Kawagoe Sweets Alley — Kashiya Yokochō

photo by Aimaimyi · CC BY-SA 3.0

photo by Aimaimyi · CC BY-SA 3.0

In the 1930s there were more than seventy sweet shops; today about twenty remain.

You walk past windows of mint sweets (hakka), malt sweets and ‘dagashi’ costing a few yen, in an alley that in the early Shōwa years had more than 70 shops. The remaining shops, about twenty, still sell handmade sweets, often prepared in front of customers. The alley is on the ministry's list of the ‘100 Fragrant Landscapes of Japan’ (かおり風景100選) for the smell of caramelised sugar that characterises it.

A few steps from the Toki no Kane bell tower, in the heart of Kawagoe's kurazukuri neighbourhood.

ℹ️ The alley, being a public street, can always be walked. Individual shops keep their own hours, usually daytime until early evening. Access: bus from Kawagoe or Hon-Kawagoe to ‘Kashiya Yokochō’, or 15 minutes on foot from Hon-Kawagoe.

🚉 Kawagoeshi · 17 min walk

Sources: chocotabi-saitama.jp

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