Edo style, a small town called Kawagoe

Kawagoe City is located in Saitama Prefecture near Tokyo. It only takes about an hour to get there from the city. If you start from Ikebukuro, it only takes half an hour to get there.

"There are countless small Kyotos in the world, but only Kawagoe exists as a small Edo." This is Kawagoe's definition of himself: "Little Edo." Kawagoe was once the northern fortress of Edo (the old name of Tokyo) and prospered as a transit base for grains and a production site for textiles.

The current small town of Kawagoe not only has Edo-style Tibetan builders and modern European architecture from the Taisho period, but also retains Showa alleys with a civilian style. Walking around Kawagoe, you can encounter various eras of Japan.

It takes ten minutes to walk from Kawagoe Station to Kitain. Kita-in was founded in the year 830. Even before entering the courtyard, you can feel a deep sense of the times from the surrounding ancient trees. It was probably still the New Year holiday in Japan, and the monks in the main hall were chanting sutras, but I couldn't go in to have a look. After all, the people queuing... were real! exist! yes! too! many! Got it!

Kita-in has the atmosphere of a Chinese New Year market. In addition to worshipers, there are also various stalls selling food, specialties, and auspicious items. After watching the excitement for a while, we walked to Hikawa Shrine.

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Within 10 minutes, we arrived at Hikawa Shrine. This Hikawa Shrine is said to be the headquarter of all Hikawa Shrines in Japan. It mainly prays for fate, a happy marriage and a happy family. Therefore, the people queuing up to pray are mainly couples, couples and young girls. There are so many people queuing up that they line up outside the torii gate. The torii gate of Hikawa Shrine is said to be the largest wooden torii gate in Japan. The signatures in the shrine are also different from other shrines in that they are written with the word "fishing". The signature is hidden in the wooden fish. After you put in the coins, you can catch your own fish with the fishing rod on the side.

After leaving Hikawa Shrine, I went to see the "Clock Tower" on the streets of Koedo. According to legend, this clock was built 400 years ago by Tadō Sakai, the then lord of Kawagoe Domain. The clock suffered repeated fires but was rebuilt each time. The current clock belongs to the fourth generation and was rebuilt by some merchants who failed to rebuild their shops after a fire in 1893. The clock is composed of a wooden 3-layer oar and is about 16 meters high. The bell rings four times a day at 6 a.m., noon, 3 p.m., and 6 p.m. This clock tower is also a landmark building in Kawagoe.

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On the way to Guoziyoko Town, I also saw a quaint gas lamp, full of a sense of age~

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If If you have time when traveling to Tokyo, why not take the train to Kawagoe? It allows people to "travel" from the bustling city to the Edo period and feel the nostalgic style.