 Discover Kawagoe (川越市), Japan
Kawagoe at festival time
Author: Kounosu (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
Kawagoe (川越市) is a small city in Saitama Prefecture, about 30 minutes by train from Tokyo. It was founded as a town in 1889, and was granted city status in 1922.
Kawagoe is best known for its period-style architecture that line its old town. These beautifully preserved houses have given Kawagoe the nickname of "Little Edo", as it still maintains the feudal-period atmosphere generally gone elsewhere. These period houses, called kurazukuri or simply kura houses, have thick clay walls, double doors, heavy shuttles, and beautiful period tiles on their roofs.
The kura were formerly shops and warehouses, and continue today as a tourist attraction of the city. There are still some 30 kura in Kawagoe today.
During the Edo period, the headquarters of the Kawagoe Domain, the local fiefdom, was at Kawagoe Castle, occupied by aides of the Tokugawa shogun.
Kura houses of Kawagoe with the Toki no Kane belltower
Author: Ruizo (Creative Commons Attribution 1.0 Generic)
Visiting Kawagoe
Take the Tobu Tojo Line from Ikebukuro Station in Tokyo. The journey takes about 30 minutes and costs ¥450.
Exploring Kawagoe
The old section of Kawagoe is small enough for you to explore on foot.
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Places of Interest in Kawagoe
- Confectionery Row
Old fashioned shopping street with a dozen stores selling traditional candies.
- Kurazukuri Street
A section of the old town with 19th century kurazukuri houses
- Toki no Kane
"The Bell of Time," this is a bell tower built by the order of Sakai Tadakatsu between 1624 and 1644.
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