What to Do in Kawagoe

Pottery Workshop at Yamawa

Located in the heart of Koedo is Yamawa, a family run pottery shop selling a huge variety of handmade goods. If you make your way through the shop to the back you will also find a small workshop where they conduct pottery classes every morning and on selected afternoons. They offer both long-term courses as well as one-day classes for approximately 5,000 yen. Their expert pottery guides will help you make a variety of products that you can then take home and use. Reservations are necessary and can be made online through their website or at the tourist information center in the train station. They also have a café on site meaning you don't need to leave for lunch!

Glass Making Workshop at Blue Moon

Located close to Gyodenji Temple and Karasuyama Shrine is Glass Art Blue Moon, a small glass blowing workshop and gallery store. They offer glass blowing workshops daily starting at 10am. During this short workshop, you will be able to create your own flower vase or drinking glass. There are a variety of colors available for you to include in your design and step by step instructions will mean your end product will come out looking great. One thing to bear in mind, you will need to wait overnight for your glass to cool, which means you will either need to go back the next day or pay a little extra and have them send it to your home address (addresses overseas also ok).

Matsumoto Soy Sauce Brewery Tour

Also located close to Gyodenji Temple and Karasuyama Shrine, and right next door to Glass Art Blue Moon is the Matsumoto Soy Sauce brewing company. The brewery is over two hundred years old, and their brewing techniques have changed little over this time. They offer free tours of the brewery every morning, if and when customers turn up. Unfortunately, there is no English language support but it is interesting to see the brew house nonetheless. Once you are finished in the brewery they also have a shop selling a wide range of products made using their soy sauce including rice crackers, pickled vegetables and of course bottles of soy sauce.

Kimono Rental

There are two shops in central Kawagoe that rent kimono for reasonable prices. This means you can really feel a part of old Japan as you wonder the historic town center of Koedo. Both shops have kimono for both men and women, and they also offer a hair styling service, so that you really look and feel the part.
The rental shops are both located within a ten minute walk of the train station, and an internet search or quick visit to the tourist information will help you locate them. The shops are called Vivian Kimono Rental and Kanda Kimono Rental.

Sake Tasting at Kurari

Koedo Kurari is a complex situated roughly halfway between Kawagoe station and the Koedo town. Inside you will find a beer brewery, a restaurant and a good selection of gifts to take home for family and friends. But the main attraction in our eyes is the sake tasting! Inside the main building at Kurari there is a small section with shelves stacked from floor to ceiling with Japanese sake for sale. If you are unsure of the differences in taste, or just want to wet your lips without buying a full bottle, they offer tastings of their best brands for very reasonable prices. This is perhaps the perfect way to unwind after a full day of walking the streets of the city before you head back!

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