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Prefecture of Japan
Photo: Unkei6hokusai4, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Saitama Prefecture (埼玉県 Saitama-ken) is in the eastern Kanto region of the main Japanese island Honshu. Saitama has lots of great travel opportunities. It's the bonsai capital of the world, has one of the few remaining "Little Edo" historical towns, and has an entire ancient 34-temple pilgrimage route all within its borders.
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A separate city before it merged with its neighbors to become Saitama city, it holds many attractions all within walking distance of its huge train station: Hikawa Shrine, Omiya Koen (Park), A Museum History and Folklore, a bonsai art museum and artist's village, and short train journey away is the Railway museum. Well worth a day trip outside of Tokyo.
A former castle town, this is fittingly called 'Little Edo': an entire district of this city has barely changed since the Edo period, and is a bustling concentration of attractions. It's easy to slip down a small side road away from the crowds to soak in the peace and get a feel of what Japan was once like. A worthwhile 30-minute train journey from Tokyo.
By train
Coming from Tokyo there are various train lines that run into and through Saitama prefecture:
By bus
You can get buses from Kyoto and Osaka long-distance bus station to Ōmiya, Kawagoe and Tokorozawa, and from Niigata and Kanazawa to Ōmiya and Kawagoe.
All the train lines listed above have extensive stops across Saitama Prefecture. Also there are many bus lines crisscrossing the prefecture as well as plenty of taxis.
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Saitama (さいたま) is the capital of Saitama prefecture in the Kanto region of Japan. But as the bonsai capital of the world and home to one of Japan's best railway museums, Saitama has more to impress visitors than it's given credit for.
Ageo (上尾) is a city in Saitama.
Chichibu (秩父市 Chichibu-shi) is a city in Saitama Prefecture.
Kawagoe (川越) is an old trading outpost of the ancient capital Edo. Located in Saitama prefecture, the city is now a small suburban city of around 33,000 people, but the preserved warehouse district draws around 4 million visitors to the city each year, and has earned the city the nickname of "Little Edo" (Koedo).
Kasukabe (春日部) is a city in Saitama prefecture.
Kawaguchi (川口) is a city in Saitama prefecture. It's great for getting into central Tokyo (Tokyo station 23 minutes, Shinjuku 21 minutes, Ebisu 28 minutes, Roppongi 41 minutes) but because it's in Saitama the rents and costs are proportionally lower.
Koshigaya (越谷) is a city in Saitama (埼玉).
Kumagaya (熊谷) is a city in northern Saitama.
Misato (三郷) is a city in Saitama prefecture.
Tokorozawa (所沢) is a city in Saitama Prefecture.
Higashimatsuyama (東松山) is a city in Saitama prefecture, in Japan.
Yashio is in Saitama prefecture.
Chichibu-Tama-Kai National Park (秩父多摩甲斐国立公園 Chichibu-Tama-Kai Kokuritsukōen) is a national park in Japan at the intersection of Saitama, Yamanashi, Nagano and Tokyo prefectures.
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