I cycled to an eerie scarecrow village deep in western Saitama | Cycling in Japan

I cycled to an eerie scarecrow village deep in western Saitama | Cycling in Japan

[Music] [Music] hi guys welcome back to another episode right now I am at Higashi Hano station in Saitama from here I’m going to take a train northwest because today I’m going to explore the city of Chichibu let’s go [Music] [Music] i’ll be riding the train to Chichibu on the Seabu Chichibu line operated by Sabu Railway well to be more specific I’ll be traveling through a part of Seabu Iikbukurro line which terminates at Ikbukurro and Aano and then through Seabu Chichibu line which terminates at Aano and Chichibu the fancy looking train that I shot just now was the Chichibu Limited Express train that travels between Chichibu and Iikbukurro and actually I’m going to ride that for my return trip home [Music] [Music] although being relatively close to the metropolitan area Chichibu is a place surrounded by mountains so you’ll have to travel through these rather mountainous and rural areas [Music] [Music] don’t Don’t forget [Music] [Music] So I just arrived at Chichibu it is Sunday so quite a lot of tourists coming here chichibu is a city nestled in western Saitama it lies on a basin surrounded by mountains so plenty of nature to enjoy around here now for today’s ride first I’m going to do some hill climbing to get to Chichibu Muse Park where I can get a nice view of the city then I’m going to cycle southwest to visit a quiet village filled with scarecrows after that I’ll be riding the Tibu railway train from Mitsum Guuchi to Wad Kuroya where I’ll check out a historic archaeological site then lastly I’m going to visit a historic bridge that is also famous among anime fans before going back to Sabu Chichibu Station for my train ride home let’s go so for the first stop I’m going to go visit Chichibu Muse Park which is a vast recreational area where hopefully I can go climb an observatory let’s go [Music] so this is Chichibu muse Park i came here because I wanted to climb this musical observatory it is called the departure hill and the song that is playing is called Tabidachinoi which translates to the day of departure [Music] it is actually a graduation ceremony song which is sung in schools all over Japan and the song originated from a middle school somewhere here in Chichibu [Music] who’s going to be [Music] Of course there’s a lot more to this park you can rent a bicycle there’s an open air stage for concerts and plays and some water fountains that went off just in time for me to see there are many stuff here that are Greek inspired as you can see all right time to get back on the bike because next I’m going to go visit a small village filled with scarecrows let’s go decided to stop at this seemingly random bridge because it has a nice view of the Tichibu Railway [Music] [Music] [Music] so this is Nagawa village it’s a very quiet place that is filled with lots of dolls during the Edeto period up until early Shawa this place used to be a bustling post town for worshippers going to the Mitsumina shrine which is located deep in the mountains ahead in more recent years up until 2014 there used to be an event here where every autumn they display some remaining pictures and paintings from that Edo period but after the event was discontinued this place once again lost its prosperity then in 2016 in an effort to attract more visitors this place was decorated with these dolls and was turned into a scarcero village this place is so so quiet i kind of expected other tourists to be here as well but nah it looks like I’m the only one here right now or am I all right so next I’m going to head to Mitsum Guuchi Station just 5 minutes away from here there I’m going to ride the Chichibu railway train to the northern part of Chichibu let’s go [Music] [Music] so this is Mitsum Guuchi station it is the terminal for Chichibu railway so I’m going to take the train to Wadok Kuroya station because there I’m going to go visit a historic archaeological site where they used to mine copper let’s go to get to Wadau Kuroya i’ll be riding the Chichibu Railway local train chichibu railway is quite a scenic rail line that passes through the mountains and rural landscapes of Chichibu and runs from Mitsumuchi to Hanu it is known for its heritage steam locomotive train that lets you enjoy the view while experiencing the power of traditional steam engines this is a local train we will soon arrive at Wata it’s the best had to do a little bit of tracking but I am here at Wadu archaeological site this area is the remains of Japan’s oldest known copper mining site which gave birth to Japan’s first official coin also known as Wadu Kaiing it is the iconic coin with a square hole in the middle i used to read a lot of Dorimon comics back then and I remember seeing these coins appear in the comics what did you do all right for the last stop I’m going to go visit a historical bridge which recently became famous because of an anime let’s go [Applause] okay so that is Chichibu Bridge the one that I’m standing on right now is the former Chichibu Bridge but take a look down and you will see a pair of pillars that is actually the remains of the first generation of Chichibu Bridge built in 1885 it was actually made with the best construction technology during its time in the Maji era the second gen now known as former Chichibu Bridge is a triple arch bridge completed in 1931 and was the earliest large concrete arch bridge in Saitama and the third and current bridge is that cable state bridge built 100 years after the first one other than being historic this bridge is actually iconic in anime culture due to its appearance in the anime Anohana as it serves as a key setting in the story the anime was written by Mari Okada who was born in Chichibu and she also made a couple other animes set in this city it’s already 5:00 p.m so I think it’s about time to wrap up today’s trip i’m going to head back to Seabu Chichibu Station to take my train back home [Music] [Music] thanks for watching if you like my videos or photos and want to support this channel I have created a digital photo album of this episode you can get it down below i’m going to take a train back an express train back to Ikro so I’ll catch you on the next ride bye you can wait [Music] [Music] this is the partition [Music] heat heat n [Music] heat heat n [Music]

I explored Chichibu, a city surrounded by mountains in western Saitama. Climbed up a hill to get a view of the city, and visited a quiet village filled with dolls.
June 1, 2025

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Check out my travel log: https://hilmiiman.notion.site/4291aff2d2f74cd09c5dcce7b6d296bc?v=aecdce7c3aac40acbbfa131afdc10611&pvs=4

Gears used:
DJI Osmo Action 4
DJI Osmo Pocket 3
DJI Mic Mini
Olympus Pen E-P7

Bicycle: Brompton C Line 2022 6 speed

Music used:
Apollo Appetite – StreamBeats by Harris Heller