell traditional candies, crackers and snacks. Shrimp-cracker sandwiches and 3-foot-long bread sticks are among the local specialties.
The pedestrian-only Crea Mall offers a more typical shopping experience just outside Kawagoe Station. In addition to smaller, locally-owned shops, you’ll find Gap, ABC Mart and Starbucks. It’s a great place for a little shopping, lunch or drinks.
We also seem to have an unusually-impressive collection of shrines and temples. Kita-in is the most famous, founded by Buddhist monks in 830 A.D. In 1638, a fire burned much of the temple. Then-shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu donated several buildings from Tokyo’s Edo Castle to the shrine to help rebuild. Edo Castle was largely destroyed in the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923, leaving the structures at Kita-in as the only remaining original buildings.
A collection of 500 stone statues featuring disciples of Buddha fill a garden on the temple grounds. Folklore suggests that if you visit in the middle of the night, one of the statues will feel warm to the touch. When you return in the daylight, you’ll find that statues resembles you. However, I’ve never seen the gates to the statue open, so I guess there’s no way to know for sure…
With New Year’s right around the corner, Kita-in and Naritasan Betsuin Temple are both great places to literally ring in the New Year as you can wait in line to gong the large bronze temple bells (ō-bonshō).
If you only have one day in Kawagoe, you can use one of the old-style Koedo Loop Buses to get around town. The bus stops at all of the landmarks and for just 500 yen ($4.13 USD), you can buy an all-day hop-on/hop-off pass. You can also pick one of the walking tours if you’re up for a lot of walking. The Seven Lucky Gods walking tour hits all the best temples, Confectionary Row, the warehouse district and the Bell Tower.
We live in the suburbs of Kawagoe, Saitama, about four miles from the city center. Despite choosing our apartment from some roughly-translated faxed floor layouts, we found ourselves in a perfect little neighborhood.
We have a great park just a couple blocks away and three large grocery stores within a 10-minute walk. The nearby bakery is a fun place to hang out on a Sunday morning and the baker often comes out of the kitchen to greet us personally before finding a little something extra to drop on our tray only after we’ve already paid.
We’d heard horror stories about the small sizes of Japanese homes. They certainly do exist, but not in our neighborhood. Our apartment is in the middle of a residential area with mostly single-family homes. Having watched some of them be built last spring, I know them to be mostly 1,400-1,600 square feet with three to four bedrooms and multiple living spaces. Regardless of size, Japanese apartments and homes use the available space very efficiently.
Check out some of the older posts featuring stories from daily life in Kawagoe.
Recently we stumbled on a small grocery in central Kawagoe. In addition to locally-grown grains, they had also had a decent selection of organic products and even a couple vegetarian items! I had just “liked” them on Facebook (because I like them in real-life) when the flash of a logo caught my eye. The Kawagoe Farmers Market!
Most local events are advertised to, well, locals, meaning everything is in Japanese. The farmers market site is no different, but with a bit of translation work, I figured out it’s held monthly at Renkeiji Temple in the heart of the old town area called Koedo. Back home, spending a Saturday wandering around local farmers markets was one of our favorite activities. We’ve found a couple really good ones in Tokyo, but making the hour-plus trip into the city can be daunting. We were excited to check out this local option.
The market was bustling considering the cool and soon-to-be rainy weather. A local band performed at one end of the market; the music could be heard from a block away. Kids and adults alike toiled away at the craft tables, making Christmas ornaments, pomander balls (clove-poked oranges) or decorating reusable market bags.
Our heads swiveled back and forth, led by our noses, as market-goers walked by with lunches prepared from locally-grown ingredients. Soups, noodles, sweet potatoes, tea, coffee and sake.
The unforecasted rain didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits. The Japanese are magically prepared for rain in a way I’ve never seen anywhere else. Adorable children popped open equally-adorable umbrellas that engulfed their tiny frames. In the area with the food stalls, people ate with one hand while holding umbrellas over the table with the other.
We ordered a unique take on ramen for lunch. Thick noodles tossed in a homemade sauce and topped with thinly sliced raw onions and a special blended sauce made from wakame (seaweed) and capers.
A friendly local who spoke near-native English explained the mysterious seasonal produce to us. In addition to a beautiful head of purple cabbage, we bought a bag of oyaimo—Japanese taro root— and some sweet yellow carrots. A local farm offered free-range eggs. We bought a bubble-wrapped bag of 20 to go. We rounded out our purchases with some really flavorful black rice crackers and an organic black rice beer.
As we exited the shrine, I noticed a waffle stand that we’d seen on television a couple months ago, but never managed to stumble upon. One last snack for the day!
On Monday, my Facebook feed filled up with photos that vendors and visitors took at the market. Full bellies, full hearts and full smiles everywhere!
Last fall, we enjoyed a day at the Kawagoe Festival, the largest and oldest festival in our little slice of Japan. Check out last year’s post for the festival’s history and a video of the floats.
This year’s festival was a different experience. We’ve tried our best to stay in touch with our old neighbors—Tomoko and her two young girls—who moved to another part of town. This past spring, we were invited to a hanami (cherry blossom viewing) party with them. Japanese families are multigenerational, tight-knit units, so we got to know some of their extended family as well.
We missed out on an invite to Obon in August due to our travels through Asia, but Tomoko reached out last week to extend an invite to Kawagoe Festival. To see the festival through the eyes of locals was truly an honor.
I met the family near the train station at 7 p.m. It wasn’t more than five minutes in before the father-in-law was buying beers for the group.
As we walked through the city, Tomoko pointed out Kawagoe Kindergarten, then pointed to her sister-in-law, herself, her mother and her children. All three generations had attended the ivy-covered school. Pretty cool!
We watched the dashi—massive, multi-decked festival floats—as they traveled toward each other down the streets of central Kawagoe. They stopped when they met, “battling” each other with live music and dancing. Tomoko’s sister-in-law indicated which float had “won” the battle.
We wandered through the festival, which fills three square miles of Kawagoe’s shopping streets, for about an hour. The kids loaded up on candy from the various vendors before stopping to take a photo with a police car. Around 8:30 p.m., it appeared we were on our way out.
Tomoko said she’d give me a ride home. But first, we stopped at one of the stands where they bought steamed buns—nikuman in Japanese—for all of us.
The whole group walked and walked until I wasn’t even sure where we were anymore. After about 25 minutes, we arrived at the sister-in-law’s house. They invited me in and everyone started getting comfortable.
It was the first time I’ve ever been in a proper Japanese home. While we’re a little loose with the no-shoes-in-the-house rule, they were not. Shoes were removed in the entry way. No socks on the entryway floor; no shoes in the house. We all washed our hands upon entering. Other than that, it was just like any other home. Comfy couch, television front and center. A piano sat against the wall, serving more as a shelf than a musical instrument.
The father-in-law turned on the TV and brought out a couple more beers—one for me, one for him. The kids started getting out their toys. The mother-in-law headed into the kitchen. It was clear we weren’t going anywhere for awhile.
Out came the steamed buns. Then some homemade cheesecake. And some tea. And some mikan oranges. One by one like a four-course dessert set. Hasumi, Tomoko’s youngest girl, brought me pieces of her konpeitō (rock candy), two at a time. Everyone asked questions: What Japanese foods do you like? How do you say __________ in English? Is it OK to say __________?
Around 10 p.m., Tomoko’s mother started looking at her watch. Around 10:30 p.m., we started packing up the kids and made the short walk down the street to Tomoko’s car and headed home.
I thanked them profusely for all of their kindness and went inside… an authentic Japanese festival experience in the books.
Last weekend brought a welcome break from the plum rain and also aligned with the elusive Kawagoe Shrine Sale. Instead of falling on the fourth Saturday, the outdoor antique market is held on the 28th of every month regardless of convenience.
The market is held on the grounds of the Naritasan Kawagoe Betsuin temple where we rang in the New Year. Vendors crowd into the area in front of the shrine and offer everything from kimonos and figurines to toys and antique tools.
Please enjoy a few photos from the day.
I wanted to remember my experience returning to the U.S. after a year away and with a group of Japanese students.
Every year, our university subsidizes a trip for all freshmen in our English communication program to visit Willamette University in Salem, OR for five days. We call it “American Culture Tour.” Willamette University is the sister university to our school and where our students go to study abroad. This year, about 200 students, 10 teachers and a handful of admins made the trek across eight time zones and back.
Click on any photo for a larger view and full caption. More of the story below.
Before we set off, we had a series of classes to teach our students what to anticipate when traveling. We covered everything from packing, customs/security, airport plans, etc. Most students had never left Japan before and it was their first trip abroad or to the U.S. We placed a lot of emphasis on packing comfortable clothes and shoes. Americans dress a lot more casually than the Japanese. A couple of my ladies still brought their platform heels!
The airport experience was really smooth. My students were very well behaved and accepted my authority when I asked them to do something. Only one student accidentally brought a pen/X-ACTO knife combo through security, which was confiscated. In Japan (and most other countries I have traveled to), it’s not necessary to take off your shoes going through security!
The only thing out of my control happened in the airport going through customs. We had lined up when alarms and sirens started going off. Students’ phones started beeping with emergency notifications. And then the ground started to shake. We had a pretty major earthquake—actually in our home prefecture of Saitama—but we were about two hours away at the airport in Narita. A couple of the students started to freak out while myself and another teacher (Cassie, you rock!) just froze and looked at each other like, “What the hell is happening?” I have to say, we did great. But, my nerves were frayed after that. Being responsible for 17 lives in a natural disaster? No, thanks.
I think the students were excited about being in an airplane—watching movies and eating the food, ordering beverages, etc., although they were instructed not to order alcohol! We left Tokyo at 5 p.m. on Monday and arrived in Portland around 1 p.m. on Monday. Going through American customs took forever because all 200 kids were in the foreign passport line. And some of the customs agents were pills. Even I got stopped and asked for my American ID in addition to my passport.
Students and staff from Willamette met us at the airport, which was a nice greeting. My group had two Willamette students who stayed with us that week and arranged activities for my students when I wasn’t holding class.
We arrived on campus and students got their dormitory room keys and unpacked. We had a boxed lunch in the courtyard. We had beautiful weather that week! In fact, the Willamette campus was so gorgeous. Flowers blooming. The sun was out. The grass was green. The students were impressed by the “nature” and squirrels on campus and in the parks.
Speaking of lunch, is everything is bigger in America? When my students returned from their weeklong trip to Oregon last year and reported that the “food is big,” I thought, “Eh, whatever. American food is not that big in size.”
But, this year, I discovered they were right. Mea culpa. American people are bigger. The cars (trucks) are gigantic. And yes, the food portions are pretty big. At least from the perspective of the Japanese diet. Our lunch that day had a big sandwich, a bag of chips, a side of hummus, a pear and a brownie. It was awesome! But no way did anyone finish it all.
We had been awake for who knows how many hours at this point. I wish I had written down what times I actually slept. I was on a crazy schedule. I would try to sleep at midnight, but be wide awake. And if I fell asleep, I would nap and wake up at 3 a.m. ready to go. I actually slept through my alarm the first day, but I made it to class only 4 minutes after 9 a.m.
Each day, we held class in the morning for three hours. The first day, I took my students to a coffee shop, which was great because I slept through breakfast! Mmmm… Oregon definitely has great coffee. Sorry, Japan! I had an Americano and a Marionberry-basil scone. My students mostly ordered cocoa, but it was great to see them trying to read the menu and order and give the correct amount of money. I stayed out of the way and let them figure it out! A couple of students in the group emerged as leaders and helped out their peers. I had students ranging in sections (based on skill level) from three to 14 (of 15 total).
We also walked along Salem’s riverfront and saw the carousel. We popped into Salem Center mall and browsed through some stores. “Bik shi” or Victoria’s Secret was popular among the girls and everyone seemed to like Hot Topic. The second day, we went to the Salem Public Library—which I love—and we read some children’s books and Japanese manga (comics) translated into English. It was fun and somewhat academic.
One of the students chose a picture book that detailed a Japanese woman’s time in an internment camp in Oregon during World War II. The student didn’t really understand; that was a difficult one to explain. After the library, we walked to get some Dutch Bros coffee and hung out at Bush Park.
Overall, the trip was pretty relaxed. The Willamette students took care of a lot of evening activities so that I could see my family.
It was fun to see my mom and sister. My mom hauled me around town as I browsed through Trader Joe’s, Fred Meyer and Costco. She even brought me my favorite cake from the Market of Choice in Corvallis!
My sister and her boyfriend accompanied us one of the days that we took the students to Portland. The culinary highlight of that day for me was Stumptown’s cold brew coffee. Oh so good. I want another one. Please drink one for me, Cascadians. My sister and her gentleman friend were awesome and served as the navigators for that day.
My students LOVED shopping and thought the prices (even the prices at Pioneer Place) were cheaper than Japan. Favorite stores included Nike, Kitson, Forever 21 and the Made in Oregon store. Oh, and students were in love with the Safeway near campus. The worst Safeway in Salem probably. Oh well. Maybe it’s like how Robert and I were excited about going to grocery stores when we first came to Japan.
Our groups had lunch at the food cart pod downtown. One of my students said “It’s world food.” I guess she was right—Korean, Thai, Greek, Mexican, Polish, Chinese, even Japanese. But I think students mostly tried American food: “big” hamburgers, pulled pork sandwiches, hot dogs. Some had burritos or tacos, but overall, I don’t think they were into Mexican food. One of the nights, the Willamette student leaders took them to a taqueria and most Japanese students ordered fish and chips or hamburgers. Ha. When my students say they had Mexican food, I always ask, “was it spicy?” And they always say, “yes.” It makes me giggle. I love spicy food so I am a fish out of water in Japan.
My mom took my sister and I to my favorite Mexican restaurant in Salem: La Hacienda. It’s the best because they make their own flour tortillas. Along with a Negra Modelo, that was as good as I remember. I also went to Robo Taco in northeast Portland and ordered some “pork” and “sausage” tacos, which I doused in habanero salsa. YES. And +1 for vegetarian food options.
I’ll also add that in addition to amazing coffee and awesome Mexican food, Oregon has the best beer. Nobody else makes beer like Cascadians. It has color! It has hops! It has depth! Flavor! I die! It was fun shopping around and finding beers on Robert’s wish list. I also enjoyed a hoppy pint at Hair of the Dog and some sours to change it up at Cascade Brewing (on a night off! I was not on duty or in charge of any lives 🙂 ).
My other observations:
Overall, I had a really great time bonding with my students and seeing them use English in a real world setting. I got to see some of my students from last year who were studying abroad at Willamette. And I got to spend more time with some of my co-workers who went on the trip. Win, win, win. Thanks, ‘Merica.
Every culture has its idiosyncrasies. Even after living in Japan for a year, I still learn something new nearly every day. Sometimes it’s an “a-ha” moment. Other times it’s something that I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to. Here’s five things that I’ve never experienced before living in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Cleaning up after your dog isn’t unique to Japan. The production of poop pickup products is a multi-million dollar international industry. However, dog owners in Japan take it a step further. After the dog has done its business and the output is properly bagged, out comes the tissue. The dog instinctively props up its tail while the owner proceeds to wipe the offending area. There’s no question who’s boss in this situation.
Japan has one of the lowest rates of death related to traffic accidents in the world. Maybe part of this is due to the usage of untensha hyōshiki or driver’s signs.
New drivers are required to display the Shoshinsha mark for at least one year after getting their license. Drivers who are uncomfortable with their driving skills may also choose to display the sticker. The idea is to let other drivers know there’s an inexperienced driver in their midst.
On the other end of the spectrum, drivers over the age of 70 are encouraged to display the Kōreisha mark while drivers older than 75 are required to display the sticker. The design of the mark was changed from a teardrop shape to a four-leaf design in 2011 after many drivers refused to use the sticker because it resembled a dying autumn leaf.
For all of America’s exhibitionism, we’re actually quite prudish compared to the rest of the world. So, for this prudish American, I always have to do a double-take when I walk into a public restroom and there’s a female attendant cleaning up the facilities. But, this is nothing compared to a recent onsen experience.
Onsens are public baths—specifically natural hot springs—and are popular with both Japanese people and foreign visitors. They’re usually separated by sex with a changing room leading into the main bathing area where there are no bathing suits allowed. In fact, the phrase “hadaka no tsukiai” means “naked relations” and is considered an important part of the culture—interacting with literally no barriers.
After a long day in the Chichibu region recently, we visited an onsen in Yokoze. I walked into the men’s changing room where the fellas were disrobing for the onsen. A cleaning woman meandered through the crowd, wiping down benches and countertops. The men didn’t appear to be modest or even notice that she was there. In turn, she didn’t seem particularly interested in the sausagefest surrounding her.
In a culture obsessed by cute knick-knacks and one that tends to get around on bicycle or foot, dropped items are a common sight on the sidewalk. But there’s also a great cultural element of trying to help the item find its owner. Lost items aren’t left on the street to be destroyed, but instead picked up and placed in a conspicuous place to hopefully be discovered later. Who actually grabs these items is a mystery, but I’ve seen things sit on a curb or bush for more than a couple days.
Even lost money usually finds its owner. According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Lost and Found Center, 72 percent of lost money brought to the center in 2002 was returned to its owner. That’s a total of nearly $23 million. Simply amazing!
There’s a deep-rooted fear of fire in Japanese culture. It’s certainly not unwarranted. It seems nearly every important historical building has been destroyed by fire at least once in its history, including Kawagoe’s own Toki no Kane (Bell of Time). Fire prevention most definitely takes precedence over fire fighting.
During times of particularly fire-friendly weather, especially during the cold, dry winters, volunteers from the local fire brigade will walk up and down the street. They bang two wooden sticks together twice and shout “hi no yōjin” or “watch out for fire.”
What do you think? Would you be offended by the driving stickers or shocked by the opposite sex attendant in the locker room? Leave your comments below.
I’m self-diagnosing a case of selective attention deficit disorder. It’s brought on my projects that aren’t particularly interesting to me. Treatments include watching baseball, going for a run or doing just about anything else.
I have a couple of those projects on my plate this week, so I decided to remove the distractions. I loaded up my computer and headed to Starbucks to work for a bit. There’s plenty of good workspaces around town, but the coffee giant is the only one that offers free WiFi.
The closest Starbucks in Kawagoe Station is usually crowded with commuters and since the station is our transportation hub, I wanted some new scenery. I pulled up Google Maps and plotted out some of the other shops in the area. That landed me in nearby Fujimino City.
Fujimino is the first stop on the express line toward Tokyo from Kawagoe Station, but we’ve never had reason to go there, so this was a good chance to explore the area a bit. I arrived around lunchtime and had plotted out a couple potential lunch spots.
I chose Arcturus Cafe, which I’m told by Wikipedia may be named for the brightest star in the Northern Hemisphere. Macrobiotic cafes like this are one of the few safe bets for a vegetarian meal in Japan.
I chose one of the two tables in the solarium at the back of the restaurant. Outside, rose bushes and other greenery pushed against the glass. I ordered the curry set. Japanese curry is available nearly everywhere, but it’s made with chicken, so it’s usually on the no-fly list. Potatoes and mushrooms took the place of the chicken. It was fantastic!
Arcturus also bakes its own bread using a naturally fermented yeast. The soup and salad set is served with fresh bread and coffee. I can’t wait to go back to try it.
After lunch, I headed to Starbucks to actually get some work done. The Starbucks is about 10 minutes from the station, so the crowd was pretty thin in the early afternoon with most of the customers coming through the drive-through.
After I finished my work, I popped into the Aeon department store down the street. I remembered from a trip to the Aeon near Costco that they have a large liquor section with a decent selection of craft beers. Sure enough, they had three different choices from Oregon’s Rogue Ales & Spirits. I took one of each: Hazelnut Brown Nectar, Dead Guy and Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout.
I tried to make a joke with the cashier that both the beer and I were from the same place. She laughed and said a whole bunch of other stuff that I didn’t really catch. Can’t win ’em all…
My projects will keep me busy for a few more weeks and I plan to use my new method of navigating the area by Starbucks locations to find a few more new gems.
It’s been awhile since we’ve had a good Japanese mystery to investigate. A couple weeks ago, workers began installing long white boards all over town with squares numbered 1-50. A large date—April 26—appeared at one end with a whole lot of indecipherable Japanese surrounding it.
A few days later, nearly all of the boxes were plastered with election posters from all of Japan’s major political parties. It’s time to elect our local mayors (kuchō/区長) and assembly representatives (kugikai/区議会)! I say “our,” but as foreign citizens, we don’t get a vote. At least we have plausible deniability if it all goes south… “Not my kuchō!”
In addition to the posters, candidates ride around in vans with loudspeakers, sharing their message with the people. They wear white gloves as they wave out the window, apparently a symbol of honesty.
The posters themselves were pretty standard fare, although I did notice a couple of trends. First off, several candidates seemed to be taking the theme of “fighting for you” literally. I counted six posters with candidates raising clinched fists, ready to punch the opposition right in the face. Some of my favorites…
The next candidate had comic-style posters of him fighting for the people of Kawagoe on his website during the election. Kinda cool.
The other prominent theme is the use of cartoonish representations of the candidates. It says “Look, I’m fun!” Some of the best…
For two magical weeks, spring boldly announces its presence all over Japan in the form of sakura—the blossoms of the Japanese cherry tree. Families and friends come together for viewing parties and everyone has a bit more pep in their step. Then, as quickly as they arrived, they begin to fall like snow, replaced by green buds and the promise of warmer days. Enjoy the view!
Need more sakura? Check out last year’s last year’s pics too!