There is more to Kawagoe City than just the famous Edo period storehouses and the tourist strip known as "Ichibangai". In this series of posts about off the beaten path Kawagoe spots, I introduce 'Another Kawagoe': Places to go, things to see that you won't find on the tourist maps. This episode looks at one of Kawagoe's stunning Autumn scenes of thousands of sunflowers back dropped by Isanuma (Isa Marsh) in a rural area of Kawagoe.
Isanuma is an area of Kawagoe named after the Isa marsh. The marsh is well known among bird watchers. Some may also know it for the lotus that grow in the marsh every summer. Furthermore, the cherry blossoms along the west avenue of the marsh are the pride and joy of the locals. On the east bank of the marsh there is a community garden called Isa Marsh East Bank Flower Garden or Isanuma Tōgan Hanabatake in Japanese. In summer they grow a small display of mini sunflowers and cosmos in the garden. But autumn, specifically September, is when the gardens really portray their beauty with a large display of Autumn sunflowers.
The official webpage on the Kawagoe City website does not provide information, just photos of the current condition of the fields. Therefore, I have not been able to confirm the size of the autumn sunflower field or how many sunflowers grow. However, I would speculate with confidence that there are more than 20,000 sunflowers in the field. There may even be close to 100,000. There is a make shift footpath through the sunflowers so it is easy to get good photos. The season is generally from mid September to the end of the month. Moreover, as the season winds down, in the last days of September, you are allowed to pick the sunflowers for free.
Also, in the 'Another Kawagoe' series: Styrofoam Art in Kawagoe.
