The back story
Kawagoe: Little Edo
Streets of black-plastered warehouse houses, a wooden bell tower and a lane of old sweet shops, half an hour from Ikebukuro.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Zairon · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia CommonsKawagoe, in Saitama, is known as Koedo, “Little Edo”, for its streets of kurazukuri, the thick-walled clay warehouse houses of its merchants. The wooden bell tower, Toki no Kane, still rings the hours, and Kashiya Yokochō is a lane of old-fashioned sweet shops (Koedo Kawagoe Tourism Association).
Getting there
Tōbu’s Tōjō Line from Ikebukuro, or the Seibu Shinjuku Line from Seibu-Shinjuku.
The old streets
The kurazukuri houses of Ichibangai, the Toki no Kane bell tower and Kashiya Yokochō.
An easy half day: combine it with a sweet-potato snack, the town’s speciality.
Our advice: go on a weekday, and walk the streets before the shops open.
Why it's on our list
- Getting there
- The old streets
What’s nearby
Distances from Kawagoe: Little Edo are approximate, measured in a straight line (as the crow flies). Times are approximate too: walking at about 80 metres a minute, cycling at about 12 km/h and driving at typical city-traffic speeds. Traffic and routes vary.
Key sights
- Meiji Jingū34 kmCar or taxi 119 min
- The Shibuya crossing36 kmCar or taxi 124 min
- The palace gardens36 kmCar or taxi 126 min
- Sensō-ji37 kmCar or taxi 128 min
- Tokyo Tower38 kmCar or taxi 132 min
- Tokyo Skytree38 kmCar or taxi 132 min
Main railway stations
- Shinjuku Station32 kmCar or taxi 114 min
- Shibuya Station35 kmCar or taxi 124 min
- Ueno Station35 kmCar or taxi 124 min
- Tokyo Station37 kmCar or taxi 129 min
Location
The map comes from Google Maps, which sets its own cookies once it loads.
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