Kawagoe
Per the advice of a good friend and Tokyo resident, we went and visited the city of Kawagoe, 30 minutes by train from the city. It was a good choice. We were enthralled by the city's old architecture, old clay warehouses, and merchant homes. The city was packed with visitors.
I remember visiting a couple of temples here and praying with the locals. Given that it was nearly the new year, many Japanese had come to worship.
An altar in one of the temple grounds we visited
Here's a temple scene with long lines of worshipers. While there may have been long lines of people waiting their turn to pray in front of the main temple altar, the wait was short.
These lanterns lined the walkway to a temple. They were quite a sight.
There were lots of stores here in Kawagoe.
I loved this house and its old architecture! In fact, it's my favorite of all the houses and buildings I saw in Kawagoe.
The historic three story bell tower
Prayer blocks found in temples
Souvenir shopping in a very colorful store in the warehouse district
