Kawagoe city
in the Saitama Prefecture is one of Tokyo Satellite cities. In the Edo period,
this city located at the north of the great city of Edo (now Tokyo), was called
little Edo, and was the location of the kawagoe castle, a close ally to the
Tokunaga shogunate, most of the buildings were dismantled in 1870, but some of
them remained and now allow appreciation of the period life.
The kurazukuri
(old storehouse style) buildings zone. Kura buildings were originally used for
storage of household tools, and then due to his fire resistance developed into
residential buildings and stores in kawakoe. The zone is lined with 100-year-old
culturally significant buildings.
The Toki no
kane or time bell tower, used to announce the time since the early Edo period,
Even today the bell rings four times a day. The current tower is the fourth
version after the tower was rebuilt immediately after the great fire of Kawagoe
in 1893.
Kashiya
Yokocho or penny candy lane, a narrow street lined with traditional sweets,
hard candy, and senbei rice cracker shops.
The Koedo
loop bus is a retro-style bus made to match the streets of kurazukuri, provides
a convenient way to travel from Kuruzukuri, to other city sightseeing spots.
Stores not
only preserver the edo period building, but also the interior is arranged in
harmony with the era.
Some of the
buildings contrast with the area buildings, as they are from the Meiji period, as
the resona bank building, built in 1878 has been designated by the country as
culturally significant, other buildings nerby are from the same era.
