The festival’s Star Mine Contest is a competition of skills, as pyrotechnicians set off one mind-blowing firework after another! A total of 10,000 fireworks light up the Kumagaya night sky, including those with heart-warming birthday and anniversary messages. The riverbed is lined with around 500 night stalls and is bustling with people every year in one of Kumagaya’s most exciting events!
A famous cherry blossom spot since the Edo period (1603-1868) and one of Japan's Top 100 Cherry Blossom Spots chosen by the Japan Cherry Blossom Association. Around 500 Yoshino Cherry Blossom trees bloom in great splendor on a 2 meter stretch of the Arakawa riverbank. During the Kumagaya Cherry Blossom Festival held from late March to early April, revelers can also enjoy nighttime illuminated cherry blossoms.
The Katakura Silk Commemorative Museum is built inside of Kumagaya Factory, the cocoon warehouse of the last remaining silk manufacturing plant of Katakura Industries, and is recognized as a Heritage of Industrial Modernization by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry. To preserve and pass on the company's 121-year history of silk production, the museum displays the machinery used to produce silk at Kumagaya Factory, and visitors can watch the entire process from cocoon to raw silk.
At our hot spring you can enjoy low mineral content water typical of the top hot springs in Japan in a traditional Japanese-style outdoor bath. You can also use the ganban`yoku hot stone bath, reclining chairs, massage machines and the popular free relaxation area. There is even a high-concentration carbonated spring, which garners attention from the medical industry, making our facility the ideal place for a full day of relaxation.
Established during the late Edo Kaei era (1850), Japanese sake, ume liqueur and sake lees are sold at this old-fashioned sake brewery and Taishō period store. Visitors can enjoy a cozy experience that can only be had at a small brewery. If touring the brewery, you will also get a small sake cup as a present. You can taste and compare various alcohols kept at different temperatures, and sake tasting games are also on the menu. Please consult with us regarding the content experience and pricing. Tours are held regardless of the season, but sake is prepared during the winter. There are times when it is difficult to hold tours during the sake preparation season.
In the midst of the peaceful Satoyama, get in touch with nature and experience farming hands-on. There is a "Fureai Farm," which visitors can use freely for an annual fee, and the popular "Strawberry Farm," for picking strawberries and other fruits. There are also rice cultivation, digging of bamboo shoots, udon (wheat noodle) making, potato cultivation, Satoyama walk and hiking experiences, and various other events held throughout the year.