Local Guide
Kawagoe, a castle town known as "Little Edo" has a rich cultural and historical heritage as the feudal seat of the Matsudaira family, which had an income in feudal times of 170,000 koku (bales of rice).In part of the current modern city you can still see Kurazukuri (warehouse) style merchant houses and Machiya-style merchant houses with senbon-goshi type of lattice, as well as the preserved residential palace in the inner citadel of Kawagoe Castle.You can easily walk to these historic sites in 10 - 20 minutes from the hotel.
Find using Zenrin MapsAttractions around the Kawagoe Prince Hotel
Historic townscape
The shops with walls made from wattle and daub in Kawagoe are famous examples of Kurazukuri (warehouse) style merchant houses. This ingenious construction method for fire-resistant buildings designed to avoid being burned down in a spreading fire became popular for town houses in Edo. On Kawagoe's Ichiban-gai street, you can see these remnants of the Edo townscape, which can no longer be found in Tokyo. In December 1999, Ichiban-gai was selected as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Historic Buildings in Japan, and in January 2007 it was selected as one of the 100 beautiful places preserving the history and culture of Japan. Among the preserved buildings, the Osawa Family House has been designated as an important cultural property. The building was constructed in 1792 as a shop dealing in silk and cotton fabrics for kimonos. It survived the Kawagoe Great Fire of 1893, as a result of which other merchants in Kawagoe were encouraged to build kurazukuri buildings.
- Access
- A 14-minute walk from the hotel.
Toki-no-Kane (The Bell of Time)
This bell is a symbol of Kawagoe that has announced the time to the residents of the castle town for nearly 400 years. At roughly 16m tall, it is about the same height as the Daibutsu (the great Budda statue) in Nara. The current bell is the fourth generation and sounds four times a day: at 6:00 a.m., noon, 3:00 p.m., and 6:00 p.m. The sound of this bell was selected in 1996 by the Environment Agency (now the Ministry of the Environment) as one of the Top 100 Soundscapes of Japan.
- Access
- A 14-minute walk from the hotel.
Kashiya Yokocho (sweets store alley)
Around 1930, there were more than 70 stores in this alley manufacturing and selling sweets wholesale. Even now, more than 20 shops continue to manufacture and sell creative cheap confectionery, maintaining an atmosphere in the street that is nostalgic for many people. In 2001, the smell of peppermint candy, cheap confectionery, and toasted sweet dumplings was designated by the Ministry of the Environment as one of the Top 100 Aromascapes of Japan.
- Access
- A 17-minute walk from the hotel.
Kawagoe Festival Museum
The Kawagoe Festival (which takes place on the third Saturday and Sunday in October), is the biggest event of the year in Kawagoe. To allow visitors to experience something of the festival all year round, two floats are always displayed at this museum.
- Access
- A 17-minute walk from the hotel.
Osawa Family House
The oldest of the kurazukuri (warehouse) style merchant houses on Ichiban-gai street, constructed in 1792. It is designated as an important cultural property. The frontage of the house is 10.92m, and the depth is 8.19m, and it is designed in the Kirizuma/Hirairi-style and roofed with sangawara tiles.
- Access
- A 17-minute walk from the hotel.
Kitain Temple
Kitain Temple, constructed in the Heian era, is famous for its 500 Rakan statues and Daruma market held on January 3rd every year. The temple rose to prominence after Tenkai became the temple's 27th head monk in 1599 and received the strong support of the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. After reconstruction following a fire in 1638, the room where Tokugawa Iemitsu was born and Kasuga-no-Tsubone's dressing room were removed from Edo Castle and reconstructed in Kitain Temple as Shoin (drawing room) and Kyakuden (reception hall). There are many other cultural artifacts and historic remains in the grounds of the temple, which are always filled with worshippers.
- Access
- A 10-minute walk from the hotel.
500 Statues of Rakan
Inside the grounds of Kitain Temple, these statues were made over a 50-year period beginning in 1782. There are 538 stone images of the Buddha, each with a slightly different expression of great humanity, making visitors feel a sense of closeness, as if the Buddha could be someone they know.
- Access
- A 10-minute walk from the hotel.
Senba Toshogu Shrine
Senba Toshogu Shrine is one of the three most important Toshogu shrines in Japan. It is adjacent to Kitain Temple on the south side. When Tokugawa Ieyasu died in 1616 in Sunpu (Shizuoka), his remains were carried to Nikko. Along the way, the procession stopped at Kitain Temple for a four-day service by Tenkai-Sojo, which led to the construction of the shrine in 1633. The lacquered and richly colored Honden, Karamon, Mizugaki, Haiden, Heiden, Zuijinmon (shown in the photo, above left), and Ishi-dorii have all been designated as important cultural properties, and the pillars of the Shaden feature carvings worthy of the name Toshogu. Inside the Honden is an enshrined statue of Tokugawa Ieyasu, and other cultural properties include an openwork screen above the sliding partitions in the Haiden called Sanjyu Roku Kasen Egaku that was created by Iwasa Matabei Katsumochi, and dedicated by Tokugawa Iemitsu. In the Heiden there are 12 framed pictures of eagles (Taka Egaku), a prefecture-designated cultural property dedicated by the lord of Iwatsuki Castle, Abe Tsushima-no-kami Shigetsugu.
- Access
- A 10-minute walk from the hotel.
Naka-in Temple
Directly to the south of Kitain Temple, this is a temple with a quiet atmosphere. Around the end of the Kamakura era, this temple of the Tendai School was branched from Muryojuji Temple and served as the major temple in this area until Tenkai-Sojo came to Kitain Temple. Naka-in Temple is known for its association with the author Shimazaki Toson, and within the grounds of the temple is the teahouse Fusentei that was associated with Shimazaki Toson and continues to be used and preserved today by practitioners of the tea ceremony. Fusentei has been designated as a cultural property of Kawagoe City.
- Access
- A 10-minute walk from the hotel.
Residential palace in the inner citadel of Kawagoe Castle
Kawagoe Castle was constructed in 1457 by Ota Doshin and his son Dokan under the orders of Ogigayatsu Uesugi Mochitomo, as a strategic base in his power struggle with his rival Koga-kubo Ashikaga Shigeuji. In the Edo period that followed, the castle was allocated to a feudal lord important to the shogunate, but following the Meiji Restoration which ended the feudal period, most of the castle buildings were broken up over time and the site used for schools, public facilities, and housing. Today, the entry to the residential palace in the inner citadel, which was constructed in 1848, and the reconstructed working room of the chief retainers recall the feudal period for visitors.
- Access
- A 25-minute walk from the hotel.
Kawagoe City Art Museum
The museum was opened on December 1st 2002, commemorating the 80th anniversary of Kawagoe's receiving city status. Visitors can view the works of artists associated with Kawagoe. The museum also holds special exhibits about four times per year that are well worth seeing.
- Access
- A 25-minute walk from the hotel.
Kawagoe City Museum
The Kawagoe City Museum is built on the former site of Ni-no-maru (second citadel) of the Kawagoe Castle. Inspired by the Kurazukuri (warehouse) style, the museum features a Kirizuma-style roof with kawara tiles, and white, stucco-like walls. The permanent exhibition focuses on modern times and the recent past. There is a life-size street of kurazukuri merchant houses which makes it easier to understand the overall history of Kawagoe. Approximately 170,000 people have visited the museum every year since it opened in 1990.
- Access
- A 25-minute walk from the hotel.
Miyoshino Shrine
The Miyoshino Shrine is said to have been rebuilt in 1624, as the guardian shrine of the Kawagoe Castle, by Lord Sakai Tadakatsu. The shrine's Tenjin, or defined spirit honored in the shrine, is well-known from the children's song, Tohryanse (Pass on through in Japanese). Because the shrine was located within the castle grounds, it was difficult for ordinary people to visit, and the song refers to a narrow passage leading to the Tenjin.
- Access
- A 30-minute walk from the hotel.
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