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Charming Ogawamachi Town, in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, Announces Festivals for 2025

Press release -

Charming Ogawamachi Town, in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, Announces Festivals for 2025

About 90 minutes northwest of Tokyo's Ikebukuro Station, on the Tobu Tojo Line, Ogawamachi, in Saitama Prefecture, prospered as a bustling town with numerous markets during the Edo period. Often called a "Little Kyoto," it is today designated as "Saitama Prefecture's Historical Model District," where buildings such as Nagaya townhouses and warehouses still remain. Here, visitors can experience laid-back Saitama culture, tour a saké brewery, enjoy hot springs and stay overnight at Ogawa Onsen Kawara no Yu, and try Japanese papermaking, a 1300-year-old local craft. The technique for making Hosokawa-shi – the specific regional Saitama washi, which uses only Japanese kozo – mulberry fiber, was designated one of Japan's Important Intangible Cultural Properties in 1978, and was registered as an Intangible Cultural Property by UNESCO in 2014. Visitors can experience making this traditional paper at Ogawa Washi Learning Center.

Ogawamachi Traditional Folk House


This charming town is also famous for its festivals.

In Ogawamachi, seasonal flowers such as cherry blossoms, dogtooth violets and spider lilies bloom in profusion, and there is also a butterfly release event for Oomurasaki, the Japanese "national butterfly," the Great Purple. Other festivals are also held throughout the year. The Tanabata Festival in July is particularly colorful, making abundant use of Ogawa's washi paper, and the Washi Paper Festival itself in November celebrates this town's most famous traditional craft.


Events and Festivals

April

Yotsuyama Shrine Festival
at Yotsuyama Shrine - Yotsuyama Peak, Takami Castle (1125 Takami, Ogawamachi or 1008 Takami, Ogawamachi)

Yotsuyama Shrine Festival


June

Purple Emperor Butterfly Festival
at the forest of dogtooth violets and purple emperors (25-minute walk from Ogawamachi Station)

Purple Emperor Butterfly Festival


July

77th Ogawamachi Tanabata Festival -
The main area is around Ogawamachi station and fireworks at the Miharashi no Oka Park. More info: Ogawamachi Tanabata Festival Executive Committee, Tel: 0493-72-0280 (Japanese only)

77th Ogawamachi Tanabata Festival


November

Ogawa Washi Festival
throughout the town

Washi Paper Making in Ogawamachi

For more information on Ogawamachi its attractions, experiences, and festivals, visit: https://saitama-supportdesk.com/courses/post-29108/. Phone calls can also be made to Ogawa Town Hall, Lively Creation Division, Tel: 0493-72-1221, but in Japanese only.

***Festival Dates and contents are subject to change.

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