Kasukabe (春日部)

Map

Getting There

• train
• bus
• car

Best Times to Visit

• spring: Spring offers wisteria and cherry blossoms, the wisteria festival, giant kite festival, pleasant walking weather, and strong cultural appeal.
• summer: Summer features Kasukabe’s lively summer festival, traditional dances, portable shrines, and the giant kite fireworks event.
• autumn: Autumn brings comfortable walking conditions, colorful seasonal flowers, harvest-related local products, and craft-focused cultural experiences.
• winter: Winter provides dry, often sunny weather for sightseeing and the January fire festival at Kasukabe Hachiman Shrine.

What's There

• crafts: Kasukabe is known for paulownia chests, paulownia boxes, raised decorative battledores, and traditional straw hats.
• culture: Local museums, historic traditions, festivals, and craft industries reveal Kasukabe’s distinctive regional culture.
• festival: Major annual events include the wisteria festival, giant kite festival, summer festival, and fireworks event.
• food: Fuji Udon is a distinctive local specialty made with purple sweet-potato powder and Saitama-grown wheat.
• history: The city preserves post-town heritage, medieval shrine origins, traditional industries, and regional historical exhibits.
• park: Residential Park SHOWA offers recreation, seasonal flowers, family activities, and a major fireworks event.
• shopping: Roadside Station Showa provides local products, souvenirs, agricultural goods, dining, and visitor information.
• market: Roadside Station Showa includes a market selling locally produced agricultural goods and regional products.
• shrine: Kasukabe Hachiman Shrine is a historic religious site connected with local festivals and traditional observances.
• spiritual: Shrine rituals, fire festivals, and traditional ceremonies provide opportunities for spiritual and cultural experiences.
• museum: The Kasukabe City Local History Museum presents archaeological, historical, cultural, and community materials.
• flowers: Spring wisteria, cherry blossoms, rapeseed flowers, and autumn red spider lilies provide seasonal floral attractions.
• nature: Riverside scenery, parks, flower-lined paths, and agricultural landscapes complement the city’s cultural attractions.
• river: The Edogawa and Furukoshigaya river areas support festivals, riverside scenery, historic routes, and outdoor recreation.
• architecture: The underground discharge channel offers an unusual large-scale infrastructure experience featuring monumental subterranean spaces.

Specialties

• Fuji Udon (藤うどん): Fuji Udon is a purple-hued local noodle dish developed by Kasukabe’s noodle-industry association. Its color comes from purple sweet-potato powder combined with Saitama-grown wheat flour.
• Kasukabe Paulownia Chests (春日部桐たんす): Kasukabe paulownia chests are traditional high-quality furniture made from locally associated paulownia wood. The craft began in the Edo period and has been designated a nationally recognized traditional craft since 1979.
• Kasukabe Paulownia Boxes (春日部桐箱): Kasukabe paulownia boxes include small storage and household articles made using the area’s long-established paulownia-working techniques. The tradition is described by the city as having approximately 300 years of history and prefectural traditional-handicraft recognition.
• Oshie Hagoita Battledores (押絵羽子板): Oshie hagoita are hand-decorated battledores featuring raised textile figures and ornamental designs. Kasukabe’s production developed after artisans from Asakusa moved to the area, and each piece is individually handmade.
• Barley-Straw Hats (麦わら帽子): Barley-straw hats are one of Kasukabe’s four traditional handicraft specialties associated with the city’s local craft industries. The city’s specialty-products organization lists them alongside paulownia chests, paulownia boxes, and oshie hagoita.