I love big cities. That’s just the way I am. But I also love visiting little towns with characters. So, when visiting Tokyo, I always take the time to at least make one day trip visit to a small town nearby. Totally different from the style suburb Harajuku/Shibuya and also equally unique to the quirky Kichijoji is a small town called Kawagoe, just 50 minutes away from Shinjuku.
Kawagoe (川越) is suitable as a day trip destination. Its main street, lined with Kurazukuri (clay-walled warehouse-styled) buildings, retains an ambience reminiscent of an old town from the Edo Period (1603-1867) and allows us to imagine the streets from past centuries. Thereby, Kawagoe became known as “Little Edo”.
Source: Japan Guide
But let’s start with breakfast.
Shinjuku, Tokyo
On the way to Seibu Shinjuku Station, we stopped by at Curry House CoCo for some delicious Japanese kare.
Oishii!!! Yup, despite being a franchise chain restaurant, Curry House CoCo knew how to make awesome curries. I had the kani korokke (i.e. crab creme croquette) – one of my favourite things ever. They were creamy and delicious, crunchy on the outside of course. The curry was mild spicy, which was the right spicy level for me.
I would recommend this restaurant for anyone visiting Tokyo on a budget but would still like to enjoy some Japanese curry…
We then took the train from Seibu Shinjuku Station to Hon Kawagoe Station.
The train ride showed us various houses and small town areas which reminded us of a lot of the anime we’ve watched in the past. One that came to mind was Doraemon.
Kawagoe, Saitama
Once we reached Hon-Kawagoe Station, we took a Co-Edo bus which took us to a lot of the tourist attractions around this small town.
I love the fact that most “tourists” on board were old Japanese ladies who looked so adorable and spoke so kindly to us (albeit in Japanese). My husband offered one a seat and she thanked him so much and even said sorry to me for separating us. Like, really, here in Melbourne, the old people would seriously demand those seats. But not there. Made you want to be a kinder person. It’s a great positive cycle I reckon.
Our first stop in Kawagoe was Kitain Temple. The area was so beautiful that I took way too many photos (and thus, focused this particular post on Kitain Temple alone)…
Kitain (喜多院) is regarded as one of the most important temples in the Greater Tokyo area. I’m no history buff and have only minimal interest, so instead, I’d show photographs that hopefully would tell a story about this very beautiful temple/area.
Autumn leaves. I could never get sick of taking pictures of these…
One thing that I really enjoyed during travel is street/people photography – a creepy way to say that I love taking photos of random strangers on the streets. Kitain Temple provided me many opportunities as there were many people – young and old, school kids to obaachan. So I did.
The cutest photo award had to go to those two little Japanese-costumed girls in front of the temple, posing for their parents’ cameras (and mine).
Apart from the sceneries and the people, another highlight of Kitain would be seeing hundreds of Gohyaku Rakan statues with varying facial expressions. You would be able to find these interesting statues tucked in a little courtyard not far from the entrance. Mind you, there is a small fee to walk in, although it seemed like some day passes might cover this.
And that was it. Kitain. What a beautiful temple and surrounding. I enjoyed the visit also because we took time to rest and sit by the bench just to observe the surrounding area and watch the autumn leaves fall.
Kitain marked the beginning of our trip to Kawagoe. Come back soon to read the next part of our Kawagoe trip filled with food and fun, as always…
What is your favourite season to visit Japan? (If you haven’t been to Japan, what is your favourite season to travel?) Comment below.