I was very disappointed with my recent trip to Kawagoe in March 2024. Its main street (Kurazukuri Street) with nice Edo architecture is extremely difficult to enjoy because of a constant stream of heavy traffic and on a weekend the sidewalks were packed and hard to walk.
The city more so than anywhere else I visited in Japan feels hollowed out by car infrastructure. It seems like the local government has made every available inch for cars completely disregarding space pedestrians and tourists. Given how important tourism is for the city you’d think they’d make their main attraction (Kurazukuri Street) car-free or at least car-free on Weekends. Until they do that, I’d advise avoiding this day trip from Tokyo.
by voyageraya