The Tokyo Chapter: Kawagoe

Just one hour from Hikarigaoka is the town of Kawagoe. "Little Edo" is known for it’s Edo period buildings along the main street as well as for it’s shrines and temples.

When we first arrived in Kawagoe, I didn't understand why my husband wanted to go there. There were a couple of interesting buildings, but nothing to get really excited about. But as we walked along, we suddenly walked into the area he was excited about going to. The main street (a short walk from the train station) was lined with black, white, and wooden Edo period buildings that were an amazing sight. The architecture of the buildings were so different from modern Japanese buildings. Many of the buildings were made out of clay, but even the wooden buildings looked old and historic.

The outside of the buildings weren't the only interesting thing in the city. I quickly fell in love with all the neat artisan shops, featuring handmade goods. The shops were filled with traditional Japanese goods like fabric (I saw a woman weaving fabric on a loom in one shop), wooden toys and tools, as well as knives. I have to say the knife store was one of my favorite stops today, as the hand forged knives were incredible to see, but also because the shopkeeper was so enthusiastic about his wares. My husband walked away with new tips for keeping our knives in tip top shape.

Even the snack area, or "candy street" where vendor after vendor sold edible delights, had several shops that featured handmade candy and treats. I was very impressed with the hard candies with beautiful designs. They were making the candy in the back of the store, which made it even more impressive. The designs of each flavor of candy were different. However, they were all beautiful little works of art. My son loved the balloon candy that he blew himself. The vendor put a small ball of warm candy on the end of a straw. Then my son blew into it until it created a balloon at the end of the straw. The vendor then took the candy back and cooled it in front of a fan, before handing it back to my son for consumption.

The town is known for eel and sweet potatoes. (Not together, if that is what you are thinking.) Back in the Edo period, a ruling was passed forbidding people to eat beef or pork. Since Kawagoe is not near the ocean, people had to rely on food from the river. So, freshwater eel became very popular. We enjoyed freshwater eel prepared three ways for lunch - grilled and served over rice; lightly scrambled with eggs and broth served over rice; and on top of rice with tea poured over the dish. We were very impressed with our lunch selections. For the longest time, I didn't want to try freshwater eel, but have since come to love it.

There were sweet potato treats at every turn. There were tons of places to buy sweet potato chips and sweet potato ice cream. There were also several places to try sweet potato versions of traditional sweets.

We made sure to stop by the main shrine and temple in the town. We always like to visit the religious sites because we find them to be very positive places with good energy. It's hard to explain, but we just feel better when we exit than when we entered. While at the shrine, we washed our money in a special waterfall to bring us financial good fortune. I loved the concept of this and quickly combined all of my change with my husbands. When we were all done, I noticed a woman was washing her bills. To each their own. By the time we arrived at the temple, it was closing up for the day. It was practically deserted and many of the doors were closed to the various buildings. It appeared as if there had been some festivities earlier in the day and everyone had packed up and went home for the day.

It was a great little town. I definitely thing that tourists should go to Kawagoe. It gives them a firsthand view of some of the traditional architecture that many people think of when they think of Japan. Also, there are so many local artisans sharing goods that can be hard to find. It's pretty rare to see such a concentration of small shops that all make their own things. I loved the smell of paper in the notebook store. I wanted to touch all the fabric in the tenugui (thin Japanese hand towel) shop. And I desperately wanted to come home with lots of wooden toys and tools.