Restaurants

This is the hub for Tokorozawa City and KADOKAWA's project, COOL JAPAN FOREST vision, to create cutting-edge culture and industry from beautiful nature and share it with the world. A cultural facility made up of a museum, art gallery, library, and an anime museum. Furthermore, there is a hall for Japanese pop culture, the EJ anime hotel where you can stay a night in your favorite story, book manufacturing, distribution factory, offices, restaurants, shopping, interactive book stores, shrines, you name it! This place has it all!

A fermentation theme park run by Pickles Corporation, a tsukemono (Japanese pickles) maker. There are select shops for fermented foods, cafes, restaurants, and workshops available. You can eat dishes made with rice bran and lactic acid bacteria, buy pickles and fermented foods carefully selected from all over the country. You can also experience fermentation directly with any of the workshops to make kimchi, pickled bran, and seasonal dishes.

This cultural facility is a renovated private house built in the late Meiji era. Here you can partake in various workshops such as pottery and soba noodle making. The best time to see the safflower is from late to mid-June, and the steamed safflower buns available are popular as a souvenir. Furthermore, there is a restaurant where you can enjoy handmade udon noodles made from 100% local flour. Enjoy Okegawa both with your eyes and your tastebuds!

By the road leading up to Chichibu Shrine, you can find this traditional building renovated into a multi-function facility. The facility was born from a wish to make the retro street into a place of human interaction with the power to attract visitors. Here you can find a wide variety of facilities such as an organic Italian restaurant, a bar where you can enjoy 20 different tap beers, an intimate accommodation blending retro and modern style, and much more.

The Takazawa Memorial Hall is a historic building constructed during the Edo period and is designated as a nationally registered tangible cultural property. The café is surrounded in a vast garden and holds a calm space

The good old small-time candy stores are lined up at the Yokochō. There were about 70 houses lined up in the beginning of Shōwa, and multiple sweets were produced and wholesaled. As of now, there are about 20 houses that produces and sells contrived cheap sweets such as the mint candy and Kintaro candy, which provides a nostalgic feel and allows both, adults and children to enjoy having the mind of a child. It is also selected as the Ministry of Environment’s “The 100 Best Scented Sceneries”.

Experiencing the lakeside of the forest The lifestyle of northern Europe Starting with a market where shopping for sundries of northern European brands, fresh local vegetables, and handicrafts can be enjoyed, there are restaurants where one can enjoy meals of northern Europe, workshops for arts and crafts, rental boats to have a fulfilled time taking a "stroll" on the surface of a lake, seasonal events hosted by various brands, allowing for quality time filled with diverse experiences to be spent with family and friends.

Taste handmade soba made with buckwheat flour made from buckwheat seeds taken from the house field and grounded using a stone mill. Run by a happy, elderly couple ♪ The inside of the store has a nostalgic and calm feeling. The specialty is the poster girl who is full of warmheartedness! The tempura that comes with the soba is fried after an order is made, so it is crispy and hot ♪ Located near the 8th temple, Seizenji (temple with a small-leaved maple of 600 years). During grape picking season, grapes can be bought directly (as a souvenir) from the neighboring grape garden ♪

Simple sulfur hot spring. Chichibu Yumoto (source of a hot spring), is a day trip hot spring that utilizes the Bukō Hot Spring as the source; it is effective for a range of chronic diseases such as neuralgia, sore muscles, arthralgia, stiff shoulders, and poor blood circulation. This is a liberating open-air bath where one can fully enjoy nature, with the cypress bath giving a tender feel of the tree and the rock bath providing a simplistic natural atmosphere. In addition, there is a “Bukō Auto Campsite (Phone Number: 0494-23-8229)” nearby and a lodging facility “Bukō-no-yu Bekkan (annex) (For reservation: 0494-24-4141)”.

This roadside station is surrounded by rich nature with deep green mountains, clear streams of the Yokose River, clean air, flowers, and fruit trees for each of the four seasons. Inside the station, there is a farmers' market, restaurant, information center, resting area, experience dōjō (udon/soba), ceramics class, and a gallery. Outside, there is an open space for relaxing and a deck where one can view the river from above. You can also enjoy a walk next to the Yokose river. ※Publishing facility for “Monozukuri Annaijyō” of Saitama Prefecture Industrial Tourism’s Guide Book

Sayamakyuryo is approximately 50 minutes from the city center. Pink sakura trees, fresh green leaves, the yellow colors of autumn. Along with the surface of a lake reflecting the sunlight and sunset. Spend a soothing time as you gaze at the picturesque scenery, enjoy the food, relax in the room, and soak in the hot spring.

“Kiyasse Hanyū” is the nickname for Hanyū City Mitakaya agricultural and forest park. At the park, with an area of roughly 3.6 hectares, there is a “Shiki no Oka” with lots of flowers, a production building that boasts local vegetables taken in the morning, a beer factory that manufactures Hanyū’s local beer “Kobushi Hana Beer”, and a restaurant where you can enjoy handmade udon. Inside the park, there are playground equipment for kids to play with and events allowing you to experience harvest all year round.

There are tours of the wine factory and vineyard, along with free samples and purchases of wines at the attached direct sales office, and lastly, eating at the directly managed restaurants (business days are designated).

Established in 1946, with our slogan being “from the farm to the dining table”, we utilize pigs that have been raised on our farm to create and sell secure, safe, and tasty ham and sausage. The quality has been approved by the heart of processed meat, Germany, and has been rewarded multiple gold medals in international food contests. With the theme being pork and health, there is delicious gourmet to be found within the park along with a farmer’s market for fresh local vegetables and a natural hot spring for relaxation, making it a theme park where one can enjoy the whole day.

■ Convenient BBQ! Come empty-handed! No need to clean up! ♪ Right next to Shigakubo Station! Riverside BBQ surrounded by splendid nature! ☆彡 ■ Reservation required・・・Please contact us a week in advance. (Reservations accepted from one month in advance) ■ There may be changes/cancellations depending on circumstances. ■ Payment is made in advance through the office. ■ Bringing in food and drinks is prohibited. Beer/soft drinks can be purchased at our vendor. ■ Drinks are not included in the general set so please purchase at Roadside Station Orchard Park Ashigakubo. Please do not bring fireworks. Fully enjoy BBQ without needing to worry about cleaning and garbage collection! The cool temperature by the riverside is the perfect place to relax on a hot summer day～♪ Or how about a quick dip river? ( *´艸｀) There is a coin-operated shower at the Roadside Station Orchard Park Ashigakubo (reception open until 4 pm), so you can wash away your sweat ☆彡 Please feel free to use it ♪ (200 yen for 10 minutes) ☆ In the vicinity, there is the Yokoze Nōson Park with a 100-meter roller slide (30 minutes on foot) and a hiking course (Ashigakubo Orchard Park Village, Mount Hinata). Let's enjoy the outdoors~ Nearby, you can also find Yokozemachi Bukosan Tourist Information Center (0494-25-0450) where you can pick up a convenient area map! ♪ Also, there are rental bikes available at the information center as well! (´▽｀*)

The large hot spring facility, “Seibuchichibu Ekimae Onsen Matsurinoyu”, makes Chichibu’s specialty, “festival”, its concept. Matsurinoyu has four types of open-air baths and a highly concentrated artificial carbonated hot spring, with six bathhouses in the inn (five bathhouses for men) to be enjoyed. In this area, which takes pride in its rich variety of hot springs, there is also a Japanese style food court and an area selling local products perfect as souvenirs, making this facility packed full of Chichibu areas charm.

Miso, soy sauce, tofu, yuba, fries, pickles, and even sweets, everything crafted with utmost care for both ingredients and methods. (For more information regarding the facility, please refer to the URL below)

Koedo Kurari is an improved facility of what used to be the building Kyūkagamiyama brewery established in 1875, with the atmosphere of the original brewery remaining to this day. The brewery, built through the Meiji, Taisho, and Shōwa period, has been remodeled and designated as one of Japan's registered tangible cultural properties along with the three warehouses: souvenir shop (Meijigura), Restaurant (Taishōgura), Japanese sake shop (Shōwagura), and meeting space (Tenjigura).

At our building, attached to the Iwatsuki Doll Museum, we want people to learn the history and culture of Iwatsuki. Here you can participate in various fun events, try cafe menus, local specialties, eat locally harvested delicious vegetables, gain new knowledge, and meet new people. This is a place for happiness where people and information come together.

A vendor is available and reservation for food is possible (until noon four days prior). Given that the furnace has a roof (outdoor furnace・registration required), you can use it even on rainy days. With clean toilets, kitchen space, and running water the place is well equipped. Playing in the water is possible and safe in the clear stream right in front.

Located by the roadside station, Lake Yanaka (Watarase Retarding Ground) can be fully viewed. There is a facility selling products such as the brand rice, Koshihikari, which is grown in the fertile land of Kitakawabe area, and fresh local vegetables such as the Momotarō tomato. Further, at the farm restaurant, the handmade soba with its deep flavors is popular, with many visitors coming back for more. This new attraction is unique in Japan since it crosses into three prefectures, resulting in the roadside station being responsible for its overall promotion.

We can provide you with a barbecue equipment set and/or a set of ingredients if you make a reservation four days before your visit. Based on the environmental beautification cooperation fund, garbage is collected at the barbecue area. Enjoy a BBQ without any preparations!

A shop with handmade soba that uses 100% local buckwheat flour. It is a store that uses Saitama Prefecture’s specially cultivated crops with the agricultural products harvested with more than a 50% reduction in the number of chemical pesticides and chemical fertilizer customarily used and has been certified by the prefecture. At Izumi-tei they use local, fresh, safe, and healthy ingredients bought directly from the source. In addition, if you make a reservation beforehand, you can experience making your own soba.

From mid-June to early August, 12,000 stocks of 42 different types of lotus flowers bloom on the surface of the lotus pond. The Gyōda lotus (ancient lotus) takes a primitive form with the number of petals being few; it is said to be a lotus from about 1,400 to 3,000 years ago. Lotus flowers are best-viewed midmorning. There are botanical gardens for aquatic plants, lakes for aquatic birds, peony gardens, ume gardens, and a hanami place with sakura trees, making it a place where one can feel the beauty of nature all year round. In addition, from mid-July to mid-October, rice paddy art is at its prime and can be viewed from the Ancient Lotus Hall’s Observation Room. The rice paddy art of Gyōda City started in 2008, with rice transplanting taking place yearly due to several volunteers and participants; not only are the designs original, but some have been collaborations with movies, TV shows, games. In 2015 it has been recorded in the Guinness World Records due to the area of the art being “the world’s largest (rice paddy art)”.