Archive4 Hours Trips
Option A: Saitama Stadium 2002
Option A: Saitama Stadium 2002
60-minute stadium tour, 600 yen
The largest soccer venue in Japan (63,700 seats), the spectacular and technologically advanced Saitama Stadium was completed in July 2001 in time to host four of the 2002 FIFA World Cup games, including one of the semifinals. The stadium tour takes you to places the public normally doesn't get to see, including team locker rooms and the magnificent Troussier staircase from which the players make their entrance to the field.
English website:
http://www.stadium2002.com/en/index.php
Option B: Togyoku Doll Museum
from 30 minutes, 300 yen. Doll-making classes from 540 yen, available May to Nov with reservation. For other times, arrangements must be made in advance.
Iwatsuki is a famous centre for woodcarving dating back to the 17th century, when the shogun brought craftsmen here from all over the country to build and maintain the Tosho-gu Shrine in nearby Nikko. The unique style of doll-making developed by these craftsmen using the local paulownia wood has won fans among collectors in Japan and around the world. In the doll-making class you'll be shown how to craft various kinds of dolls, from folded paper to turned wood.
English website:
https://www.tougyoku.com/english01.html
Option C: Unagi Eel in Urawa
60 minutes, from 3,000 yen
During the Edo Period (17th to 19th centuries) Urawa was a post town on the Nakasendo Road between Edo and Kyoto. Surrounded by marshlands, the area was home to especially delicious eel, and travellers on the road who stopped here spread the fame of Urawa unagi throughout the nation. It has a good claim to be the birthplace of the traditional method of cooking eel known as unagi kabayaki. It's a dish you can still enjoy here in the town's many old restaurants.
English website:
http://www.stib.jp/e/tourism/unagieel.html/
