Little Edo

With only about 9 months left in this fine country, we've started to pull our finger out of our arses and see some places we've been meaning to for ages.

One of these is Kawagoe, coined "Little Edo" because of the old Edo-era (1603-1867) buildings still standing. It's a fascinating little place, with tons of antique stores, traditional 18th century architecture, temples, shrines and the piece-de-resistance, 'Kashi-ya Yokocho' ('Confectionery Row') - a narrow winding alley where sweet-tooths can kiss candy-heaven.

Matt had a go at blowing his very own candy balloon and received a polite round of applause from the bemused Japanese bystanders. The man (sorry, confectionery artisan) at the stall though, was a bit concerned when Matt's face turned a purple shade of red in the early stages of the blow.

Afterward, Matt was heard to mutter, "it was really difficult"...

Kawagoe is about 40 minutes north of Tokyo, on the Saikyo Line or Tobu Tojo line in Saitama prefecture.