Kickin’ It with the Kais in Kawagoe

Yes, more photos from Japan. This is the Kai house in the suburb of Tokyo called Fujimino which is about 40 minutes by train from Shibuya, one of the western Tokyo hubs. Makiko rode the train everyday for four years from here to Shibuya for college.

I think it is a three bedroom house with a second floor balcony off of the master suite.

 

On our first morning with the Kais we drove to Kawagoe, an Edo period town that has been preserved as it was before Edo changed to Tokyo a couple hundred years ago. When you think of old Japan, you are probably picturing kimono and wood block prints and fancy fans—this is Edo-period Japan. We strolled around town and also visited this museum which highlighted the town’s history and its annual festival.

 

The Kais are always willing to pose for good pictures!

Again, it was a sweltering day. Toshiji said the last time he was in Kawagoe was when his father was in town and wanted to see some history. Both of Makiko’s parents are originally from the Fukushima area—the site of the 2011 Tsunami and nuclear disaster. They originally moved to Fujimino for Toshiji’s job. He still works for that company.

We had a nice lunch at a restaurant that was celebrating its anniversary with 50% of sale! Sugoi to yasui! (great and cheap!) We had udon noodle dishes.

I could eat Japanese food anytime, anywhere.

 

This is what the streets of Kawagoe look like. The buildings were all wooden warehouses that are now mostly shops selling everything you can imagine.

 

One of the cool things about this town is how they have preserved (or recreated) the historical center of town and they buried the power lines. You can see where they are above ground again down the road. I’m not sure I would have noticed the lack of power lines. Maybe I would have wondered what what was different but then not been able to put my finger on it.

While strolling the hot streets we stopped at a vending machine for some cold tea and iced coffee. . .

. . . and we shared a sweet potato? It was hot and potato-like whatever it was.

 

This rail station in Fujimino is a private rail line described by the travel books as “cheaper than the Japan National Rail”. By this time our rail pass had run out and they were not good on non-JR trains anyway so we were happy to pay about $4 to ride all the way in to Shinagawa station for our weekend in Tokyo with the Kais.