Kawagoe City

The warehouses are still open for business.

Clay-walled warehouse streets

Photo by At by At (CC BY-SA 3.0)

01 ／ Streetscape

Not preserved.Trading.

The clay-walled warehouses survived the great Kawagoe fire of 1893, and the merchants who saw that built more of them. About 7.8 hectares including Ichibangai is a preservation district, and roughly 80 percent of its traditional buildings are townhouses. This is not a landscape kept for tourists; it is what happens when commerce continues.

Important Preservation District for Groups of Historic Buildings
Designated 1999, about 7.8 ha
The oldest, the Osawa house, dates from 1792

02 ／ Sound

The bell still ringsfour times a day.

A wooden bell tower that has told the time since the Edo period. The present structure was rebuilt the year after the great fire. An automatic striker sounds the bell at 6:00, noon, 15:00 and 18:00.

One of Japan’s 100 Soundscapes (1996)
Four times a day
Rebuilt 1894

03 ／ Festival

The floats meetface to face.

Floats drawn up opposite each other compete with their music while the crews raise their lanterns high — the hikkawase. The night is when it peaks. The festival belongs to Hikawa Shrine and began in the Keian era.

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage (2016)
Nationally designated folk cultural property
Third weekend of October

Living here

30 minutes to Ikebukuro on the Tojo Line express.

about 350,000 people
30 min to a city centre

Three lines serve the city: Tobu Tojo, JR and Seibu Shinjuku. Commuting distance from central Tokyo, and a warehouse town the moment you leave the station.

People living here: 354,571people
Area: 109.13km²
Households: 153,376households
Rent (average for rentals): 58,989yen
Healthcare: 24 hospitals ／ 220 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Children waiting for childcare: —50 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Kawagoe City in Japan35.925°N 139.486°E

to IkebukuroTobu Tojo Line express30min
to Seibu-ShinjukuSeibu Shinjuku Line ltd. exp. Koedo45min

Travel times follow 2026年3月ダイヤ改正後に各社が公式サイトに掲載している値 (checked 2026-09-22). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 11 municipalities.

Territory of Kawagoe City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

13.8km

狭山市, ふじみ野市, 鶴ヶ島市, 坂戸市, 川島町, さいたま市, 日高市, 上尾市, 富士見市, 三芳町, 所沢市

Kawagoe City isthis kind of town.

01A streetscape of clay-walled warehouses, kept as an Important Preservation District
02The Bell of Time, ringing four times a day, one of Japan’s 100 Soundscapes
0330 minutes to Ikebukuro by express, within commuting range of central Tokyo

See the town as it is now.

Source: Wikidata (P2002, P2003, P2013, P2397)

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Kawagoe City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗