Traditional Japanese Shopping Street Tour in Koshigaya 越谷市

This is a tour of some traditional shopping places in Saitama, Japan. Please have a watch and if you would like to take a tour of this shopping area in Koshigaya please Email Satoshi at prettywonderful20@gmail.com

https://www.airbnb.jp/experiences/485433?checkin=2019-02-01&adults=6&currentTab=experience_tab&federatedSearchId=4607d20e-2500-4722-9b61-24e61f1a4fc7&searchId=b9745344-b0ef-4bd9-8e28-74f113a67677&sectionId=c0b104f2-01f8-4dab-bcd6-8a14791a5b8b&source=p2

Thanks to Heinz Zimmerman for the recording of the shamisen at B-Dawg Studio.

Traditional Japanese Shopping Street Tour

The first thing we did was go to a sembei shop (rice cracker) and see how they were made.  We tested the freshly made crackers and they were absolutely delicious.  We were even given a few to take home as souvenirs.  On our way to the next place we stopped by a kura, which roughly translates into a kind of old style fireproof warehouse.  These used to be common back in the day when fires happened pretty frequently.  They not only stored important items but could also hold people in case of emergency.  From there we went to a traditional Japanese sweets shop where we learned a bit about how they were made and sat down for some great green tea to match the sweets we were given.  Next, we were off to a shoe shop that specializes in traditional footwear.  We learned everything about footwear from what you would wear at a summer festival to the most expensive shoes that are made to match kimonos.  It was a great history lesson and hard to believe how many shoes you would need in traditional Japan.  After that we made a quick stop at an area with old style coffee shops housed in original style buildings.  One seemed to be even inside a kura.  From there we went to a tofu house where handmade tofu is made daily.  I must say that I had no idea how good tofu could taste.  I shouldn’t be surprised but wow I was.  It was incredible.  It tasted nothing like any tofu I’d eaten before.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t see it being prepared because they do that at about 5AM in the morning but they did explain the process to us in great detail.  From there we were taken to an original style kids candy and snack shop.  We were greeted by a friendly lady who has been running the shop for years and years.  In that place you can buy all sorts of candy at super cheap prices so any kid can afford to go there after school.  She also showed us some of her artwork which, although looking like paintings, is actually made of thread.  It’s very impressive.  Our next stop was at a 200 year old doll house. Wow! Talk about pricey.  But these dolls have such extreme attention to detail, it takes them weeks or months to complete.  Even their kimonos must come in from a specialist.  They showed us some of the miniature kimonos used to make a full doll and the traditions behind them.  Finally, it wouldn’t be complete without a stop for some yakitori (chicken skewers) to round our day off.  Oh, that was delicious.  Fresh yakitori was just what I needed after a day of seeing the sites.  What a great time.  Thanks!