Kitain in Kawagoe

The temple Kita-in in Kawagoe it is believed to have been founded in 830 by monk Ennin, burned down in 1205, the temple was rebuilt in 1296. The temple was patronized by the Tokugawa shoguns, and after another fired destroyed the temple in 1638, Iemitsu Tokugawa transferred part of the Edo castle to kita-in. These buildings are the only surviving of the castle after the damage to Tokyo during grand Kanto earthquake.

One of the rooms is believe to be the one where Iemitsu was born.

The tahoto pagoda built in 1639, was moved several times, until finally being set to its current location in 1973.

The Jingendo, located in a hill was built by order of ieyasu in 1645 it is considerate an important cultural asset.

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500 statues of rakan at Kita-in

Among the attractions in Kawagoe Saitama prefecture, the 500 statues of Rakan at Kita-in temple are extremely popular, and are indispensable stopover for visitors of not only temple’s but to the Kawagoe area as well.

The Rakan figures, one of the three largest in Japan, are statues representing the disciples of Buddha. The 500 statues (actually 538) with no two alike, all in different position and with different face expression: smiling, crying, angry, praying, at rest, and many others, represent the various aspects of the Buddhist life.

 

Carved in stone between 1782 and 1825, the statues are in a walled area, in front of the Kita-in temple, hiding the statues to temple visitors, and thus often missed to visitors with not prior knowledge of the statues.

According to the tradition if you come in the middle of the night and feel the head of rakans you will find one that is warm, if you come in the morning to see this statue, this will be the one that most resembles you.

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Little Edo town Kawagoe

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.

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