Kawagoe Walking Tour

Feel the Edo atmosphere in this historical town only thirty minutes from Tokyo.

Overview

Kawagoe is a former castle town that flourished during the Edo Period (1603-1867), and to this day the warehouse district, the temple precincts, and the back lanes still carry that atmosphere. Elaborately designed merchant houses, the ringing of the bell tower, elegant side streets, and the occasional rickshaw all suggest a Japan of an earlier age that survives just thirty minutes from Tokyo.

The streetscape itself layers three eras together: Edo warehouses, Meiji merchant shops from the late nineteenth century, and Taisho facades from the early twentieth. This is a register of urban Japanese culture and history difficult to find anywhere else, preserved here because the city escaped the destruction of both the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and the wartime bombing.

The walk threads through Kita-in Temple, which uniquely houses the only remaining palace buildings transferred from Edo Castle; Hikawa Shrine, a 1,500-year-old shrine known to locals as a place for true love and matrimonial happiness; the famous Candy Alley lined with shops that have operated since the early Meiji Era; and the Warehouse District of clay-walled kura. The route also includes a working soy sauce factory and ends at Koedo Kurari, a former sake brewery still in operation after nearly 120 years.

Kawagoe was selected to host the golf competitions for the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020, a recognition of both its proximity to the capital and the preserved character of the town. Walk, eat, shop, and enjoy a craft beer (Kawagoe's local COEDO) or the famous sweet potato confections along the way.

Details

❖ Hon-Kawagoe Station

12:00

Meet your guide at Hon-Kawagoe Station on the Seibu Shinjuku Line, the closest station to the historic district. From central Tokyo the ride is roughly thirty minutes, making this one of the shortest train journeys to a tour of true Edo-period atmosphere.

❖ Kita-in Temple

12:20 - 13:00 (40 min)

Founded in 830 AD, Kita-in is one of the oldest temples in the region and uniquely houses the only remaining palace buildings transferred from Edo Castle. The temple is also known for the 540 stone statues of Buddha's disciples in its precincts, each carved with a distinct expression. The three-storey pagoda visible from the gardens is one of the most photographed silhouettes in Kawagoe.

❖ Hikawa Shrine

13:15 - 13:45 (30 min)

Said to be over 1,500 years old, Hikawa Shrine is dedicated to deities of marriage and family, and locals visit it to wish for true love and matrimonial happiness. The shrine is famous for its tunnel of wishes, an arched passage lined wall-to-wall with wooden ema prayer plaques left by visitors, and in summer it hosts the Engi-musubi Furin festival, when thousands of coloured glass wind chimes are suspended throughout the precinct.

❖ Candy Alley

14:10 - 14:25 (15 min)

Step into Kashiya Yokocho, a narrow lane lined with traditional sweet shops that have operated here since the beginning of the Meiji Era in 1868. The alley specialises in nostalgic dagashi sweets, hand-pulled candy, sweet potato confections, and senbei rice crackers, and the smell of toasting sugar and soy carries down the street as you walk it.

❖ Warehouse District

14:25 - 15:00 (35 min)

The Kurazukuri-no-machinami, or warehouse district, is the heart of historic Kawagoe and the reason the town is often called Koedo ("Little Edo"). The street is lined with thick clay-walled kura merchant warehouses from the Edo Period (1603-1867), their black-tiled roofs and heavy shutters standing in continuous rows. The Toki no Kane bell tower, originally built four centuries ago and rebuilt after the Great Kawagoe Fire of 1893, still tolls four times a day above the rooftops.

❖ Matsumoto Craft Soy Sauce

15:00 - 15:20 (20 min)

Tour the working Matsumoto Shoyu soy sauce factory and learn about the centuries-old process of fermentation still used here. The factory tour is available only on Saturdays, Sundays, and Japanese public holidays - on other days the route detours to an alternative artisan venue of equal interest. Tastings of fresh, aged, and smoked soy sauces are typically offered.

❖ Koedo Kurari

15:35 - 15:50 (15 min)

Housed in a brewery building that has been producing Japanese sake for nearly 120 years, Koedo Kurari today blends a tasting room, a marketplace of Kawagoe-area sake, and a curated selection of local craft. The original brewery hall, with its tall white plaster walls and dark timber beams, has been carefully preserved.

❖ Hon-Kawagoe Station

16:00

The walk concludes back at Hon-Kawagoe Station, or, if preferred, at the nearby Kawagoe Station on the JR and Tobu lines for connections back to central Tokyo.

OPTIONS

Notes

We will customise the walk to best fit the interests of your group.
The Matsumoto Craft Soy Sauce factory tour is available only on Saturdays, Sundays, and Japanese public holidays. On other days an alternative artisan visit of equal interest replaces it.
Peak season surcharge: during March, April, October, and the New Year holiday period (30 December to 3 January), an additional 2,000 yen per person applies.
Tour duration can be extended at a rate of 6,000 yen per person, per hour (8,000 yen per person, per hour during peak season).
Children aged 6-12 are charged 6,000 yen. Children under 6 join free of charge.

Meeting Point

Hon-Kawagoe Station (Seibu Shinjuku Line)

Meet your guide at the ticket gate of Hon-Kawagoe Station, the terminus of the Seibu Shinjuku Line in central Kawagoe. From central Tokyo (Seibu Shinjuku) the express train takes approximately 45 minutes.