Honmaru Goten in Kawagoe

Entrance to the Honmaru Goten 

This is the only remaining structure left of the Kawagoe Castle. The honmaru goten or the lord's residence was built in 1848 although the original castle was built 500 years earlier in 1457 by Ota Doshin and his son Dokan under the order of Uesugi Mochitomo. In the 1450s, the castle was held by the Uesugi clan, however, the Hojo clan seized it in 1537 as the latter started to expand its control in the Kanto region.When Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate, conquered the Kanto area in 1590, he established Kawagoe as one of the main fiefs in his domain. Kawagoe became a military base for defending Edo and a commercial base for transporting goods to the center of Edo.

View of the garden

A Day Trip to Kawagoe: Remnants of the Edo Period

Kawagoe is popularly known as "Little Edo"  because of its well-preserved buildings that mirror the kind of life locals led in the Edo Period (1603-1868). The area where the historical sites are concentrated is not that big. Purchasing a day pass for the either the Co-Edo Loop Bus (Y500) or the Sightseeing bus (Y300) will surely be worth it. Although both buses stop in most of the historical sites, the Co-Edo Loop Bus has more trips in a day. There is one departing from Kawagoe Station every fifteen minutes or every so often on weekdays. 

Because I had very limited time on the day I went to Kawagoe, I decided to go straight to the places that interested me the most. There are a number of temples and shrines in the area that could cultivate varying degrees of interest in people but as for me, I chose to go to the ones that have very strong historical significance. Here are some of the highly recommended places that tourists must visit in a day trip in Kawagoe:

Visit Honmaru Goten of Kawagoe Castle. This is the only remaining structure left of the Kawagoe Castle. The honmaru goten or the lord's residence was built in 1848 although the original castle was built 500 years earlier in 1457 by Ota Doshin and his son Dokan under the order of Uesugi Mochitomo. When Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate, conquered the Kanto area in 1590, he established Kawagoe as one of the main fiefs in his domain. Kawagoe became a military base for defending Edo and a commercial base for transporting goods to the center of Edo. 

Lunch in one of the ryoteis. A ryotei is a high class, luxurious traditional Japanese restaurant that used to cater to the heads of powerful clans in the Edo Period and government officials. It is also called "caretaker tearooms" because clan members usually bring their guests in these establishments for a private meeting. While geishas used to accompany customers in the past, the ryotei eventually became just a restaurant in the recent decades. Geishas might have disappeared in the scene but hospitable serving ladies called nakai still make sure that customers are well-attended during their stay. A ryotei usually serves a multi-course traditional Japanese meals called kaiseki. It is a full course meal that is prepared only by people who have garnered years of expertise in preparing this food. See this post for my dining experience in a ryotei and this post for the Best Ryoteis in Kawagoe. 

Indulge in sweets on Kashiya Yokocho (Penny Candy Lane). This small area composed of small, short alleys are lined with traditional sweet shops, candy shops and Japanese treats that will surely bring out the child in you. The shops also provide the passers-by with free samples of their treats. Do not miss the chance to sample the famous Kawagoe treats such as fugashi (wheat gluten snacks) and dango (skewered rice dumplings) glazed with sweet soy sauce. 

In one of the small alleys, there is also a small antiques shop that triggered my interests. It sells postcards from the pre-war period, cups and saucers, Japanese pencils from 1984, magazines with Beatles on the cover and other random stuff like telephones and watches from some decades ago.

Shop on Kura no Machi. This is a long street lined with Japanese homes that had once been storage places for household tools and storehouses of goods. These buildings are said to be fire resistant. Along this road, there are shops that sell traditional Japanese delicacies, a Hello Kitty shop that sells everything, of course, Hello Kitty from magnets to towels, from umbrellas to purses. Along this road, you will also find the Kurazukuri Museum, which used to be the house of tobacco wholesale dealer Bunzo Koyama; the Kawagoe Festival Museum, where the colorful floats paraded during the Kawagoe Festival are stored' and the Toki no Kane, a bell tower used in the Edo Period to announce the time (this happened to be under renovation when I visited). You can also take a leisurely tour around the area on a two-wheeled rickshaw.

Explore the Kitain Temple. The temple was founded by a monk called Ennin in 830 A.D. but was  burnt down during a fight in 1205 and was reconstructed in 1298 by the monk Sonkai. The Kitain became the main temple of the three-temple complex including the Nakain and Minamiin when Tenkai, a monk who became close to the first shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Ieyasu. There are several places of interest within the compounds of the Kitain temple such as the Toshogu Shrine, where Ieyasu was enshrined and honored; Remains of the Edo Castle including the room where the third shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu was born; the graves of five feudal lords or daimyo who ruled Kawagoe in the 18th and 19th Centuries; and the 500 statues of Rakan, each carved with a unique facial expression and pose.

Take a side street. Take a side street or a side alley on your way back to the station. There are other gems hidden behind the more touristy Kura no Machi. If you take a detour at one point, you would surely discover a place that would stir your interest.