Summary by Davis Piper*
I really enjoyed my trip to Kawagoe because it gave me the chance to see an area that has preserved a lot of its historical character. We spent time walking along Ichibangai, or Kurazukuri Street, which has traditional buildings, small shops, restaurants, and other features that make the area feel very different from most of modern Tokyo. I especially enjoyed seeing it after recently visiting the Fukagawa Edo Museum. At the museum, I had learned about what streets and everyday life looked like during the Edo period, so it was cool to then visit Kawagoe and walk through a real historic district that still has that type of atmosphere. One of my favorite parts of the trip was seeing Toki no Kane, Kawagoe’s famous bell tower. I thought it was really interesting because of its historical significance and how long the bell tower has been an important symbol of Kawagoe. We also visited a bank vault museum located close to the historic street. I enjoyed being able to go inside the old vault and learn a little more about the history of the area from a different period. We also walked through Kashiya Yokocho and visited Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine, which gave us a chance to see some other parts of the city beyond the main historic street.
After visiting Kawagoe, I thought it could potentially be a great location for a future YCAPS event. The Fukagawa Edo Museum event showed how visiting a historical site can create an opportunity for people to learn while also having more informal conversations with each other. Kawagoe could offer something similar, while giving participants several different historical locations to explore. A group could walk through the historic district, visit Toki no Kane and the bank museum, and use the experience as a starting point for conversations about the Edo period, modernization, and the preservation of historical areas in modern Japan.