This course starts from Kawagoe, a town of warehouses, to Arakawa River Cycling Road, crosses to the other side of the river at the old Iwafuchi sluice gate, and comes back. You can enjoy both the right and left banks of Arakawa River Cycling Road.
Contents
Starting from Kawagoe area
You can get to Kawagoe City from Kawagoe-shi Station on Tobu Tojo Line, Hon-Kawagoe Station on Seibu Shinjuku Line, or Kawagoe Station on JR Kawagoe Line. You can start from the most accessible station. I will start from Kawagoe-shi Station on Tobu Tojo Line.
Row of warehouses in the morning
Since I arrived at Kawagoe early in the morning, I could run through the streets of kura-zukuri with few tourists yet. The “Toki no Kane” (bell of time), which usually has many tourists waiting for their turn to take a picture, is also sparsely populated. This is a privilege of early morning.
Starbucks Kawagoe Kanezuki Dori Store near Toki no Kane also has an appearance that blends in with the streetscape of Kawagoe. Open from 8:00 a.m., it may be a good place to enjoy a morning coffee.
Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine, God of marriage
A short ride from the warehouses, you will pass by Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine with its magnificent 15m-high wooden Otorii (grand torii gate). It is said to have been founded about 1,500 years ago during Kofun period, so it has a long history.
Recently, many young people visit the shrine as a god of marriage. This time of year, “Enmusubi Fu-ring,” a wind chime decorated at the entrance, was making a cool sound.
Sunflowers in Isanuma
Turn right on Route254, enter Isanuma Dori from Museum Entrance intersection, and go straight.
After cycling for a while, you will come to Isanuma. This is also a place where you can enjoy seasonal flowers and water birds, such as cherry blossoms in spring and lotus flowers in early summer. At this time, the late-blooming sunflowers were in full bloom.
Across from the sunflower field, Isanuma East Bank Flower Field had a few cosmos in bloom, which will be at their best later in the season.
Bowling pins in the field
Crossing Route16 and cycling along a road with rice paddies, we suddenly came upon a large bowling pin. There was no sign explaining why it was there, and I wondered why it was here.
Later, I found out that a family nearby had put it there so that elementary school children could return home without getting lost.
Riding along Arakawa River Cycling Road
Behind the bowling pin, there is a pathway to Arakawa River Cycling Road (kown as Ara-sai). From here, head south along the right bank of Ara-sai.
For a while, you will ride along the bank where the road is wide and the surface is clean. Omiya Country Club golf course is on your left along the river.
I was wondering how they play golf in the heat of the day, but they may also be wondering as well, how I could ride a bicycle in the heat of the day.
Soft-serve ice cream at SAN-ESU BASE Hanegura-dori
As we approached Hanekura Bridge, we saw a yellow building.
It is a showroom and soft-serve ice cream shop operated by Tokyo San-Esu, a company that plans and sells general bicycle wholesale and original products.
Although it has only been open for about two months, there are many bicycles on the bike racks at the entrance. It seems that the shop has already been widely accepted by cyclists who ride Ara-sai.
The shop is located on the second floor, up an outside staircase. Inside the shop, there was a large space for resting and a display of Tokyo San-Esu products and other items.
The building was originally a dormitory of Tokyo College of Music, and was renovated.
A showroom where you can hold actual products in your hands
At the back of the store is “UX,” a booth where Tokyo San-Esu’s products are displayed.
The number of bicycle parts products displayed on the entire wall is breathtaking. I have never seen such a large number of products on display. You will lose track of time if you take the time to look at them.
Soft-serve ice cream and drinks are all 300 yen!
I was looking forward to having some soft-serve ice cream right away.
I love that the basic KURU soft-serve ice cream comes with free toppings!
One was “Arare” and the other was “Owner’s Whim Topping – Apple Cinnamon”.
The basic soft-serve ice cream was delicious and soaked into my body after riding on Ara-sai. I can’t wait to come back and try the other toppings.
I was also interested in the fruit soda made with various fruits.
Crossing to the left bank at the old Iwafuchi sluice gate
Cross Route463 at Hanekura Bridge and continue southward steadily. There are not many changes in this area, so you can concentrate on riding.
Passing under the Shin-Arakawa Bridge, you will see the old Iwafuchi Sluice Gate. The red sluice gate stands out from a distance.
Passing in front of the gate, cross to the left bank of the river at Kahama Bridge. Once on the left bank, continue north.
After passing through Shibakawa sluice gate, you will leave Ara-sai and enter an urban area lined with logistics warehouses. Take a break at a café on the site of a factory in one of these warehouses.
1110 CAFÉ / BAKERY
The gate of the café operated by Oizumi Plant Co. is just like the entrance to a factory. You may be wondering, “Am I allowed to enter? “, but there are bike racks on the premises, so feel free to enter. The building with two brick warehouses side by side is the café and bakery.
Unfortunately, the food menu was sold out, so I chose a square bread from the bakery corner: one is anpan bread (red-bean paste filling bread) and the other is cream bread.
You can eat inside the shop, but we will have them on the terrace where it looks very comfortable.
Heading north along the left bank of the Arakawa River to Lake Saiko
After leaving the café and returning to Ara-sai, we will run again at a moderate pace for a while.
We are happy to see Tokyo Sky Tree, which we could not see in Kawagoe area, but it looks big in this area.
A large factory can be seen on the right. It is Arakawa Water Circulation Center. The center has quite a presence and seems to be popular among “factory moe” (moe, is a kind of captivating in Japanese) night view photographers.
After passing the factory, go down the slope to enter lake Saiko area.
Passing under Sakitama Ohashi Bridge, you will see “Gnoronoro” (slimy slippery) spot in the Lake Saiko area. It is popular to take a picture of Gnoronoro and Sakitama Ohashi Bridge as a set. There is also a stone monument of Lake Saiko nearby, although it is covered with grass and is not conspicuous.
Metasequoia trees near Ara-Sai
From Lake Saiko, pass through Akigase Park and cross Hanekura Bridge.
From here, Saitama City Sports Park continues for a while. Among them, Omiya Kenpo Ground, which has a large site, has a “Row of metasequoia trees” and is a popular photo spot.
Further back, there is a pond called Sanno-bori, where you can take pictures with an atmosphere that is hard to believe that you are in an athletic park.
From Ara-sai to Kawagoe City
After passing through the sports park, you will enter the golf course area.
You will find the old Kamie Bridge pier in the waterway near National Route16. The bridge piers, which are left alone, give a sense of melancholy. From there, use the ramp to go up to Kamie Bridge sidewalk on National Route16.
From Kamie Bridge on National Route16, we headed toward Kawagoe to join the road we took in the morning, so we decided to return along the same road.
The rest of the way will take you through the streets of Kawagoe city center and back to Kawagoe City for the goal.
Course Introduction
▼Tokyo San-Esu
https://tsss.co.jp/
▼ 1110 CAFÉ / BAKERY
https://1110cafe-bakery.com/
Access
Train: Take Tobu Tojo Line from Ikebukuro Station to Kawagoe Station or Kawagoe-shi Station.
Train: Take Seibu Shinjuku Line from Seibu Shinjuku Station to Honkawagoe Station.
Car: 20min from Kawagoe Interchange on Kan-Etsu Expressway
Summary
We introduced the route from Kawagoe, a town of warehouses, to the right and left banks of the Arakawa River Cycling Road. There are many places of interest and spots within a moderate distance, so you will never get bored of the ride.
