Day Trip to Kawagoe

I t took a bit of persuasion to get my lazy beanbag self to make the trip to Kawagoe since I'm not one for historical type touristy activities. Somehow I succumbed to peer pressure and managed to roll out of bed at 630am and drag myself there. We bought the Kawagoe return pass for 700yen from the JR ticket office at Ikebukuro Station and took the express train on the Tobu Tojo line to Kawagoe Station for around 30min. 

Kawagoe is said to be a town in which you can feel like you have time-travelled back to ancient Edo.

I think that is a bit of a stretch from the truth, but this town located in Saitama prefecture does retain some semblance of old world charm. That said, it is almost impossible to photograph any part of this town without some jarring element of modernity creeping in. Observe this in the photo below.

Thou shalt drive slowly. And yes, that sky was that dreary. 

After walking around exploring the town, we settled for lunch at the least crowded restaurant we could find, which turned out to be a decent fish restaurant offering meals for less than 1000 yen.  Unfortunately, I did not bother to note the name. I think it was opposite the daigaku imo stall shown in the next photo.

Good ambience

Kawagoe is known for its sweet potato snacks

We skipped the daigaku imo and instead got sweet potato soft serve ice cream for 270 yen at one of the other stores on the main street. Definitely worth the calories. I never knew purple could taste this good.

Creamy purpleness 

Who said cats don't need their walks?

Somehow I just wasn't very inspired to take photographs that day, but I'm glad I'm got one of a disobedient cat (or a highly eccentric owner). It might have to do with the grey skies that day and the slight drizzle, or the fact that there really isn't much to do in Kawagoe. If you are like me and have no interest in temples, history or souvenir shopping, Kawagoe is best appreciated for its snacks.

Anachronism in action

Spend 3 hours in Kawagoe, sample some snacks, reminisce on how far Japan has come since the era of wooden houses, then continue with modern-day life, just like a good modern-day person. For me, there's just a lot more interesting stuff in Tokyo than anachronistic antiquity. Save the historical stuff for Kyoto.