Kawagoe, Little Edo, in One Day
Half an hour from Ikebukuro: Kawagoe's black warehouse street, a candy alley, sweet-potato everything, a shrine of wind chimes, and dinner at Nihonbashi.
Last updated 2026-09-03 · 1-day self-guided plan
Kawagoe, Little Edo
Warehouse street, candy alley and sweet potatoes
For visitors who want an easy half-day trip that feels like a different century, close enough to Tokyo to be back in the city for dinner.
- 1
Kita-in Temple and the 500 Rakan
The Tobu Tojo Line express from Ikebukuro reaches Kawagoe in about 30 minutes; walk 15 minutes east from the station and arrive around 9:30. Kita-in is the town's great temple, with rooms moved here from Edo Castle, the only surviving ones, and a garden to sit beside. In the side courtyard are five hundred stone rakan statues, each with a different face; the local game is to find the one that looks like you.
1 HourCost: ¥300–500 - 2
Kurazukuri Street and the Toki no Kane
Ten minutes north is Ichibangai, the street of kurazukuri, black clay-walled merchant warehouses built to survive fire after the great blaze of the nineteenth century. Halfway along, a lane leads to the Toki no Kane bell tower, which still rings four times a day. The warehouses hold sweet shops, sake bars and a small museum of the kura interior. Go before 11:00; by noon the pavement is full.
1.5 HoursCost: Free 
3Kashiya Yokocho candy alley
At the north end of the street a short cobbled lane turns into Kashiya Yokocho, where twenty or so shops sell old-fashioned penny sweets: hard candy pulled by hand, rice crackers, sweet-potato chips, and the metre-long fu-gashi wheat-gluten sticks children carry like swords. Most goods are a few coins each; bring small change and a bag.
45 MinutesCost: ¥500–1,500- 4
Sweet-potato lunch and Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine
Kawagoe's other speciality is the sweet potato, and the streets around Ichibangai serve it as tempura, in rice bowls, as ice cream and in beer. Eat around 12:30, then walk ten minutes north-east to Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine, a matchmaking shrine where the fortunes are fished out of a barrel with a tiny rod. From July to early September thousands of glass wind chimes hang in a tunnel over the path.
1.5 HoursCost: ¥1,000–2,000
Day 1 Estimated Cost
- Food¥3,000–6,000
- Transport¥1,200–2,000
- Admissions¥300–800
Tips
Tobu Tojo Line express from Ikebukuro is the fastest way, and a Kawagoe discount pass sold at Ikebukuro covers the return fare plus the local loop bus.
It is 6–7 km of flat pavement and cobbles; rent a kimono near the station if you like, but the wooden geta sandals slow you down on Ichibangai.
Order anything with sweet potato and try the local sake at a warehouse-street bar; the candy alley is a snack, not a meal.
Kurazukuri Street with the bell tower is best before 10:00 when the road is empty; in summer, shoot the wind chimes at Hikawa Shrine after 16:00 when they are lit.