SAWARA GUIDE

Visit the Suigo Sawara Float Museum and experience every aspect of the Sawara Grand Festival, which occurs in summer and in autumn. In the theater, you can capture the entire picture of Katori City and the Sawara Grand Festival. Two floats actually used in the biannual festival are also displayed in the exhibition room. The approximately 8-meter-tall floats were originally made by temple and shrine carpenters, engravers, doll makers, and other craftsmen invited from Edo (present-day Tokyo) by local wealthy people. A glance at those luxuriously designed vehicles leave a strong impression on viewers. The Suigo Sawara Float Museum is 15 minutes by foot from JR Sawara Station.

For more information, please contact the Suigo Sawara Float Museum.
Address: I-3368 Sawara, Katori City, Chiba Prefecture (located on the grounds of Yasaka Shrine)
Tel: +81-478-52-4104
URL: http://www.city.katori.lg.jp/sightseeing/multilingual/en/en-season/en-sawara/en-s_midokoro/en-s_dashikaikan.html
Hours of Operation: 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Admission: 400 yen for adults and 200 yen for children
Note: Group discounts are available.

Sawara became home to the famed Inoh Tadataka (1745-1818), the man who traveled all over Japan on foot to create the first complete and remarkably accurate map of the country, when he married into the wealthy Inoh family at the age of 17. He devoted himself to the family’s sake brewery business, expanding it, and eventually, he was even able to start a branch in Edo (present-day Tokyo). When he turned 50, Inoh passed the family headship onto his son and then moved to Edo, where he learned astronomy from Takahashi Yoshitoki (1764-1804). Inoh later obtained permission from the Tokugawa shogunate, the government at that time, to survey Japan’s coastline when he was between 55 and 71 years of age. Inoh is said to have traveled a total of 35,000 kilometers on foot over the 16 years, equivalent to about 40 million steps! At the museum, Inoh’s map of Japan, the embodiment of his life and achievement, is displayed. The 2,345 items related to Inoh that are owned by the museum were designated as national treasures in 2010.

For more information, please contact the Inoh Tadataka Museum.
Address: I-1722-1 Sawara, Katori City, Chiba Prefecture
Tel: +81-478-54-1118
URL: http://www.city.katori.lg.jp/sightseeing/museum/en/index.html
Hours of Operation: 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Admission: 500 yen for adults and 250 yen for children
Note: Group discounts are available.

Suigo Sawara Ayame Park, an aquatic botanical garden located along the border between Chiba Prefecture and Ibaraki Prefecture, stands on the former tideland of Lake Kasumigaura and covers an area of 14.8 acres (6 hectares). It opened in 1969, when the project to develop the tideland into fields and paddies reached its peak, in an effort to preserve a part of the original landscape so that people could recall the former splendor of the area.

At Ayame Park, enjoy a peaceful stroll surrounded by hundreds of thousands of delicate aquatic flowers. In May, walk beneath a 50-meter-long canopy of Japanese wisteria. During the Iris Festival in June, gaze upon the dazzling quilt made of 1.5 million colorful irises. During the Lotus Festival in July, witness the 300 species of lotus gracefully open to greet the morning sunshine. But be careful! Ayame Park is a seemingly endless wonderland of radiant flowers that you may never want to come back from!

Ayame Park is about 20 minutes from JR Sawara Station by bus (bound for Itako) and 20 minutes by car from Sawara-Katori Interchange on the Higashi-Kanto Expressway. If you take an express bus for Aso at Tokyo Station, get off at the Shokubutsuen Mae stop (in front of the botanical garden) and walk 3 minutes from there.

For more information, please contact Suigo Sawara Ayame Park.
Address: 1837-2 Ogishima, Katori City, Chiba Prefecture
Tel: +81-478-56-0411
URL: http://www.city.katori.lg.jp/sightseeing/multilingual/en/en-season/en-sawara/en-s_midokoro/en-s_suisei.html

Hours of Operation: 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM
During the Iris Festival: 8:00 AM - 6:30 PM
During the Lotus Festival: 7:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Admission fee:
April, September, October, November: 200 yen for adults and 100 yen for children
During the Iris Festival: 800 yen for adults and 400 yen for children
May to August: 600 yen for adults and 300 yen for children
December to March: Free

Note: Group discounts are available.

Mizu-no-Sato Sawara, Japan’s first wide area interchange base that incorporates both a roadside station and a riverside station, was opened in 2010 on elevated land facing the Tone River near the Higashi-Kanto Expressway. At the roadside station, visitors can buy fresh produce and local specialties produced in Katori City, one of the most prominent farming areas in Chiba Prefecture. Meanwhile, not only does the riverside station serve as a great location for recreational water activities, such as riding a sightseeing boat down the magnificent Tone River, canoeing, and bird watching, but it also functions as a flood management center. Mizu-no-Sato Sawara is 20 minutes from JR Sawara Station by foot and by bus.

For more information, please contact Mizu-no-Sato Sawara.
Address: I-4051-3 Sawara, Katori City, Chiba Prefecture
URL: http://www.e-sawara.com

Roadside Station
Tel: +81-478-50-1185

Hours of Operation;
April to September: 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
October to March: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM

Riverside Station
Tel: +81-478-52-1138
Hours of Operation: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

At Roadside Station Kurimoto, visitors can buy and eat local farm products, such as Kurimoto’s local specialty, benikomachi (a type of Japanese sweet potato) and can even try harvesting crops themselves.

[By bus]

From JR Sawara Station: Take the JR bus bound for Tako for about 20 minutes and get off at the Iwabe stop
From Narita Airport Station on the JR Narita Line and Keisei Line: Take the Chiba Kotsu bus bound for Kurimoto for 25 minutes and get off at the Kaishin Iriguchi stop

[By car]

About 10 minutes from Taiei Interchange on the Higashi-Kanto Expressway
About 25 minutes from Narita Interchange on the Higashi-Kanto Expressway
About 30 minutes from JR Sawara Station

[By express bus]

Take the Keisei or Chiba Kotsu bus bound for Choshi via Asahi that departs from Hamamatsucho or Tokyo Station. Get off at the Kurimoto stop