From my home in Saitama City, I encountered a bright red "angel ladder".

In the Chichibu Basin, fog often occurs at night when the air near the surface cools, and a sea of clouds is formed to cover the urban area. It is attracting attention as "the closest sea of clouds from the city center".

Chichibu Shrine's "Oni Yarai" It is the "Setsubun Tsukina Festival" held at Chichibu Shrine on February 3 every year. A lot of demons appear, and "demon yarai" and "bean sprinkling" are performed by old men and women. When the old man and woman sow the beans while saying, "The demon is outside~", the demon retreats.

This Kasaboko (flower parasol) used in 300 years old Japanese festival in Chichibu which actually looks stunning. This chichibu night festival is also known as 'chichibu yomatsuri'. I was really very excited to see it.

I didn't have enough space to write it the other day, but after visiting Fukuda Inari Shrine the other day in Nishi-Omiya, Saitama we stopped by a café called Mango Tree Cafe, a small Thai restaurant on the way back to the station. We'd already eaten, so we just wanted to sit down and relax from all the walking and to catch a break from the cold. We ordered some frozen drinks and a mango ice cream which all tasted quite good. I think the ice cream was the best but I didn't get a picture of it. I ordered the watermelon frozen juice and it was pretty nice, but they had something called "manaonade" (アンチャンマナオネード) which I guess means "blue tea" or "butterfly pea flower tea-ade" (lol). It's a type of herbal tea I guess but it seemed interesting. I was considering getting it, but I'd never heard of it before so decided to stay on the safe side and just get the watermelon. I'll probably try it next time as I know this place is a chain restaurant with other locations in Tokyo. Plus I never really eat Thai food, so it'd be something nice to try for a change

Wanted to do Hatsumode this year but didn't want to go anywhere crowded, so I decided to go out to Saitama and find a small shrine to visit. Ended up at this tiny shrine in Nishi-Omiya called Fukuda Inari Shrine (福田稲荷神社). It was super small and not a single person was there so it was like we had the whole place to ourselves. There was no real path leading up to the shrine so we had to walk through a plot of land that wasn't being used but it ended up being a really cool place. The approach to the shrine was really mysterious and once you get past the second torii gate you can see a bamboo forest surrounding the whole area. It was really neat as I couldn't see any bamboo from the outside and didn't really know what to expect when I visited. The shrine itself looks almost deserted but somehow still well maintained. I wanted to go inside to look at the pictures better but obviously I can't so I just admired them from afar. The temizuya/chozuya (or at least I think it was that, maybe this would be considered a chozubachi?) didn't have a ladle to wash your hands but maybe it has to do with corona. Anyways, it was a really nice little shrine and is a great place if you're looking for a mini adventure outside of Tokyo. Or if you want to do Hatsumode and avoid the crowds completely lol. Also, happy new year!

This is the scenery of Kawagoe in Saitama Prefecture. I like the cityscape here and go there often. Recently, the number of tourists has increased and it is often crowded, but it is a very nice city.

It is a park called Tove Jansson Akebono Children's Forest Park. Parking and free parks are free. It is lit up once a year. I don't do it now, but I will be Instagrammable in Moomin's park even in the daytime.

Freezing morning with the first frost

Taken from near my home. The moon seen through the trees where the leaves had fallen was a very fantastic night.

Iwatsuki Castle Ruins Park Reflection after rain. The scenery reflected on the surface of the water created a world that looked like a painting.

I found a Saitama fair in Ueno station and they were selling my favorite sweets 十万石まんじゅう!! I highly recommend this to anyone going to Saitama ?

Hello My name is Rampage Pampas Grass ? Autumn plants are doing Please take a look.

I'm pretty sure this is the last photo that I have of my trip to Kumagaya. Was a really awesome time and I'd love to revisit sometime in the future. You can really feel the summer atmosphere with the koinobori and the clear skies as well. I wanted to walk along the canal and see how long it is and see if I could find any cool cafes, restaurants, or other shops to check out, but I was unfortunately short on time so I didn't get the chance. It'll have to wait for a return trip. Kumagaya was an interesting town though, so I'm sure I'll be able to find at least a few hidden gems to explore along the canals. I want to explore the rest of the city more too. It had some nice places to eat but I want to see more of the local culture, etc. next time I'm there.

Another photo from Kumagaya. This is a big map outside of Kumagaya Station's North Exit, depicting, from what I understand, Kumagaya and the surrounding area in 1936. It's a bit difficult to see, but if you zoom in you can see Kumagaya on the left side with Tokyo in the upper left behind it, and to the right of Kumagaya you can see Kami-Kumagaya, from there, if you look to the bottom-right you'll see Kumagaya City Hall and furthest to the right is Ishiwara. Underneath Ishiwara you can also see several schools (elementary, middle, high school) and a hospital. It's quite difficult to see in this photo, but the mountain at the far back right is Mt. Asama, and you can see Nagatoro as well. On top of that, there's the Arakawa River running through the background of the entire map and a bridge connecting to Onuma Park as well. There's tons of stuff to see in just this one map, I love looking at old maps and historic things like this. I could stare at it for hours and still find new and interesting things.

I found a few more photos of my trip to Kumagaya. Being as it's the "Rugby Town" of Japan, it's only natural that it has a big statue of a rugby ball! It's kind of a cute statue and it reminds me of something from a movie, although I'm not sure which movie it is I'm thinking of. Apparently there's supposed to be a few of these statues found around other parts of Kumagaya, but I don't remember if I saw them or not. Obviously I saw some of the other statues, like the one over the canal, etc., but I don't remember seeing more than one of this statue. Perhaps at one of the other exits of Kumagaya Station. Also, the statue is apparently called "Rugby Boy" ("ラグビー少年" in Japanese), for anyone curious!

Went canoeing in Hagure, Saitama and I managed to turn red thanks to a nice sunburn. Was super tired the next day after a ton of canoeing but still managed to get a good amount of sightseeing done in Gyoda. Visited Oshi Castle (忍城) and the nearby museum, bought some tabi shoes from a shop that’s been in business for more than 100 years (創作足袋千代の松), stopped by a couple of shrines and enjoyed some of Japan’s scenic beauty. Had a total blast, and one of the locals even gave us some incense as a gift for visiting Gyoda!

I went to Gyoda, where my favorite drama Rikuo was filmed! I found a winning insect pattern at a tabi shop! I was just so excited ?.

It is a bread made by the master ▹▸ I'm a baker. With natural yeast at home kneaded �/&�� However, our In a respectable oven Because there is no I was struggling quite a bit (laughs). Slightly sweet It was delicious ( • ̀ᄇ • ́) و✧

Appetite on the Fall Theme Alone with my husband at home Whole cakes I got (*'*'*)ŧ‹"ŧ‹"

I am ready for the weekend lol. Not sure why, but I am just super tired this week. I wasn't able to workout during my lunch break today, so I'm going to have to do it tomorrow. Just needed to get a little rest in. I think it's probably due to the rain and it being darker outside lately. Was looking at some old photos and I found one of a manhole cover in Kumagaya that I never posted. Japan has so many cool designs on manholes, that there's actually quite a few people who go out of there way to take photos of them when they visit Japan. It's one of those unique things that you don't find in other countries and it's really neat. I like this one because it represents what Kumagaya is - a rugby town. I'd like to go back and visit again as it seemed like a really nice place. I don't know if I'd be able to play rugby at this point, but I'd definitely like to watch a game if I get the chance.

This photo was taken in a nearby park. I took this picture while waiting for the bees to stop on the sunflower facing upwards. * Since it is a vertical composition, please tap it!

Summer begins. . . . Postscript. Summer of Japan. Summer is supposed to be enjoyed with friends or loved ones. I hope that someday such a wonderful "summer" will come again.

When it comes to Japan summer, wind chimes are indispensable! So, I went to Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine in Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture. I tried to express "Japan summer" by adding summer sunlight and wind chimes.

It was a quiet resting place in a shrine surrounded by lush trees. I felt a strange atmosphere and pressed the shutter unintentionally.

This photo was taken in a nearby park. I packed a large cloud, a sunflower with a blur in the foreground, and summer.

When my mother was still healthy, my sister and her family rode down the Nagatoro Line with three families. My mother's spirit has been disturbed by Corona and she hasn't been able to go out for about a year, so when Corona is over and my mother is healthy, I want to visit Nagatoro in autumn leaves next.

Sea ☁️ of clouds seen from Chichibu Muse Park Observatory I love ✨ the ☺️ way the sun rises and you can see it for just a few minutes. This year, I wanted to take a photo of the hydrangea and sea of clouds in Beauty Mountain Park, but unfortunately it seems that the parking lot is closed to prevent corona infection.

Wow what a cool sight! I've been out to Nagatoro and Chichibu and went on a riverboat ride and I think I remember the guy pushing the boat saying something about there being icicles there during the winter. I'd love to go back and see it sometime as this looks really amazing. Also we wanted to try the kayaking in Nagatoro as well since the water was too low when we went and the boat we rode on couldn't go as far downriver. I guess they have some skiing there as well, I'm not sure if it's connected to the ropeway at all, but that's another cool thing to do in the area. The mountain is really beautiful and I think there's probably a good amount of cherry blossoms if you go in the spring. I'd like to explore Chichibu more though as I hear there's a pilgrimage there where you can see temples and shrines and stuff.

Chichibu City, Saitama in winter "Icicle of the Thirty Hammers" near the mouth of the three peaks The icicles I saw for the first time were different from the documents and videos It gave me a fantastic impression somehow. It was normal to feel cold, but somehow I felt warmth.