Kawagoe Sweet Potato Treats: Where to Eat (Saitama)

Known since the days of Edo by the name Kawagoe imo, this district is a major home of the sweet potato. In the era when roasted sweet potato won favor in Edo, it made its name with a pun that rated it thirteen ri, tastier than chestnuts. The sweet tubers that once filled the stomachs of Edo townsfolk are still loved today as a signature flavor of the town. Walk the warehouse streets and the fragrance of roasting sweet potato and rows of colorful imo treats greet you at every turn.

Highlights

Beyond the classic roasted and steamed sweet potato, the range is wonderfully wide, from imo soft serve to crisp imo sticks and confections filled with sweet potato paste. From sticky, honeyed varieties to the old fashioned mealy, fluffy kind, comparing the character of each shop is a delight. Along Candy Alley the retro atmosphere serves up one sweet temptation after another.

Enjoying the Seasons

From autumn into winter, when the harvest comes in, roasted sweet potato tastes especially fine. A steaming one held in the hand warms the body between strolls. In summer, cold imo soft serve and sweet potato parfaits draw the crowds.

Access and Basic Information

The warehouse district and Candy Alley are within walking distance of Hon Kawagoe and Kawagoe Stations. Many sweet potato shops gather around Ichibangai and the alley, perfect for a snacking stroll alongside the Bell of Time.

Practical Travel Notes

The trick to snacking is small portions across many shops, and most items can be enjoyed casually from a few hundred yen each. Candy Alley and Ichibangai bustle with visitors, so allowing for crowds on holidays is reassuring. The roasted sweet potato season runs from autumn into winter. Strolling in a rented kimono makes for lovely photos as well. Hours and closing days differ by shop and change easily, so checking ahead is the surest approach.

A Quick Tip

The trick to snacking is small portions across many shops. Strolling in a rented kimono makes for lovely photos as well.

Souvenir and Takeaway Tips

Kawagoe's sweet potato sweets are a delicacy unique to this major sweet potato producing area, whose crop is affectionately known as "Kawagoe imo." The sweet potato that made a name for itself in Edo with the phrase "kuri yori (nine ri and four ri) umai juusan ri" (tastier than chestnuts) is still a flavor that represents the kurazukuri (clay-walled storehouse) street today. Besides roasted and steamed sweet potatoes, you can enjoy a wide variety of sweets such as imo kenpi (candied sweet potato sticks), sweet potato confections, sweet potato soft-serve, and daigaku imo (candied sweet potato). Long-keeping imo kenpi, sweet potato confections, and dried sweet potato are available at souvenir shops and by mail order, making them well suited as gifts. In Kawagoe, we recommend trying the local specialty sweet potato sweets.

Practical Information for Your Visit

• The growing area: According to the City of Kawagoe, the area that produces "Kawagoe imo" sweet potatoes covers the former Kawagoe domain and its surroundings, corresponding to today's Kawagoe, Tokorozawa, Sayama and Niiza cities and Miyoshi Town, and cultivation is said to have begun in 1751.
• Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System: The "fallen-leaf compost farming method" handed down in Kamitome, Miyoshi Town, was certified as a Japan Agricultural Heritage system in March of Heisei 29 (2017) and as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System in July of Reiwa 5 (2023). The "Beniaka" variety, grown only in Miyoshi Town, is known as the "queen of sweet potatoes" (Miyoshi Town official information).
• Where to buy them: The "Imo Kaido" (sweet potato road) in Miyoshi Town is a route lined with farmers' direct sales stands, and every year in September the banners go up along it.
• Eating as you stroll: Kashiya Yokocho (2-chome Motomachi, Kawagoe City) now has about 20 shops. It is about a 15-minute walk from Hon-Kawagoe Station, or right by the "Kashiya Yokocho" bus stop from Kawagoe Station. Closing days differ from shop to shop.

* Opening hours and prices vary from shop to shop.

(Sources: City of Kawagoe official website "Kawagoe and Sweet Potatoes", Miyoshi Town official website "Tome no Kawagoe Imo", Chocotabi Saitama, the official Saitama Prefecture tourism website, Kashiya Yokocho page)

Information Sources

This article is compiled from tourism information for Saitama Prefecture and information published by each shop. Prices, menus and seasons are subject to change, so please check each shop's official information for details.

Sightseeing Checklist

• Budget guide: From a few hundred yen per item when eating as you stroll
• Where to eat it: The warehouse-style townscape of Kawagoe and the sweet potato confectionery shops of Kashiya Yokocho
• Best time of day: Daytime, for eating your way around the old townscape
• Avoiding the crowds: Busy at weekends; the morning is your best bet
• Combine it with: Roasted sweet potatoes, imo kenpi and sweet potato soft serve, Kashiya Yokocho, the Toki no Kane bell tower and the warehouse-style townscape