Musashi Ichinomiya Hikawa Shrine

Backyard Tourism Vol. 3

Welcome back to yet another installment of Backyard Tourism. Much like the other articles in this ongoing series, I’m going to try to prove that good storytelling can make anywhere in Japan alluring to overseas travelers. While I have fallen in love with the idea of putting forgotten areas on the digital map, I had not planned to draft another episode of Backyard Tourism so soon. After all, Vol. 2 was just a few columns ago. Truth be told, this week’s article was supposed to be about the Yamabushi of Yamagata Prefecture. Alas, Mother Nature is known to be rather whimsical and thus Typhoon Hagibis completely ruined my travel plans. Luckily though, last Monday was a National Holiday so I was able to squeeze in a quick day trip.

On that note, today we will be taking a look at Omiya which is located in the capital city of Saitama Prefecture. Situated about an hour north of Tokyo, this region of the Kanto plain is often considered to be little more than a bedroom community for Central Tokyo. Because of this, Omiya (and indeed all of Saitama in general) has developed the unsavory nickname of “Daisaitama.” A portmanteau of the Japanese word for lame and the name of the prefecture itself, this moniker clearly shows what Tokyoites think of their northern neighbors. Nevertheless, those in the know are likely aware that Saitama is a…