Mt. Hanasaki Park

During the wisteria season, you can enjoy the beautiful purple descending wisteria in the precincts. Magohachi Honma, who built the temple, spent a night discussing the path of waka poetry with a traveling monk and finally mastered the secrets of waka poetry. According to legend, the monk is said to have been the incarnation of the Goddess of Mercy. The stone Buddha in the Koshinto pagoda on the right side of the hall is one of the few in Chichibu. Collectible seals are available at Chokoji Temple, about 250 meters away.

From season to season, Saitama Prefecture’s largest terraced paddy field expands a rural scene that can only be seen in Japan. As of now, 4 hectares of the rice field (about 250 pieces) is in use out of the total area of 5.2 hectares. In the summer, en event of about 600 bonfires lighting up takes place, creating a magical atmophere, and is an experience limited to one night that cannot be enjoyed anywhere else. During the autumn, the 2,000,000 bulbs of the red spider lily planted on footpath blooms.

This is a house lodge located in the mountain valley with the surrounding enclosed in deciduous trees and the chirping of birds giving one a feel of the season. In the forest, close to the Terasaka Rice Terrace, is a Yuyado (a lodge with a hot spring) of medicinal herbs which is beloved by many as the “Yakusō-no-yu (hot water of medicinal herbs)”. The pride of the lodging is the medicinal herb bath which contains, among other herbs, chameleon plant and Japanese mugwort, allowing for the body to warm up from its core and improving blood circulation. One can expect recovery from fatigue and better skin.

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 is a museum that exhibits the entire cultural heritage of Yokoze-machi. From stage models of Yokoze’s puppet show (intangible folk cultural property designated by the prefecture) and models of Bukōzanmitake Shrine Palace, there are displays of animals and plants collected from Mt. Bukō as well as historical documents that portray the transitions of Yokoze-machi. In the “nature” section of the permanent exhibition room, fossils of Sinomegaceros yabei, wild ox, wolves from about 130,000 years ago produced in the Nagoya Limestone Cave are on display. These fossil data are very rare on a national scale.