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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Gyoda city’s ancient Lotus

Last week visited again the Ancient lotus park in Gyoda city, as now the flowers are in season.



As last year I arrived quite early, lotus flower only opens between 6:00 and 10:00 AM, and again as last year there were already a large number of visitors at the park.



The park is divided in two sections: the ancient lotus pond and the world lotus garden.



There are many lotus gardens in Tokyo, but can hardly compare in variety and beauty to this park in Saitama, This park beauty make worthwhile the trip from Tokyo.

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Aviation Park in Tokorozawa

Tokorozawa aviation memorial park in the Saitama prefecture in Tokorozawa city, with 50 HA is the largest in the prefecture. The park it is also known as the birthplace of Japanese aviation as the first Japanese aircraft dedicated airport was established here in 1911.




The U.S. forces seized the airfield after the war, until 1967 when it returned to Japanese goverment. Designeted as a prefectural park in 1974, and opening to public four years later in 1978.


There is also the magnificent Tokorozawa aviation museum, with a display of airplanes, helicopters, engines and flight simulators; unfortunately, by the time I get there it was alredy close, so I could not get in.



In the outdoors exhibitions, a C46A cargo plane and an YS11 plane are in exposición.






Additionally a Japanese garden is in the center of the park, with a pond and a teahouse.

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Cherry blossom viewing at Sagiyama memorial park

As the weather continued to be unpredictable, we had more than 20℃ one week and snow the following (in April!). On one of the good weather days I visited the Sagiyama memorial park, to enjoy the cherry blossom trees.





The Sagiyama memorial park in Saitama city, with more than 250 year of history, is not one of the most prominent parks in the Saitama prefecture, but it has seen an increase of visitors as a result of the creation of a green zone in the area by the Saitama prefecture.




Next to the park are the Minuma natural park and the Minuma canal. The canal is now lined with stunningly beautiful cherry trees in full bloom.

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