Full-day excursion to Kawagoe (Little Edo)

Join us on this exciting excursion to Kawagoe, where you will be transported back to the Edo period, which covers Japanese history from 1603 to 1867.

Your guide will picks you up from your hotel and accompany you to Kawagoe, around 35 km north-west of Tokyo. Kawagoe is known as Little Edo, and Edo is the old name for Tokyo. We’ll no doubt get to why Kawagoe was nicknamed “Little Edo” further down in the description.

The tour starts at Kitain Temple, which was founded in the year 830. This is the largest and most significant temple within the Tendai sect. Kitain Temple also houses a large collection of Rakan statues, which represent the Buddha’s disciples.

You then continue to the old palace, Honmaru Goten, which was built in 1848. The palace was actually part of Kawagoe Castle, which was strategically located north of the capital, but at the end of the 19th century the castle was demolished, like many other castles in Japan, because during this period people wanted to modernise society to become more Western. Today, only Honmaru Goten, which means “Inner Palace”, remains. The palace’s spacious tatami rooms were used to receive feudal lords when they came to visit. The rooms are empty today, but try to imagine what it must have been like more than 170 years ago.

You will also visit Hikawa Shrine, which was founded in 541. The shrine is dedicated to five gods, two of which were also a couple. Hikawa is therefore extremely popular among young Japanese lovers and married couples who come to pray for love, for their relationship and marriage. Walk through the shrine’s 15-metre-tall torii gate and into the corridor where small wooden plaques, called ema, hang, on which visitors have written their wishes. In the summer, you can listen to the relaxing wind chimes.

Finally, you visit Kawagoe’s warehouse district, which makes up an entire part of the town. Kawagoe was an important trading town that supplied goods to Edo. Unfortunately, a violent fire broke out in 1893, which destroyed a third of the district. Most of the warehouses you can see there today are not therefore from the Edo period. They were rebuilt at the end of the 19th century, based on traditional building design to resemble the old cityscape that characterised Edo in its day – hence the nickname “Little Edo”.

You will also experience the district’s landmark, the Toki no Kane clock tower, here. It is still in use to this day, and you can hear its beautiful chimes four times a day – at 6 am, 12 noon, 3 pm and 6 pm.

In the small, stone-paved shopping street Kashiya Yokocho, you can taste and buy traditional Japanese sweets made from red bean paste, sweet potatoes, rice crackers and karinto.

After an exciting day, you’ll be driven back to your hotel in Tokyo.

Duration: approx. 8 hours

This excursion is open to TourCompass’ own guests only.

We recommend that you book the excursion when booking the tour.