Kawagoe or "Little Edo"

Inspired by a Sept NYT article, I trekked to Kawagoe this morning to check out the town nicknamed "Little Edo," in reference to the ancient name for Tokyo. Here, you will be transported to the Tokyo of yore, via the town's well-preserved kura, or late 19th century warehouses. Ironically, the preservation of the buildings is due to the resistance of the town's landlords to railways during the Meiji Era. Consequently, many of the town's buildings survived the bombing of WW2.

These days, the kura are used not as warehouses but as retail spaces. Peeking my head under the half-curtains, there were shops for candies, crackers, kimonos, pickles, and more.

Best of all, many of the shops offered samples. And though I don't generally snack between meals, I suddenly felt the compulsion to buy every cracker product under the Kawagoe sun.

In case seaweed rice crackers or green tea candy alone doesn't appeal to you, you can opt to buy super cute panda-wrapped crackers.

Kawagoe's most prominent agricultural crop is sweet potatoes, and you can find all sorts of products made out of sweet potato here, from crackers to sake. This food stall was selling triangular sweet potato cakes, fresh off the griddle. I quickly snapped up three of them.

Three or four varieties of sweet potatoes were also on sale.

The centerpiece of Kawagoe is its bell tower, with a chime that rings four times a day.

Suddenly, a guy began yelling with a megaphone to the street. A parade with drummers and men with conical straw hats followed. I wish I had understood what the announcer was saying, and whether I just witnessed some sort of protest or a historical memorial or a funeral or what.

Just behind the kura district is Kashiya Yokocho, or Penny Candy Lane. This narrow alley is packed with vendors selling candies, crackers (slightly cheaper than on the previous street), and gift items.

One of the local products here is fu, which comes either in large loafs the size of a French baguette, or cut in smaller chunks about 3" long. From the signage, it is made of wheat and sugar, and is a bit lighter than bread. I haven't tried it, but I was convinced by a shopkeeper to buy a bag and bring it home for sampling.

The Kita-in Temple was on my walk back. The original building was destroyed after a fire in 1638, but shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu ordered buildings moved from Edo Castle to the temple.
The grounds also include Hie Shrine. It's funny how many Bhuddist temples and Shinto shrines share the same grounds. When's the last time you ever saw a combined Catholic cathedral and Jewish synagogue?

I am not sure what god this statue is supposed to commemorate, but it seems to be a protector of children based on the offerings: pinwheels, Care Bears, pacifiers, juice boxes, a persimmon, candies...

Finally, the courtyard contains Gohyaku Rakan, or the 500 disciples of Bhudda. Amusingly enough, the monks are depicted in all manner of expression: laughing, drinking, and even picking their noses.