Saitama Prefecture

Do
Step into the forest of a Moomin story
Hanno, a green town about 40 to 50 minutes from Ikebukuro by train, has two places that bring the world of the Moomin books by the Finnish author Tove Jansson into the woods. One is a free park with mushroom-shaped houses among the trees, and the other is a lakeside valley where the Moomin house and lighthouse from the stories have been rebuilt. You can walk both in one unhurried day.
Town
Gyoda
A town where sock storehouses became cafes
Gyoda, a quiet town in Saitama north of Tokyo, grew rich making tabi, the split-toe socks worn with kimono and sandals. The thick-walled kura, the storehouses where the socks were kept, still stand around town, and several are now cafes, a soba shop and a small museum you can walk between. It is about an hour and a half from Tokyo by train.
Do
Hunt for 10-yen candy with a fistful of coins
A dagashiya is an old-fashioned candy shop where many sweets cost only 10 or 20 yen, and generations of Japanese children have stood at the shelves counting out their coins. Look for kinako-bo, chewy sticks of roasted soybean-flour candy, where a marked stick wins you another one for free. Bring small coins, since shops like these usually take cash only.
Do
Hear wind chimes ring across a summer shrine
Every summer, some Shinto shrines hang hundreds or even thousands of furin, small glass or metal wind chimes, along their paths and corridors. Walk beneath them as they ring in the breeze, and in the evening many are lit up. The displays run only from about June to early September, so check the dates before you go.
Do
Ride a boat between the cliffs of a gorge
River boats carry you into gorges, where you sit close to the water and look up at cliffs, rapids and forest that you cannot see from the road. On some rivers, boatmen steer long wooden boats down the rapids by hand with poles and oars. Sailings stop when the water is too high or too low, so check the operator's notice on the day.
Do
Drink fresh beer next to the tanks it came from
All over Japan, small craft breweries pour their beer in taprooms set right beside the brewing tanks, so what you drink was made a few steps away. Order a few small glasses to compare styles, often with food made to go with them. The places in and around Tokyo make an easy evening out, while those farther away fit into a longer trip through the region.
Do
Stroll a gorge just minutes from the station
A gorge is a deep, narrow valley that a river has cut through rock, and each of these begins a few minutes' walk from a train station. A walk along the water takes one to two hours, so any of them makes an easy half-day outing. Todoroki Gorge is inside Tokyo itself, and Nagatoro is about two hours from the city by train.
Do
Gaze up at walls of books rising to the ceiling
In these libraries and museums, bookshelves climb almost to the ceiling, so you stand inside a wall of books on every side. Pick a book that catches your eye and read it at a seat nearby. Most books are in Japanese, so the space itself is the main draw, though art and photo books need no translation.
Do
Hunt for old tableware at an antique market
On set days each month, antique dealers lay out stalls across the grounds of shrines and temples, with old bowls, plates and household tools spread on tables and mats. Wander the rows, pick up whatever catches your eye and ask the price, and you may find a piece to take home. Each market keeps its own schedule and the stalls start early, so check the date, go in the morning and bring cash.
Do
See flowers float in a shrine's water basin
Before praying, visitors to a shrine or temple rinse their hands at a stone water basin, and some places now fill these basins with floating seasonal flowers, a custom called hanachozu. The flowers are changed often, so the colors are different each time you go. Some displays run only at certain times of year, so check the shrine's website before a long trip.
Do
Walk across hillsides covered in flowers
Some hills in Japan turn a single color from edge to edge: blue with nemophila, pink with moss phlox, yellow with rapeseed blossoms, or red with kochia bushes in autumn. Each hill peaks in a different season, so pick one that matches your travel dates and check the bloom news on its website. The hills are large, so allow one to two hours to walk around slowly.
Do
Cruise a winter river at a heated table
In winter, some river boats in Japan carry a kotatsu, a low table with a heater underneath and a quilt draped over it. You sit with your legs under the quilt and watch snowy gorges or quiet canals drift by. Most run only from December to February or March.
Do
Walk among giant pillars deep underground
These are vast spaces under the ground: a flood-control tank held up by rows of giant pillars, and old quarries where stone was cut away and pillars of rock were left to hold up the roof. The air inside stays cool all year, so even in midsummer bring a light jacket.
Do
Saitama Prefecture
Snack your way along an old shopping street
A shotengai is a shopping street of small family-run shops, and many of them sell hot snacks one piece at a time over the counter. Walk from shop to shop for croquettes, taiyaki, fish-shaped cakes filled with sweet bean paste, and dango, chewy rice dumplings, and compare what each street is known for. Bring cash, and on busy streets eat beside the shop rather than while walking.

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