Candy Alley is a small street located just next to the Warehouse District in Kawagoe. I had no big expectations of this area but I was still let down. It could be due to the fact that I was there on a weekday, but I think it is generally disappointing and I felt like I wasted a bit of my time. I don’t regret going as I still enjoy checking out everything in every town that I visit but I couldn’t really see the appeal of this small street.
Candy Alley
When they say Candy Alley, they really mean “alley”. While the street itself is wide enough to enjoy a leisurely stroll, the street was really short. There were no real markings to say that you entered Candy Alley and I would have skipped it if I didn’t know what I was looking for. It looked like any other area of the Warehouse District, albeit a bit older.
Candy Alley
I entered Candy Alley from the main street that borders the north side of the Warehouse District. I chose a bad time to visit as they were doing a little construction work at the same time. I think they have tables set up in the area for people to sell their wares. The floor was a little cute with coloured glass cubes installed to look like you are walking on candy. It would have been better if the entire road was that way rather than a block here and there.
Candy Alley
Once you walk to the centre of Candy Alley I had the feeling of, “that’s it”? There is a corner in the alley and you can see both ends at this point. The only thing that made me relax was the fact that it was a weekday and it wasn’t terribly busy. I can imagine that on a weekend, it would be really hard to walk around the area. I did see a lot of tourists and if you are looking for souvenirs, this is a good place to visit. There are a lot of cheap sweets and some of the typical Kawagoe sweet potato snacks.
Next to Candy Alley was this Geko and large 5 Yen “coin”.
Honestly, I didn’t care much for Candy Alley but if you like sweets or you are looking for something to buy as a gift, Candy Alley is pretty good for this. I was not really in the mood to do any shopping as it was just a day trip and I wanted to enjoy seeing things that were new and unique. The only saving grace was seeing the happy tourists get excited about trying all of the nice Japanese sweets.
Information
- Kawagoe (Japan Guide)
- Kawagoe: Candy Alley (Japan Guide)
- Koedo-Kawagoe (Official Tourism Site)
- Kawagoe (Wikitravel)